How Does the Coffee Flavor Wheel Organize Coffee Attributes?

The coffee flavor wheel is a tool for organizing taste perception, not a fixed list of flavors every cup must show. The version released by the SCA in 2016 was built from analysis and testing of 105 samples collected with 13 producing countries, then compiled into the World Coffee Research Sensory Lexicon.

A UC Davis team worked with 72 experts to rank those attributes. Compared with the earlier SCAA coffee version, the new wheel is divided more finely and is easier to read, which helps drinkers trace paths for identifying flavors. Its role stays limited to organizing coffee attributes, since perceived flavor varies by sample, roast and palate.

The coffee flavor wheel is an important tool for every coffee enthusiast to organize their taste perception, but do you really understand its origins and usage? This article will take you through an in-depth look at the new coffee flavor wheel released by the SCA in 2016—from the SCAA's analysis and testing of 105 samples jointly with 13 producing countries, to the compilation of the "World Coffee Research Sensory Lexicon," and then to the flavor ordering completed by a team from UC Davis together with 72 experts, fully presenting this colorful sensory system. At the same time, Front Street will also remind you how to rationally view the concrete descriptions on the flavor wheel and avoid blindly following them. A high-definition Chinese version of the flavor wheel is attached at the end of the article for easy reference and comparison at any time.

Before formally entering the topic, Front Street would like to ask everyone to first take some time to read the article "Is Coffee Flavor Mysticism?" (i.e., the Jinri Toutiao content). The ancients said that only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you fight a hundred battles without danger. Only by first clarifying what flavor actually is can we more smoothly understand and use those tools that organize flavor attributes.

The coffee flavor wheel used in this article is the entirely new version released in 2016. The SCAA brought together professionals from all sides to analyze and test 105 different samples from 13 coffee-producing countries, and compiled the actually perceived flavors into the "World Coffee Research Sensory Lexicon," using it as the foundation of the new flavor wheel. Subsequently, a team from UC Davis adapted it using a method combining sensory evaluation and statistics, with a total of 72 experts ranking the flavor attributes in the lexicon one by one. What is ultimately presented before us is this colorful new version of the coffee flavor wheel.

Compared with the original version, this version of the flavor wheel is more finely divided and also easier to understand. You can first take a general look at its overall structure and flavor distribution. However, there is one point to note: the role of the flavor wheel is limited to helping us organize coffee's flavor attributes and find paths for identifying flavors. We should not completely copy the specific flavors marked on the wheel. The reason is that although these flavors do indeed appear in coffee, we have not personally encountered every one of these foods; conversely, the things we are familiar with may not necessarily have all been experienced by the experts involved in creating it.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.