Why does other people's coffee taste smooth and delicate, while mine tastes all kinds of flavors?

When drinking coffee, you may sometimes hear coffee connoisseurs comment on coffee like this: "This cup of coffee has a 'strange taste'." However, for coffee novices, the more they hear, the more confused they become. So what exactly is a 'strange taste'? And what causes coffee to have a mixed or unpleasant taste?

What are the off-flavors of coffee?

If a cup of coffee has a mixture of grassy, ​​sour, and low-quality soil, and it is difficult to clearly identify the flavor of the coffee, this is a miscellaneous flavor. In fact, miscellaneous flavors are relative to cleanliness, such as over-roasting or under-roasting, over-fermentation, medicinal, moldy, burning plastic, onion, earthy, astringent and other negative flavors.

The reasons why coffee has an unpleasant taste or other unpleasant sensations can be mainly checked from the following points.

Judging from the selection of raw beans, whether there are any undesirable ingredients or flavors;

From the perspective of roasting, whether the original flavor of the coffee beans can be expressed, and whether any ingredients that are unpleasant to the body are produced during the roasting process;

Analyze the brewing process to see if it can extract good flavors while avoiding the extraction of bad ingredients.

1. Green Bean Quality Issues

Green coffee beans are the seeds of coffee fruits. After the coffee tree absorbs sunlight, air, water, and soil nutrients, it undergoes a series of chemical reactions, and different compounds are generated and remain on the green coffee beans. If it is a volatile aromatic compound, it can bring aroma to the green coffee beans. This has a lot to do with the cultivation of coffee. If the coffee beans are planted at low altitudes, they will usually mature earlier. Early-maturing coffee beans are prone to off-flavors and astringency, while unmature coffee beans will have green and astringent tastes, as well as off-flavors. Green bean varieties contain too much chlorogenic acid, such as Luo beans or related hybrid varieties. After the green beans are processed, they will enter the packaging and sales links. Improper transportation and storage environment management will also produce off-flavors.

2. Defective coffee beans

During the process of coffee cultivation, picking and processing, the slightest carelessness can easily lead to deterioration and become defective beans. The quality of defective beans themselves is not good, such as immature beans and foreign beans. I believe everyone knows how annoying defective beans are. After all, a defective bean can ruin a good cup of coffee you brew... For example, white-eyed beans/immature beans can give you a cup of coffee with the taste of roasted melon seeds, straw, and even salty. If the defect rate of raw beans is too high, the brewed coffee will naturally not have a pleasant taste.

For example, worm-eaten beans will taste sour, rotten, prickly and astringent; and moldy beans, which are infected by mold and have a strong musty and medicinal smell, and also have a refrigerator-like smell.

3. Coffee Harvesting and Processing

The coffee bean processing environment and tools are not cleaned up properly, which brings the unpleasant smell. The environment where the fresh coffee fruit is placed after harvesting, and the machines, screens, and washing pools used for shelling are not cleaned up properly, which can easily bring bad earthy or even moldy smells. Or some unripe coffee cherries are mixed in during the unified harvesting, so the coffee tastes like straw, grass, and sharp. No matter which processing method is used, there is a fermentation process. If the fermentation technique is not correct, such as if the harvested coffee cherries are directly placed on the ground during processing, they will be more likely to be contaminated with the smell of soil. In addition, if the coffee beans are first dried in a dryer to reduce the moisture content of the coffee beans and then dried in the sun, the coffee beans that are artificially dried or partially dried in the drying environment will also have unpleasant smells.

4. Coffee Roasting

Generally, a shallow roasting degree, incomplete development, unclean dehydration, and poor smoke exhaust will easily cause the coffee to have a strange flavor or other bad taste.

Unripe beans will have a strong green taste. After grinding the coffee beans into coffee powder, you can roughly judge it by the color of the coffee powder. Generally, coffee powder will appear brown, brown, or dark brown after grinding. However, if the color of the coffee powder is yellow-brown, it means that the roasting degree is too light and it may not be "cooked". If the coffee is not dehydrated enough during roasting, the coffee will taste a bit grassy, ​​raw, and pungent. Unevenly roasted beans usually have a darker skin and a lighter core, which is prone to skin burns, making the coffee bitter and smoky.

If the overall roasting is too light and uneven, the coffee will be undercooked, similar to insufficient dehydration, with incomplete flavor development, a strong plant flavor, sour and thin.

In addition, if smoke exhaust is not handled properly during the roasting process, the roasted coffee beans will not only be astringent, but also have a strong smoky taste.

5. Brewing

Excluding the impact of defective coffee beans and roasting on brewing quality, the following situations can also cause coffee to have off-flavors, sourness, bitterness, etc.

1. The water temperature is too high / keep heating the water

2. The water temperature is too low / the hot water loses temperature too quickly

3. Stirring too much or too quickly

4. The coffee powder is ground too finely/too coarsely

5. Brewing time is too long/too short

If you accidentally over-extract during brewing, it will easily produce something like off-flavors. After all, there are 30% soluble substances in coffee, but only 20% of them are delicious. Exceeding this 20% will produce some bad flavors, such as woody, bitter, and other messy flavors. Or if the coffee is brewed too strong, some flavors will taste bitter or so messy that you can't find the main flavor.

Three manifestations of coffee extraction:

Coffee is water passing through coffee powder, bringing out the soluble substances in the coffee powder, and we get a cup of coffee. All the factors we adjust are to change the amount of soluble substances to adjust the taste of coffee. After all, the soluble substances in coffee powder are not all we need. Therefore, we can define the state of a cup of coffee based on the amount of extracted substances.

