“Huh? Why does this coffee smell like... soy sauce?” A customer, after sniffing the dry aroma of the coffee grounds handed over by Front Street, asked this question with a puzzled and cautious expression.This is actually not the first time Front Street has received such a question. Besides "soy sauce," there are also descriptions like "fermented bean paste," "douchi," "five-kernel mooncake," and so on—aromas you might occasionally hear described at Front Street stores. Without exception, these descriptions point to a rich, savory aroma. So the question arises: why does coffee develop this salty aroma reminiscent of soy sauce or fermented bean paste?Where does the "soy sauce" flavor in coffee come from?There are many reasons why coffee develops a "soy sauce" flavor, but one of the more common ones is the influence of processing methods. As we all know, coffee has a wide variety of processing methods, and different methods give coffee different flavor characteristics. For example, washed coffee tastes cleaner, while natural coffee has richer layers. The strong "soy sauce" aroma in coffee is a characteristic produced by some rather special processing methods.Regardless of the processing method, coffee beans undergo fermentation during processing—it's just that different methods lead to different degrees of fermentation. For instance, the differences in characteristics between the washed and natural processes mentioned earlier by Front Street are mainly due to varying degrees of fermentation.During coffee bean processing, the more substances involved in fermentation and the longer the fermentation time, the heavier the degree of fermentation. The heavier the fermentation, the more complex the flavors the coffee beans develop, and the more fermented aromas are produced, making the taste richer.When the aroma becomes intense enough, salty aromas resembling "soy sauce," "fermented bean paste," or "douchi" begin to appear. This is because the aroma concentration is too high at this point, with so many aromatic compounds concentrated together that our senses cannot quickly distinguish each subtle aroma, so they simply package the information and send it to the brain, resulting in"soy sauce," "fermented bean paste," "douchi"and other flavors. Anaerobic processing is the "hotspot" for these sauce-like aromas.But as Front Street has always shared, these aromas resembling "soy sauce" or "fermented bean paste" are merely surface impressions. When we calm down and sniff carefully, we can peel back the surface and perceive the unique flavors hidden beneath.For example, the Front Street Finca El Diviso·Sidra on Front Street's bean list is a double anaerobic processed coffee. Many friends, when first encountering it, are taken aback by its rich "sauce-like" aroma and furrow their brows. But after deeper sniffing, they immediately catch the fruity flavors hidden behind the surface—grapes, apricots, passion fruit, and dried fruit—and then decisively order a cup. After tasting, their taste buds are completely conquered by the full, juicy sensation of the Sidra.
Beyond the aroma, we can also taste the "sauce-like" flavor in some coffees. Similarly, the formation of this sauce-like taste is also due to the concentration being too high, making it hard for the taste buds to distinguish subtle flavors, so they package it and send it to the brain. In such cases, we only need to add water to dilute it, releasing the concentrated flavors and breaking down the "sauce-like" taste. In addition, the sauce-like taste in coffee also comes from improper extraction!As we all know, sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and saltiness are the four main tastes in coffee. Among these four, saltiness is the least common in coffee, because as long as we extract properly, we can avoid saltiness appearing in the coffee.But when we extract improperly(under-extraction), the saltiness is exposed because there aren't enough sour, sweet, and bitter substances to mask it. Combined with the rich aroma, it forms the familiar "sauce-like flavor."In such cases, Front Street recommends adjusting parameters to correct it. Especially for espresso, because the concentration is already high, plus the saltiness from under-extraction, the occurrence of "soy sauce flavor" is countless. Front Street believes that baristas who have been adjusting coffee for a long time will deeply understand this.So the above are the main reasons why coffee smells or tastes like "soy sauce," "fermented bean paste," and so on. It's important to note that although Front Street mentioned earlier that anaerobic processed coffee is where these flavors most commonly appear, this does not mean all anaerobic processed coffees will have such flavors—it ultimately depends on the specific degree of fermentation of the beans~ The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
