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Tasting coffee is like tasting wine. When we taste a cup of specialty coffee, we naturally have the desire to discern its flavors and express them. Since many of you have given feedback on tasting-related questions, Front Street Coffee is launching a special class today to explain exactly how to professionally taste the quality and differences of coffee.

How do you taste a cup of coffee?

This question can be broken down into two aspects: one is about the process of tasting coffee, and the other is about the angle (entry point) for tasting coffee. Why do we describe coffee in terms of "flavor" rather than "taste"? The reason is simple: taste refers only to the sensation on the palate, while coffee tasting is three-dimensional, divided into aroma (smell), taste (gustation), and mouthfeel (touch). Therefore, when tasting a cup of coffee, it is not simply a matter of drinking.

When coffee beans are ground into coffee powder, a large amount of the coffee's aromatic compounds are released into the air, and this is our first step in tasting——smelling the dry aroma. The aroma of dry coffee powder is different from the aroma of the brewed coffee liquid, so after brewing is complete, we smell the coffee liquid poured into the cup once more; this is the wet aroma.

After that comes tasting the coffee's flavor and mouthfeel. Some experienced coffee drinkers like to taste coffee by slurping (the slurping action atomizes the coffee liquid, allowing you to perceive the coffee's flavors through retronasal olfaction), and tasting coffee is divided into the flavor at high temperature and the flavor at low temperature. As the temperature drops, the coffee's flavor (or the flavor a person perceives) also changes. Therefore, a complete tasting of a cup of coffee takes at least ten minutes.

How do you describe coffee's flavor?

We might as well borrow the perspective of COE cupping. The items in coffee cupping can be broken down into aroma, cleanliness, sweetness, acidity, mouthfeel, flavor, aftertaste, and balance.

Aroma

Aroma can be said to be the soul of a cup of coffee. Many who have fallen into the coffee rabbit hole were deeply drawn in by coffee's aroma. Aroma is also divided into dry aroma and wet aroma. Dry aroma refers to the aroma released after freshly grinding coffee beans, while wet aroma is the aroma released by the coffee liquid after brewing. Some coffee beans have highly recognizable aromas, such as the elegant white floral notes given off by Front Street Coffee's Geisha coffee, the berry aroma given off by Front Street Coffee's Hualei coffee, the fermented aroma given off by Front Street Coffee's Sidra coffee, and the Chinese herbal medicine aroma given off by Front Street Coffee's Golden Mandheling coffee, and so on.

Cleanliness

Cleanliness means the coffee has no defective flavors or unpleasant flavors. If the coffee has bad flavors such as earthy mustiness, medicinal iodine, onion, or rubber, it indicates that the coffee is not clean enough.

Sweetness/Sweetness

Sweetness refers to the sensation of taste. Good sweetness in a cup of coffee can add a lot of points, and there are many factors that affect a cup of coffee's sweetness, such as cultivation (red cherries), processing method (natural is sweeter than washed), roasting (caramelization reaction), and brewing (technique and parameters). Sweetness can also be divided into fruity sweetness, honey sweetness, caramel sweetness... 

Acidity

Acidity refers to the sourness in our sense of taste, and it can also describe how much saliva is secreted on both sides of the tongue. In addition to describing the intensity of coffee's sourness, this aspect also describes the coffee's acidity quality. For example, we would describe Yirgacheffe coffee as having citrus acidity, and Kenyan coffee as having pronounced berry-like acidity. Of course, acidity also includes undesirable sourness, such as stale sourness and strong acetic sourness.

Mouthfeel

This is part of the sense of touch, and it also describes coffee's body, volume, and body. A cup of coffee with a rich mouthfeel can greatly improve its impression score. Many people mistakenly think that body means strength, and that the stronger the coffee, the higher the body. In fact, this is not accurate. Strength refers to the proportion of the amount and types of soluble components in coffee. The perception of body mainly comes from the oils and fibers in the coffee liquid that do not dissolve in water. This feeling can be compared to water, milk, and light cream.

Flavor

Flavor refers to the overall impression we get from drinking this coffee, combining various sensations produced by smell and taste. These directly reflect the taste of this coffee, and are also the direct basis for describing the coffee's flavor characteristics. Describing coffee requires a certain amount of association. For example, our memory point for lemon is acidity and the fresh scent of lemon oil, and our memory of cocoa is mellow, bittersweet. When we taste coffee, if one of its characteristics awakens your memory of something, then you can connect them. So, to describe coffee's flavor well, the most important thing is still to taste more.

Aftertaste

Aftertaste refers to the various flavors and aromas left in the mouth after drinking coffee. If a good flavor lingers for a long time, we can describe this coffee as having a long aftertaste. For example, Panama Geisha coffee shows an aftertaste of light floral notes and green tea notes after drinking.

Balance

Balance refers to whether the various indicators of the coffee are well balanced. For example, whether it is too sour or whether its bitterness is relatively prominent—these are all bases for describing whether this coffee is balanced.

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