Uncupping the Complexities of Coffee

There’s a Lot to Learn About What’s in Your Coffee

Griffin Hall (right) leads a coffee cupping event. | Credit: Richelle Boyd

On the surface, coffee isn’t complicated. We pick up our favorite brand at the store and brew it at home, or we go to our favorite coffee company and order a drink. Three in four Americans drink coffee every day, according to a 2022 study.

But there is another layer to coffee that most haven’t ever seen. Beyond your favorite drink and type of roast, there are 120 types of coffee you can have. And here in Santa Barbara, you can learn all about it from coffee pro Griffin Hall, who works at FRINJ Coffee.

Participants sampling four different kinds of coffee without knowing what they are | Credit: Richelle Boyd

On Saturday, April 15, Hall hosted a coffee-cupping workshop, the third in an ongoing series of coffee skills events. This workshop focused on “cupping,” which is a fancy way of saying “tasting.” Hall is a certified Q-Grader of coffee and has taught the different methods of tasting. He hopes to run a workshop every two weeks including other skills like roasting and brewing coffee.