After taking part in James Hoffmann’s decaf tasting project I’d like to have another go to see if I get better results. Also I’ve recently got a fancy temperature controlled kettle and I’d like to perform some side by side testing of the same bean at different temperatures. I’ve already found one bean that tastes better at 85°C than 96°C.

So I’d like to get some cupping bowls, and it appears there are two main kinds: ceramic and HDPE. The sellers of HDPE claim it’s better than ceramic, but I’d like to know if that’s really the case or if it’s just self-serving marketing guff.

Just wondering what others use and if there is a preference either way. I’ll be tasting at home on the kitchen table so I don’t need them to be particularly indestructible. And as per procedure they’ll be spending some time cooling off so “heat retention” isn’t really that important (I think).