How to Use the Specialty Coffee Flavor Wheel - Does It Give Coffee Tasters a Bonus Advantage?

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FrontStreet Coffee - Coffee Flavor Wheel Usage Guide

The Coffee Flavor Wheel was collaboratively designed by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and World Coffee Research (WCR) to assist you in coffee tasting and cupping. Since the flavor wheel is an auxiliary tool, it can be used intuitively. Here are some tips for using the flavor wheel:

Step 1: Overview of the Flavor Wheel

The flavor wheel is not only practical but also aesthetically pleasing, much like a good cup of coffee. It comprehensively describes coffee flavors. First, browse through these flavor descriptions and absorb these words. You might see some unfamiliar terms, but that's okay. We'll discuss this part later. For now, let's look at the flavors written on this wheel!

Step 2: Taste Coffee

The flavor wheel can be applied to informal or professional coffee cupping. In any case, the key to cupping is to taste coffee intuitively, prepare cupping procedures rigorously, and taste coffee from different aspects: the dry aroma after grinding, the wet aroma after adding water, and the flavors perceived when slurping. We define "flavor" as the combination perceived by taste and olfactory receptors. The flavor wheel includes sensations of taste (perceived by the tongue) and smell (perceived by the nasal cavity). However, most tasting experiences are mixed sensations, such as the sourness and aroma of lemon, sweetness, bitterness, and special aromas. Remember the flavors of the coffee you taste, then return to the flavor wheel.

Step 3: Start from the Center of the Flavor Wheel

Look from the center of the flavor wheel outward. The more general descriptions are closer to the center, while more precise descriptions are toward the outer edge. When using it, you can stop at any point on the flavor wheel as you wish; the further outward you look, the more specific and precise the flavor descriptions will be. For example, when tasting Ethiopian coffee, you might detect fruity flavors. At this point, look toward the fruity section. You might have different descriptive words: does "fruity" mean berries? dried fruit? citrus? or other fruits? If you choose citrus fruits, there will be more specific descriptions like grapefruit, orange, lemon, or lime. Once you've identified a flavor, return to the center of the flavor wheel and start searching for another flavor you taste, repeating this process until everyone agrees that the coffee's flavors have been thoroughly described. This is the basic function of the flavor wheel and is very easy to use. However, the flavor wheel offers more than this; professional users can utilize it further.

Step 4: Read the Words

The Coffee Flavor Wheel is drawn based on the "Coffee Sensory Lexicon" compiled by World Coffee Research, allowing users to appreciate coffee based on scientific evidence. Although many people may not use it to train their palate, this lexicon can still assist everyone in using the flavor wheel. Each flavor attribute has its definition and source, allowing users to examine specific words. The flavor wheel and sensory lexicon can be used well together, and if needed, you can trace the source of words. The lexicon is not only a tool for training us to describe flavors but also excellent reference material for professional cuppers. Although many terms may be unfamiliar chemical or technical terms, they all have clear explanations and sources.

Step 5: Reference Flavor Sources

Each word in WCR has corresponding source materials, many of which are resources easily obtained in daily life, such as supermarkets or online. However, remember that aromas cannot be observed, while flavors might be, so you must taste and smell coffee to increase the connection between aromas and flavors. It's recommended to use a cup for smelling, concentrate the aromas, note down what you feel, and then connect to the flavors you perceive through recollection.

Step 6: Return to the Center of the Flavor Wheel

As you become familiar with the words in the lexicon (sometimes referencing one or two words), taste coffee and return to the center of the flavor wheel again, using specific words to describe flavors. Then look at adjacent words, and you'll notice that the distances between words on the chart are not uniform. If two words are connected on the chart, it means professional cuppers consider them closely related in attributes; if there's a space between them, it means cuppers don't consider them strongly related. Extending this further, if the gaps in the middle of the flavor wheel are larger, it represents less correlation between categories; this can be very helpful for cuppers when describing flavors during sensory calibration, or for helping most people understand the flavors you're describing.

If two words are closely arranged, it represents high flavor correlation;

If there's a gap, it represents low correlation between the words.

Step 7: Use Your Own Descriptions

The advantage of using these tools is that they can become a common language for cupping. Coffee professionals can understand and use the descriptions on the flavor wheel. Having it in cupping rooms or coffee shops allows for a common method of communication. Although it's good to describe as much as possible, this increases communication difficulties. Therefore, focusing on a common language is what we pursue when discussing coffee.

Step 8: Study the Colors on the Chart

Our visual senses have strong connections with other senses. The appearance of food affects our associations with its taste, which is why we often use visual terms to describe flavors: this coffee tastes "bright" or we use descriptions like "red" or "green." Due to this discovery, we paid special attention to the colors on the flavor wheel, trying to connect the color attributes of each word. This might help hesitant cuppers find a description. If a cupper can only express "it tastes like some kind of red fruit," they can look at the red area on the flavor wheel. "Some kind of brown food" would guide the cupper to the left side of the flavor wheel, where they might find stimulating spices or grain flavors.

Knowledge Point

The renowned American Counter Culture Coffee launched a new Coffee Tasters Flavor Wheel. This system is based on the traditional SCAA version but is more timely and aligned with contemporary styles.

In Summary

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research workshop dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month, we hold three coffee promotion events with significant discounts because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest prices. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past six years!

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