When I first started hearing terms such as ‘acidity’, ‘sweetness’, and ‘body’ used as descriptors for coffee, I was utterly confused, even skeptical. Fast forward two years – some people are skeptical of me for my use of those same words.

Getting to know coffee through more words than ‘bitter’ can be a daunting task. It often requires putting yourself out there to check your understanding of words and phrases against those of professionals. With the help of a new service and app currently in development, the challenge that is learning to taste and describe coffee is becoming less intimidating.

Allow me to introduce, Angels’ Cup.

The main purpose of the app is to help you understand what to look for in coffee. But the real fun is trying as many new coffees as possible. We make this easy by shipping you coffee tastings. Not whole bags but just enough to have a cup or two! The beans will represent a cross section of the best coffee-growing regions on earth, they’ll be roasted by the best roasters and coffee shops, and they will always be fresh. You’ll never have to worry that you’re getting second-rate or stale coffee.

The real fun comes in the second step. Instead of tasting a new coffee in the vacuum of your own room and guessing at the language and descriptors to use, you can now compare your understanding back to the roaster’s for a well-crafted learning experience.

The beginner tasting is about getting your feet wet while keeping things easy and fun. An advanced tasting mode is still under construction. When it’s ready, it will conform to the SCAA cupping protocol, so even professionals will find it useful.

Although the app is free to use, getting Roastmaster feedback will only be available for the monthly subscribers, since they’re the ones getting the Roastmaster’s coffees. Non-subscribers will still find much value in the ability to document and share tastings.

I am impressed and inspired by the hard work and creativity of the fine folks behind Angels’ Cup and have pledged $12 toward their campaign. I look forward to tasting the four samples guaranteed in the $12 reward bracket and will be posting my results here in December.

Go see what all the fuss is about at the Angels’ Cup Kickstarter page.