Learn About Coffee

How To Taste Coffee

As with fine wines, there are so many great coffees to choose from that one may feel a bit overwhelmed in attempting to appraise each of them. Take heart. There is an easy method to finding what’s most enjoyable for you.

How to taste
First, smell the coffee. You can start by sniffing the coffee when it is freshly ground, and then smelling the brewed coffee to compare the two aromas. Besides the obvious coffee smell, what does each aroma remind you of? A plant or flower you’ve smelled? Wood? Earth? Leave your mind wide open.

Next, taste the coffee. To get the fullest flavor, we recommend you slurp it, taking the liquid into your mouth so that it spreads evenly over the entire surface of your tongue and reaches all of your taste buds at once. Don’t be afraid to make a loud noise.

If it’s possible, it’s best to taste several different coffees side by side, so the comparisons you make are as fresh in your mind and taste buds as possible. Prepare all the samples the same way, so they are consistent with each other. Take your time, and enjoy the process. The more you taste, the better you get at it.

Flavor characteristics of the four major growing regions
Every fine coffee is known for particular characteristics that make it unique. But there are taste generalizations for the three major coffee-growing regions that can be helpful to keep in mind when tasting coffee:

Latin American coffees are known for their clean mouth feel and slightly sweet, lively acidity. In some of these coffees, the acidity sparkles clearly above the other flavor components; in others, it provides a subtle but crisp accent.

Africa and Arabia produce coffees that often have sweet flavors reminiscent of the aroma of a bowl of fresh fruit. This quality is balanced in some of these coffees by a somewhat tart acidity. This region exhibits a wide range of flavors, from mellow and winy to zesty and citrus.

Indonesian and Pacific coffees are generally rich and full-bodied, with nutty and earthy flavors. Most can be described as smooth in acidity with a slightly dry finish.

Hawai’ian coffees are in a class all by themselves. Rich, smooth, non-acidic, full-bodied and mellow. These are the only coffees produced in America, and those from the famed Kona region are considered to be the world’s finest.