1. Insufficient coffee extraction: Coffee with an extraction rate of less than 18% is called insufficient coffee extraction. The taste is more sour than bitter. If the amount of powder is not increased, the coffee concentration will be low and it will taste a bit watery. At the same time, the sweetness of the coffee will be relatively obvious.

2. Golden coffee extraction: This refers to the most suitable extraction rate of coffee, that is, the coffee tastes the best in this area. This extraction rate is 18%~22%. The coffee taste in this range is relatively balanced in sourness, bitterness and sweetness, with a full aroma and rich layers.

3. Over-extraction of coffee: If the extraction rate of coffee is higher than 22%, we call it over-extraction of coffee. Of course, the maximum extraction rate of coffee is only 30%, which means that only 30% of the substances in coffee beans can be dissolved. If the extraction of coffee powder exceeds 22%, the taste will be more bitter than sour, burnt, astringent, mixed, thin aroma, and high body.

If the coffee extraction rate is too high, too many dissolved substances will be extracted, including both good and bad flavors, and eventually bitterness will be produced; or if the coffee extraction rate is too low, too few flavor substances will be extracted, resulting in an imbalance, and the astringency will be more prominent, eventually producing a sour taste. If there are too many fine powders, it is easy to over-extract during brewing, and the chance of producing miscellaneous flavors will be relatively high. If the extraction time is too long, it is also easy to extract those bad and messy flavors.

Finally, I have to mention the "cleanliness" in the usual cupping test. The first place in the COE score table is enough to prove how important "cleanliness" is. The so-called cleanliness means that there are no defects and contaminations from hot to cold, and the flavor is clear and easy to feel.

Does clean coffee mean less complex flavor?

Clean coffee can also have rich flavors and distinct layers. A clean coffee tastes clean, which means it is free of those miscellaneous and foreign flavors that affect the taste and flavor. This is also explained in major books and cupping standards; the complexity of the flavor is related to the coffee variety, planting conditions, processing methods, and roasting techniques, and is the result of a series of productions.

7 indicators of coffee tasting

①Dry aroma: the aroma emitted by roasted beans after grinding;

②Wet aroma: the aroma emitted by the coffee liquid;

③Acidity: the sour taste of coffee liquid;

④Body: The concentration and weight of the coffee liquid;

⑤Aftertaste: the so-called aftertaste;

⑥Flavor: The taste perceived by the taste buds and the aroma perceived by the nasal cavity after drinking coffee;

⑦Balance of taste

The "throat rhyme" we often talk about is generally divided into sweet, moist, dry and cool.

① Sweet, which means the sweet feeling in the throat;

② Moisture is the opposite of dryness. Moisture means that the throat feels comfortable and smooth, while dryness makes the larynx uncomfortable and produces a dry and dry feeling. In severe cases, it may even cause difficulty in swallowing. In addition to being extremely uncomfortable in the larynx, dryness can also make the drinker anxious.

③The cool feeling in the throat is the best to feel, just like the cool feeling brought by drinking mint water.

When tasting coffee, the aftertaste often refers to the aftertaste of coffee in the mouth and throat. After drinking coffee, there will always be a taste returning from the throat. Some aftertastes are very long-lasting and clear, while others are very short and vague. We say that a longer and clearer aftertaste is good, and such coffee is of higher quality.

Before tasting, drink some boiled water first, which will help clean your mouth and make the coffee feel clearer in your mouth.

For example, if a freshly brewed cup of Yirgacheffe is poured into the coffee cup, the temperature will drop to about 85 degrees. Smell the aroma first, and don't rush to swallow the coffee in one gulp. Hold it in your mouth temporarily to feel the taste of the coffee, what fruit flavors are in the middle, whether it is smooth, whether the back end is sweet, and whether there is an aftertaste. Then continue to taste it in small sips.

The off-flavor actually includes the defective flavor but is not limited to it. For example, the woody flavor of coffee can be said to be a base tone. It is a flavor that can appear in almost every coffee. However, the bad woody flavor tastes like rotten wood water and is disgusting. And the off-flavor always gives people a very messy feeling, as if the flavor of the whole cup of coffee is muddied.

A cup of good coffee seems simple, just pay a little attention when brewing it, but in fact, the quality of a cup of coffee has already been affected since the harvesting step, and brewing is just the last step of the whole process.

How to troubleshoot coffee odor or other bad tastes:

Tip 1: Are you using your coffee equipment correctly? Is your coffee equipment clean?

We usually use French presses and siphon pots to brew coffee. Some people also use moka pots. When using a moka pot, be careful not to choose coffee beans that taste sour or bitter.

In addition to the choice of equipment, the cleanliness of coffee equipment is also very important. If you use an unclean coffee machine and French press, it will definitely affect the taste of the coffee. In addition, the coffee powder in the grinder is also a key factor affecting the taste of coffee.

Tip2: How fresh are your coffee beans? How to ensure the freshness of coffee beans?

Coffee beans are prone to oxidation, and coffee powder absorbs odors. When storing coffee beans, try to avoid exposure to the outside and avoid moisture. Sunlight and high temperatures are also enemies of coffee that is not fresh, so it is best to grind coffee fresh every time you drink it, so as to ensure the best taste.

Tip3: Is there something wrong with your coffee bean roasting?

When coffee beans have a bitter or raw taste, it means that there is a problem with the roasting of the coffee beans. Usually, large coffee bean chains will use this kind of heavily roasted coffee beans to cover up the defects.

Tip 4: Did you brew your coffee for the right time?

Many people have drip coffee machines at home. To save trouble, they put the coffee in a thermos after making it. If they drink it after a while, the flavor of the coffee will have been lost.

Tip5: Are you using the right water?

Most coffee shops use water that passes through water softeners and water purifiers. The water quality used to brew coffee at home is not very good. Tap water contains a lot of chlorine, which has a great impact on the flavor of the coffee.