We all know great coffee when we taste it, but could you describe what it tasted like? This is where coffee-tasting notes come in, and there is even a handy coffee-tasting wheel to help you source and identify the notes you like the most in your coffee. Coffee just tastes like coffee, right? Don’t worry, your palette can be trained to identify the nuances of different blends and beans, and this blog post is here to help you begin your journey into serious coffee-tasting exploration, with special guest star: the coffee tasting wheel.
What do tasting notes in coffee mean?
Coffee is a complex drink - there are a lot of different compounds and reactions going on in a cup of coffee, and there are so many different flavours to taste when you begin exploring the varieties: coffee contains nearly twice as many flavour notes as wine.
The unique taste of each and every batch of coffee beans is influenced by so many factors, making them vary from plant to plant or even season to season. These variations are down to the coffee plant variety used. Arabica or Robusta both have particular flavour profiles: Arabica beans are known for their nuanced flavours (this is why many single-origin beans are arabica) whereas Robusta beans are renowned for their strong, full-bodied taste and are more likely found in blends, such as those for espresso machines, due to their crema creating properties.
Additionally, environmental factors like soil, altitude, climate, and sunlight all influence the flavour development in coffee beans. So particular is this that specific locations can be considered premium coffee bean suppliers, purely for their ideal growing conditions: Jamaican Blue Mountain and Hawaiian Kona are two examples of this.
Once grown, there are yet more ways in which the final flavour of the beans can be altered: from the way the beans are processed -whether they are washed, natural, or honey processed, or if they go through a decaffeination process too. The roasting process, which can range from light to dark, also brings out different flavour characteristics in the beans and finally, the method of brewing the coffee can massively impact the final flavour that ends up in the cup; a long cold brew-based drink will taste very different to a milk-based one made with quickly pressured espresso coffee.
The best way to taste the different flavours is by making them in the exact same way, or by a process called cupping, which many coffee shops host event nights for, or that you can try out at home with a good range of freshly ground coffee beans.
How to use a coffee tasting wheel
The coffee wheel was first created in 1995, right at the peak of the 2nd wave coffee movement. Think of Frasier era coffee tasting sessions and you’ll get the picture.
You'll find similar coffee-tasting wheels adorning the walls of coffee shops and roasters across the world, serving to help standardise the labelling of flavours and notes found in coffee, as well as doubling as a really cool piece of coffee-related artwork.
While there are a wide variety of coffee wheels available out there, they all pretty much work in the same way, to help you better understand coffee taste notes and identify which ones you are drinking or which you would most enjoy, depending on your preferences.
Every one of our bags of coffee beans comes with a coffee-tasting wheel on the back, with a unique scent centre, so that you can smell the beans for yourself, but also identify what it will taste like before opening the bag.
How to taste notes in coffee
While we can all agree on when coffee tastes bad or good, there is a skill to identifying the subtle nuances of one blend or single-origin coffee bean to another. Here is a quick guide on how to begin identifying tasting notes in your coffee.
Start with fresh, black coffee: For the best tasting experience, use freshly roasted and ground coffee beans. The freshness of the coffee will greatly impact the flavours present and adding milk or sugar will only mask the natural taste found within the coffee itself.
When tasting coffee, you’ll come across terms like aroma, acidity, body, and aftertaste. These are essential elements to consider when evaluating coffee. Let’s explore what they mean and how you would use them to identify and describe the profile of the coffee you are tasting.
Aroma: Begin by smelling the freshly brewed coffee. Take note of the aromas – do you detect any floral, fruity, spicy, or nutty scents?
Acidity: Acidity is the most commonly cited taste in coffee, but it can often be mistaken for bitterness. The acid referred to has nothing to do with its pH level but rather the liveliness and vibrancy of its flavour. It can range from bright and tangy to soft and mild. Some common acidity descriptors include bright, citrusy, and lively.
Body: The body of the coffee refers to the liquid itself: its texture and mouthfeel. Is it light-bodied, medium-bodied, or full-bodied? Does it feel thin (like water) or creamy (like a pint of Guinness) on the palate?
Flavour Notes: When you take a sip, pay attention to the various flavours present. This is where most advertising copy is drawn from as it is the easiest to identify. Common flavour notes found in coffee are: fruity, floral, chocolatey, nutty, spicy, and earthy. Some coffees may display specific fruit flavours like berry, citrus, or stone fruit.
Aftertaste: The aftertaste is the lingering impression that remains in your mouth after swallowing the coffee. And yes, there are some people who enjoy this part of drinking coffee, not immediately reaching for a mint to clear their palette. Does it leave a pleasant, lingering finish, or is it abrupt?
Practice and Compare: The best way to differentiate between coffees and train your palate is to compare between more than one coffee at a time. Whereas a fruity note might not be immediately apparent in one particular cup, it may become more so when tasted after one where it is totally absent.
Taste different coffees side by side to compare their aromas, flavours, and aftertaste. This will help you recognise and differentiate between different tasting notes.
Remember, that training your palette to recognise the subtle differences will take time and practice and while some characteristics will be obvious, tasting notes will always be a subjective art and can vary from person to person. Outside of the purpose of accurately selling particular coffee beans, the process of exploring and discovering the rich and diverse flavours that coffee has to offer is supposed to be fun endeavour and should heighten your coffee drinking experience.
What is the difference between taste, aroma and flavour?
While these are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a subtle difference.
TASTE is how we differentiate between the signals told to us by our tongues, most notably the 5 basic tastes: Salt, Sour, Bitter, Sweet and Umami.
AROMA is a fancy word for smell. It is primarily picked up through the nose and can begin to inform our taste buds even before we have taken a sip.
Which brings us onto FLAVOUR. This is the combination of aroma and taste which come together to create the unique experience, and satisfaction, of ingesting food or drink.
We pride ourselves here at The Coffee Bean Shop on sourcing and roasting the highest quality coffee beans here in the UK, and can provide you with the perfect starting point for getting really nerdy about coffee.
Want to learn more about what coffee tastes like, the best home brewing methods, or even a complete range of coffee recipes perfect for summer, have a browse of our blog for everything you could ever want to know about coffee, popular beverage recipes and more.