What is sweetness in coffee cupping?

Sweetness is one of the ten attributes scored on the SCA cupping form and one of the most valued qualities in specialty green coffee evaluation. In cupping, sweetness refers to a pleasant, smooth, syrupy quality in the cup - not the sweetness of added sugar, but the natural sweetness that comes from well-ripened cherry, careful processing, and appropriate roasting.

Sweetness in green coffee is primarily driven by the sugar content of the cherry at harvest. Ripe cherries contain more sucrose and other sugars that, through processing and roasting, contribute to the perceived sweetness of the brewed coffee. This is why cherry selection at harvest - picking only fully ripe fruit - has such a direct impact on cup sweetness. Natural and honey processed coffees often show more sweetness than washed coffees from the same cherry, because the drying fruit transfers more sugar character to the bean.

On the SCA cupping form, sweetness is scored as a presence/absence across five cups (each scoring 2 points if sweet, up to 10 total). A perfect sweetness score of 10 means all five cups were noticeably sweet. Tasters describe sweetness using references like caramel, brown sugar, honey, fruit sugar, or syrupy - all pointing to the same underlying quality of a smooth, pleasant, non-astringent cup character.