Tasting Notes

These days any serious coffee roaster has tasting notes on their products. Some are a simple descriptor whilst other use flowery language to entice you to purchase their coffee. So you buy the coffee, pull a great espresso shot and all you can taste is…coffee?

In the large majority of cases this is exactly right. Tasting notes refer to the nuanced flavours that come after the coffee taste; They are secondary to the main coffee taste. Flavour perception varies from person to person. It is both a natural skill as well as a skill that you can develop. The more coffee you taste the more you with be able to discern discrete flavours. Scientists have discovered over 900 chemical elements in coffee. Your ability to perceive each element will affect your assessment of the coffee.

So do not be discouraged when that amazing coffee you bought does not taste like “raspberry sorbet with hints of roasted almond”. The person who wrote that description has likely being tasting coffees professionally for years and has an unusually sensitive palate. The coffee that they tasted would typically be quite lightly roasted in comparison to what you buy. Each coffee brewing method will elicit different flavours and aromas from the same coffee.

So take the tasting notes you read with a pinch of salt, or dash of milk if you prefer and simply enjoy the coffee that tastes good to you.