Last year, we announced the Coffee Rose after three years of designing, developing, and testing it extensively in our sensory labs. We created a landing page to explain what it is, published a whitepaper discussing how it works, and let people try it in person at SCA Expo 2023. Since then, we’ve used The Rose to evaluate every single coffee sample brewed on our lab’s tables, fine-tuning its functionalities, and eager to release it to you.

Wait no more. The Cafe Imports Sensory Team recently released a public version of the Coffee Rose.

This release is free to use, optimized for mobile, and easy to learn. It places the Cafe Imports’ coffee language and cupping methodology right in your hands. We hope you take The Coffee Rose and run with it – cup coffees, test its function and features, and then provide us with your invaluable feedback.​

Answer: A digital cupping form that allows you, a coffee taster, to describe your experience using an intuitive flavor wheel while scoring and notes are taken care of. Technically speaking, the Coffee Rose is a dynamic, rich content Check All That Apply (CATA) sensory test.

Sensory Analysts initially designed the CATA framework to be simple for untrained tasters – if you experience a particular flavor, you check the corresponding box. CATA testing was later found to be applicable as a proxy for much more robust (and expensive) descriptive tests when given to trained and experienced tasters. While several creative updates were required to make it work in specialty coffee, CATA aligns with how we teach tasting. It is an ideal chassis for a cupping form that can work for cuppers across all levels of our industry. The combination of low barrier to entry, short learning curve, real-world practicality, and long usability runway makes the Coffee Rose an excellent tool for coffee tasters at each stage of their tasting careers.