Coffee Tasting | How to Taste Coffee?

When tasting coffee, the flavor of a cup of coffee can be simply seen as the interaction between aroma and structure, while its taste can be said to be the effect of taste and mouthfeel. When aroma and mouthfeel can be harmoniously combined and enhance each other, the cup of coffee can be said to be balanced.

How to taste coffee?

The main sensory parts of coffee are flavor and taste. Flavor is reflected in the sense of smell in front of the nose and the sense of smell in the back of the nose; taste is reflected in sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and the lightness or heaviness of the liquid.

The secondary part of sensory coffee: vision & hearing, including the color of the coffee, the cup, other people’s discussions, music, etc.

Therefore, when tasting coffee, you can mobilize your whole body's senses and memory, feel it with your heart, and give an accurate score to the coffee in front of you.

Common coffee flavors:

Floral scent | Similar to jasmine, rose, daisy, etc.

Fruity aroma | Similar to citrus, lemon, apple, blackberry and other fruit flavors

Caramel | candy and syrup flavors

Grassy smell | Reminiscent of freshly cut grass

Earthy | The aroma of moist soil

Malty | Similar to the aroma of freshly baked bread

Nutty | An aroma similar to fresh nuts

Winey | An aroma or flavor similar to wine

Spicy | Similar to cloves, cinnamon, or other spices

Take the red wine processed coffee from Hartman Estate in Panama as an example:

The flavor of this red wine processing method of [Panama Hartman Estate] is described as: dry nutty aroma, wet red wine fermentation aroma, jasmine aroma in the back, and the aftertaste of pear juice plus honey and caramel aroma.

1. Dry and nutty aroma: You may want to smell this aroma more often when eating almonds or frying peanuts.

2. Wet aroma of red wine fermentation aroma: So you should pay attention to smelling the red wine even if you don’t drink it.

3. Jasmine scent in the back: If you have never smelled fresh jasmine, it is similar to the coffee flower (No. 12) in the scent bottle. Other jasmine teas are actually OK. Remember to drink it several times. There is also the taste of honey in it, so you have to distinguish it.

4. Aftertaste pear juice: Eating more fruits can improve memory. Coffee has many fruity notes, and fruit training can help us find them from coffee.

5. The aroma of honey and caramel at the bottom of the cup after drinking: It basically corresponds to the flavor in the scent bottle, but there will be a little difference from the actual honey and caramel.

Methods for training the ability to perceive taste: the organs that perceive taste are mainly distributed in the tongue. In addition, there are also a small number of taste buds in the palate and throat. Select white sugar, salt, lemon juice, and bitter melon, taste and chew them in turn, and feel which parts of the mouth are most sensitive to the above tastes. Then conduct a comprehensive comparison test. Use samples with very similar taste experiences such as soft white sugar, rock sugar, brown sugar, or yellow lemon, green lemon, etc. to practice the ability to distinguish between taste persistence and similar tastes.

Therefore, whether it is cupping or daily tasting, a lot of practice is the only way to develop senses, there is no shortcut! Of course, we can also use the 36-flavor coffee aroma bottle to help us establish the correct senses through long-term training.

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