How to Properly Evaluate Coffee? Standards for Assessing Coffee Cleanliness, Acidity, Sweetness, Mouthfeel, and Aftertaste

The Art of Coffee Tasting: Beyond Flavor Identification

When it comes to coffee tasting, many people associate it with identifying flavors. There seems to be a close connection between being considered skilled at coffee tasting and the ability to detect numerous flavors.

In reality, this isn't necessarily the case. Tasting means to taste and distinguish, which differs from ordinary coffee drinking. Just as we often enjoy tasting single-origin coffee but rarely savor instant coffee.

This isn't merely because single-origin coffee tastes better than instant coffee, but rather because people have different purposes for these two types of coffee. Instant coffee itself is positioned as a convenient caffeine supplement, so naturally, those who drink it don't have high expectations for its flavor. Single-origin coffee exists precisely for better flavor, and people naturally take the time to savor it seriously.

However, tasting coffee isn't limited to whether you can detect flavors. FrontStreet Coffee believes the most fundamental aspect is being able to distinguish whether coffee tastes good and where exactly it tastes good. Or alternatively, when encountering unpleasant flavors, understanding what makes them unpleasant... FrontStreet Coffee suggests approaching tasting from these several perspectives:

Aroma

Before drinking coffee, take a moment to smell its aroma. Even if you can't accurately describe specific flavors, you can still detect sweet floral and fruity scents, or caramel and nutty coffee aromas. This is undoubtedly the most essential part of coffee.

Acidity

The acidity mentioned here doesn't mean the sourer the better, but rather the quality of the acidity. For example, when tasting coffee, if the acidity resembles that of fresh fruits, this indicates that the coffee has good acidity quality. It's typically described as bright acidity, mild acidity, or well-defined acidity.

Some less desirable acidity qualities include spoiled acidity (over-fermented rotten taste), strong vinegar acidity (vinegar taste), and sharp acidity (harsh).

Of course, some coffees have no acidity at all, such as dark roasted Mandheling coffee.

Sweetness

Sweetness is quite straightforward—it refers to the degree of sweetness. Humans cannot resist sweetness, as it triggers dopamine release in the brain, bringing pleasure. The same applies to coffee—naturally, the sweeter the coffee, the better it is. (This refers to the inherent sweetness of coffee itself, excluding added sugar.)

Whether it's coffee dominated by acidic or bitter notes, with careful tasting, you can also perceive its sweetness. Coffee's sweetness isn't detected by taste buds alone like sugar, but rather perceived through the combination of taste and smell.

If you haven't detected the sweetness in coffee, try more single-origin coffees from different regions to expand your coffee tasting repertoire and make comparisons. This will help you understand what coffee sweetness is all about.

Mouthfeel

When drinking coffee, besides the collaboration of taste and smell, the sense of touch also joins in. Here, touch refers to the texture of coffee perceived by the mouth and tongue, simply called mouthfeel.

Generally, good coffee allows you to perceive its "body," similar to how you can clearly feel the texture when drinking yogurt. We typically describe it as rich, smooth, substantial, or delicate.

Poor mouthfeel feels as thin as water or has a grainy roughness. These are very easily noticeable.

Aftertaste

Some friends enjoy conversing while drinking coffee, which actually causes them to miss the opportunity to experience the aftertaste. Aftertaste is the aroma that returns to the mouth and nasal cavity after swallowing coffee.

Perhaps when drinking coffee, after swallowing, you can close your mouth and exhale through your nose to experience the coffee's aftertaste. The most commonly perceived aftertastes include fruity tea notes, light floral aromas, honey undertones, and caramel cocoa flavors. It should be noted that what's referred to as "sweet return" doesn't belong to the category of aftertaste.

Off-flavors

Off-flavors refer to some tastes that clearly shouldn't appear in normal coffee, and this aspect is also very easy to detect. What we generally call off-flavors include earthy taste, wood chip taste, medicinal taste, rubber taste, burnt bitterness, and astringency.

If a cup of coffee doesn't have those unpleasant off-flavors, we would describe it as clean and well-defined.

Tasting coffee doesn't necessarily require describing flavors. Being able to distinguish whether coffee tastes good and explaining why is sufficient!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473