Cupping Methods in Trade, Lab & Consumer Communication with Morten Wennersgaard from Nordic Approach

In this episode, Morten Münchow talks with Morten Wennersgaard, co-founder of Nordic Approach, about how cupping methods evolve from trading desks to lab calibration to consumer-facing storytelling. They cover:

• Using the 2004 SCA 100-point form and Cup of Excellence protocols in procurement
• Supplementing scores with complexity, intensity & core flavor categories
• Aligning internal teams through rapid panel calibration exercises
• Translating lab data into clear, engaging descriptors for roasters and end-consumers
• A preview of Nordic Approach’s 2025 Autumn Cupping event

Whether you’re a coffee buyer, Q Grader, roaster, or enthusiast, you’ll discover practical insights on making sensory data work at every level of the coffee supply chain.

Transcript

Welcome to this podcast with my good friend, Morten Wennersgaard from Nordic Approach.

Morten, I think we’ve known each other for almost twenty years now. Must be since around 2003, right?

Morten Wennersgaard
Yes, that sounds about right.

Morten Münchow
Weren’t you already involved in the Nordic Barista Cup in Iceland back in 2003? I believe that was also around the time you started at Solberg & Hansen, which was your first proper job in coffee.

Morten Wennersgaard
Exactly. I began at Solberg & Hansen in 2003, and that same year I joined the Cup of Excellence jury. I continued as a juror for nearly nine years, learning about cupping scores on the 2004 SCA form—that’s the very same form used by Q Graders.

Morten Münchow
Let’s rewind a bit. Before coffee, what were you up to after finishing secondary school?

Morten Wennersgaard
I admit I floated around for a while. I played bass in funk bands and even took a gap year, doing various jobs—including working with people with disabilities. Eventually, my passion for food led me to a cooking school internship in the early ’90s, followed by a bachelor’s in food science.

It was during my studies that specialty coffee began emerging—around 1993–94. I didn’t know I’d end up in coffee, but when I wrote my thesis on roasting and degassing, I realized how fascinating coffee was. By 2000, I decided to go all-in and took a production-management role at a roastery.

Morten Münchow
Do you recall a specific moment when coffee stopped being just a drink and became something more for you?

Morten Wennersgaard
Definitely. While studying in Trondheim, I worked at Café Dali. They started bringing in single-origin Colombias and Africans—suddenly I tasted fruit, acidity, complexity. Then, in 2003 at Solberg & Hansen, I cupped Kenyan lots and was blown away. That was my real eye-opener.

Founding Nordic Approach

Morten Münchow
How did you transition from Solberg & Hansen to starting Nordic Approach?

Morten Wennersgaard
At Solberg & Hansen I managed procurement, quality, and roasting, traveling to origins from my first trip to Brazil in 2003 onward. Around 2010–11, I felt drawn more to green-coffee import, focusing on transparency and traceability. I sold my house to fund my salary, then partnered with Andreas—now my co-founder—and secured financing from the Norwegian Group, who took a 34 percent stake. That’s how Nordic Approach was born in 2011.

Cupping Methodology

Morten Münchow
Your primary scoring method was the Cup of Excellence form, the 100-point SCA scale. How did that shape your approach?

Morten Wennersgaard
It became our basic buying tool: attributes like sweetness, uniformity, acidity, flavor, body, and aftertaste sum to the total score. With experience, you often know the likely score after the first or second taste and then back-fill the attribute ratings.

Morten Münchow
Do you supplement that score internally?

Morten Wennersgaard
Yes. We add complexity and intensity, plus a few core flavor categories—florals, red berries, stone fruit—to align everyone’s perception. It gives us a shared language, though we always consider origin expectations when comparing, say, an 84 from Brazil to an 84 from Ethiopia.

Communicating to Clients

Morten Münchow
How do you present cupping results to roaster-clients?

Morten Wennersgaard
We cup everything in Cropster under a unique lot code: “OFF” for offer samples, “PSS” for pre-shipment samples, and “ARR” for arrival. Our offer list shows each coffee’s score, basic descriptors, harvest data, and story. Some roasters use it directly; others adapt it for their markets.

Regional Flavor Trends

Morten Münchow
Do you see distinct flavor preferences across regions—Europe, the Middle East, Asia?

Morten Wennersgaard
Absolutely. In the Middle East, naturals—often heavy-ferment or anaerobic—are popular. Europe still favors bright, clean washed Africans, especially Kenyans. Southeast Asia is growing, too. But markets evolve: some love funky naturals now, others swing back to cleaner profiles. It’s all about balancing quality scores with flavor categories and regional expectations.

Nordic Approach Cuppings

Morten Münchow
Tell us about your Spring and Autumn Cuppings.

Morten Wennersgaard
Twice a year in Norway—Spring for new-season coffees and Autumn for the full harvest—we host 50–70 roasters. Each day includes two to three cupping sessions of 20–30 coffees, interspersed with origin presentations and discussions on sensory methods and market trends.

A New Calibration Exercise

Morten Münchow
We recently ran a rapid six-sample panel calibration using university-style descriptive methods. What did you think?

Morten Wennersgaard
I loved it. In two hours, our team—procurement, quality, sales—aligned on flavor categories and scoring. It complements large-scale cuppings by addressing personal and panel insecurities, giving individual feedback and verifying descriptor validity.

Closing Thoughts

Morten Münchow
Thanks, Morten. It’s been fascinating tracing your journey from Solberg & Hansen in 2003 to leading Nordic Approach, and diving deep into cupping methodology, sensory methods, Cup of Excellence scoring, and quality communication.

We’re now in 2025, gearing up for the Autumn Cupping at Nordic Approach—one of the best opportunities to explore season-specific coffees, regional differences, and processing techniques.

Thanks again, Morten Wennersgaard, for joining me today. I look forward to seeing you at the next cupping.