Are All Sour Coffees Good Coffee? Why Are Most Pour-Over Coffees Sour Nowadays?

The Rise of Acidic Coffee: Understanding Modern Pour-Over Trends

Nowadays, when you go to a coffee shop for a cup of pour-over coffee, 8 out of 10 coffee beans will have acidic flavors. This coffee bean has lemon acidity, that one has plum acidity. It seems as if only acidic coffee is considered the correct way to drink coffee in this century.

Why Modern Pour-Over Coffee Leans Toward Fruity Acidity

Why is today's pour-over coffee predominantly fruity and acidic? Some older customers have the impression that coffee should be bitter, rich, and aromatic. At that time, there weren't many discussions about comparative flavor profiles, or rather, this was simply considered "coffee flavor." Now, when various coffees with floral aromas and fruit acidity are presented before them, it's like encountering something entirely new—no longer the taste they remember from the past.

The Roasting Revolution

The rich and diverse flavors in today's coffee are largely due to transformations in roasting. The reason why coffee used to have bitter notes was mainly because roasters habitually roasted coffee deeply. It's worth noting that at that time, there were no distinctions between dark roast or light roast coffee. Mainstream roasters simply believed that the standard for properly roasted coffee beans was for them to undergo the second crack. What we now call French roast or Italian roast was a degree of roasting that, back then, represented mainstream roasting philosophy.

So didn't anyone think about roasting coffee beans lighter back then? FrontStreet Coffee believes there probably were some, whether intentionally or by accident, but it wasn't the mainstream approach at the time. Additionally, the quality of green beans wasn't as carefully considered as it is today, and roasting theory had not yet matured. If coffee was roasted too lightly, it "would have some defect flavors" and was considered a failed roast.

The Specialty Coffee Movement

One major catalyst for coffee developing acidic flavors was the concept of specialty coffee. The original purpose of specialty coffee was simply to distinguish quality coffee beans from bulk commodity beans, believing that some high-quality coffee beans shouldn't be buried among commodities but should be separated and given their proper value.

With better coffee bean quality, there naturally came significant changes in roasting. However, it's often the emerging forces that drive the wheels of history. Compared to established coffee cultures like Italy and France, Scandinavia appeared young and unconventional. I'm sure everyone has heard of "Nordic light roast."

In reality, Nordic roasting is much lighter than Italian style, but if judged by color values, it falls more into the medium roast category—not what we consider light roast today. In other words, the rise of alternative Nordic roasting expanded coffee flavors beyond just chocolate and nuts to include floral aromas and fruit acidity.

From a roasting perspective, lightly roasted coffee exhibits pleasant fruit sweetness and acidity, along with floral aromas. These flavors are very suitable for mainstream tastes. For regions that haven't experienced the "bitter coffee culture," acidic coffee is more easily accepted by people.

There's also a subtle reason: although light roast, pour-over coffee, and specialty coffee each represent different concepts, these elements have complemented each other and adapted to the times. Light roast serves as a litmus test for coffee beans—poor quality beans become undrinkable when lightly roasted. (Therefore, through careful "reverse reasoning," light roast coffee also guarantees bean quality.)

With market recognition, it's no surprise that the vast majority of coffee beans in specialty coffee shops are acidic pour-over varieties.

Are All Acidic Coffees Good?

Not all acidity in coffee is pleasant. From a chemical composition perspective, acids in coffee include citric acid, malic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, formic acid, and phosphoric acid. Acidity like lemon-like citric acid, Fuji apple-like malic acid, yogurt-like lactic acid, and carbonated beverage-like phosphoric acid are generally pleasant. If you taste these flavors in coffee, it's typically a sign of excellent quality.

Acetic acid is more situational. If it's a light fruit vinegar acidity, it can be considered excellent. However, if the acetic acid is too strong, like aged vinegar, then it's considered poor coffee.

Of course, there's also the sharp acidity caused by roasting or brewing issues. If there's very obvious citric acid stimulation without corresponding sweetness to balance it, it's also unqualified coffee. Alternatively, the spoilage acidity caused by over-anaerobic fermentation is also unpleasant. However, these types of acidity rarely appear in mature consumer markets, as such beans would typically be eliminated during cupping.

Important Notice :

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