In sensory science, “calibration” refers to the training of sensory panelists to accurately use a set of sensory references in a very specific testing environment and protocol. Although the specialty coffee industry has adopted this term widely, particularly in coffee competitions, the SCA suggests that instead, the practice the industry commonly refers to as “calibration” be better understood as “alignment.” This is because groups of assessors (i.e., a cupping group) are not being asked to perform in the specific manner of a trained sensory panel.
Regarding the descriptive assessment, for a better group performance, tasters should get aligned in the use of the intensity scales and the use of descriptors. Regarding the affective assessment, you can always align with someone else’s preferences, which makes total sense along a supply chain, where all suppliers are aligned with the chain’s “preferences.” Affective alignment, however, does not make much sense when we are talking about radically different cultures, markets, or supply chains. In those cases, it is more advisable to agree on the descriptive assessment—which is objective—and “agree to disagree” on the affective.