Have you ever looked at a bag of coffee and wondered how they get those colorful tasting notes? We're here to explain the process to you and to help you get better at picking them out!
What's In the Bag?
Many new coffee drinkers assume that notes like bourbon, cherry, chocolate, or caramel mean that those additives are infused with the coffee. This makes sense, as there are flavored coffees out there that do have these kinds of flavors added with syrups and other ingredients. With that in mind though, specialty coffee is not loaded up with flavorings! Instead, these tasting notes are interpreted by the roaster during a formal tasting process. The idea here is that the roaster themselves noticed notes of these flavors, which are usually quite subtle, after roasting and brewing the coffee. So why is it that you can't catch those delicious sounding notes?
How to Taste Coffee Notes
The reality is that the only way to refine your palate and catch those tricky flavor notes is to taste a lot of coffee. That said, there are some techniques you can use to help to train your taste buds and better understand where those flavors come from.
First, you'll want to take a look at the coffee and assess its color and clarity. These traits can help you set expectations for what the brew will taste like. A thick, dark coffee will probably present strong earthy or roasty notes compared to a lighter, more transparent cup. This doesn't mean one or the other is better, just that their appearance can give you a hint at what to expect.
Next, you'll want to breathe in the aroma of the coffee. You can often get a clearer picture of the tasting notes for a coffee from smelling it over tasting it, so it's something you'll want to do every time you assess a coffee. This also gives your coffee a chance to cool a bit, which is another important part of the process. A coffee that is too hot (or too cold) will be hard to interpret flavors from. Room temperature coffee may sound less appetizing, but we promise that a good coffee should still taste good at this temp, and you'll have an easier time picking out tasting notes.
Slurp It!
Another thing you can do when tasting to help you get those notes dialed into your taste buds is to slurp the coffee. This will aerate it across your palate and cool it, helping you to pick out those more subtle notes. This is a good technique to learn, and can be applied to things like sauces and wines as well!
Cupping: What, Why, and How
Cupping coffee is a brewing and tasting process that is standardized to make it easier to evaluate coffees. By producing a standardized set of parameters it means that wildly different roasts can have more objective measures applied to them.
Roasters cup coffee for a wide range of reasons, not the least of which is to assign tasting notes and determine the quality of the coffee. For the home barista, cupping can help you understand the best brew method for the roast.
To cup coffee, you'll want to start with 10 grams of medium grind coffee in a cup or bowl You will then pour water over the coffee at 205 degrees Fahrenheit and an 18:1 ratio. You'll let this coffee steep for roughly 4 minutes, then carefully scoop the grounds out with a spoon.
At this point, your coffee is ready to taste. Using the spoon you'll want to slurp a small amount of the coffee as described above. This will give you a great idea of the roast's tasting notes, and help you better understand the best methods with which to brew it.
Want to learn more? Check out our video below for more tips, instruction, and advice for tasting and cupping coffee! Let us know in the comments if you've got some additional techniques!