How To Taste Coffee Like A Pro
Enjoying a cup of coffee is more than just a matter of liquid hitting your tongue, almost all of your senses come to life without you even knowing it.
Look, smell, touch and taste
Look
How does the coffee look? What colour is it? Is there the perfect amount of crema.
Smell
You can't beat the smell of fresh coffee, however, the smell is much more than just aroma, it’s about how we experience the natural flavours in coffee. Don’t be surprised to smell flavours such as red fruits, chocolate and vanilla in a good coffee.
Touch
For coffee, much like wine, touch equates to mouth feel known as the body. Different brewing methods produce a different body, think of it like milk; Skimmed milk would be light-bodied, semi-skimmed medium-bodied and full-fat well... full-bodied.
Taste
Most of us think that taste recognises flavour but its actually the job of smell... taste merely picks up four basic tastes - sweet, salty, bitter & acidic. All coffee will have a mixture of these tastes. As a rule, lighter roasts will be more acidic while darker roasts are more bitter.
So how should you taste coffee like a pro?
Our easy guide will take you through step by step:
1. Smell the dry coffee
Inhale the aroma of the dry coffee grounds before adding any water. Give the cup a firm tap on the table, and then bring it up to your nose to allow the aromas to release.
2. The pour
The pouring water should be approximately 94/95 degrees, so just off boiling. Let the coffee grinds infuse for around four minutes. The ideal coffee to water ratio is around 1:12 so for every gram of coffee you will need around 12ml of water so for 15g of coffee you will need approx. 180ml of water.
3. Breaking the crust
With a flat wide spoon (like a soup spoon) angled away from you, break the bubbly film on the top of the coffee to release the aroma. Push the spoon through the crust and put your face right up to it, inhaling the aroma from the coffee. As a rule sweeter, chocolatey flavours go well with milk, while fruity flavours are best served black.
As a rule sweeter, chocolatey flavours go well with milk, while fruity flavours are best served black.
4. The taste
At last! We finally get to taste the coffee. Skim the top of the coffee with the spoon, to avoid any floating grinds, and put a little on your tongue and slurp. YES SLURP! As with wine to taste coffee properly, you should slurp; try and coat your whole mouth and bring in as much oxygen as you can. Leave the coffee to cool for a while and taste again. As it cools, it releases more acidity, so the flavours change.
5. The ranking
Look out for the body, acidity, smell. Take note of the flavour and the aftertaste. Consider the flavour and acidity.
Is it chocolatey, fruity, dark or light? Is the body thick or thin? Lost? There is a great coffee tasting wheel on the Speciality Coffee Association’s website.
