About 12 people stood around mugs of Arabica coffee, on two low wooden tables, that particular day. They were not there to drink the coffee, but only to judge its taste, an activity known as cupping.

Cupping is part of the training for a quality grader (Q Grader), carried out by 5758 Coffee Lab, a coffee institute based in Bandung, West Jawa. Tempo went to see the Q Grader in early October.

In addition to cupping, participants of the training must