Why Does Coffee Have a Sweet Aftertaste? What is Coffee's Finish? How to Describe the Aftertaste of Pour-Over Coffee

The Art of Coffee Aftertaste

"Whether it's coffee or other things, judging quality by the richness of the aftertaste is quite appropriate. In music, aftertaste is the overtone; in painting, it's harmony; and in taste, it's the endless lingering after the cup is empty."

This is Mr. Morimori's interpretation of aftertaste in his book "The Way of Coffee," which left a deep impression on FrontStreet Coffee. FrontStreet Coffee often mentions aftertaste in daily articles. Regarding coffee aftertaste, simply put, it's the sudden aroma and flavor we can feel in our mouth after swallowing coffee. Coffee tasting can be divided into three stages: beginning (smelling), process (tasting), and end (lingering). Experiencing aftertaste is the final step in our coffee tasting process. Therefore, aftertaste is also a standard for judging the quality of coffee.

What Creates Aftertaste?

Aftertaste emits not only flavors but also aromas, so when experiencing it, we need to use both taste and smell, just as we do with flavors. This is precisely why aftertaste is categorized together with "Flavor" in the SCA cupping form.

The reason we feel aftertaste after drinking coffee mainly stems from the trace amounts of coffee liquid and coffee oils that remain in the mouth after swallowing. These substances contain certain compounds, such as oil-soluble aromatic substances and sweet, sour, and bitter tastes. After we finish drinking coffee, the mouth is stimulated to secrete saliva, which dissolves (or combines with) these substances. At this point, the compounds in the oils are released (and may also volatilize on their own) and then captured by our sense of taste and smell. However, we can find that not all coffees we drink daily have obvious aftertaste. This is because we can only capture aromas and flavors—that is, aftertaste—when the concentration of substances reaches our perception threshold. The concentration of substances is related to many aspects and is affected by the quality of the coffee beans themselves, the degree of roasting, and the extraction method and quality of the coffee.

Factors Affecting Coffee Aftertaste

The impact of coffee beans themselves on aftertaste: As we all know, when coffee beans accumulate more substances during growth, their quality is relatively higher. This is because during the roasting process, coffee beans with higher substance content can generate richer aromatic substances, and these coffees will have more obvious flavor and aftertaste performance after brewing. This is why aftertaste can become a measure of coffee quality, because the strength of aftertaste is affected by the quality of the coffee.

The impact of roasting on coffee aftertaste: The duration of aftertaste varies among different coffees because the molecular weight in coffee differs. Small molecular aromas are simpler to volatilize and extract than large molecular aromas, so we can feel them directly and quickly; while large molecular aromas are the opposite. Because they are harder to extract and volatilize, they stay in the mouth longer. The reason some coffees have longer aftertaste is because the coffee liquid contains more large molecular substances. This is certainly related to extraction, but roasting also plays a part.

When coffee is roasted darker and for longer, more large molecular substances are produced. Compared to lightly roasted, short-time roasted coffee, their aftertaste duration will be longer. Conversely, if the aftertaste is too short or even nonexistent, besides the impact caused by extraction, there is also the possibility of insufficient development in roasting. The impact of extraction on aftertaste: As the final consumers, we only control the last step, which is extraction. When the first two factors are fixed, the strength of coffee aftertaste is mainly controlled by us. With the same concentration, the higher the coffee extraction rate, the more oil is retained, and the stronger and more prominent the aftertaste performance.

FrontStreet Coffee believes everyone already understands the reasons from the other cases mentioned above, so we won't elaborate further here.

How to Enrich Coffee Aftertaste

Making coffee have a richer aftertaste is not difficult, but we need to know that aftertaste also has good and bad distinctions. Coffee quality, roasting, and extraction all affect the performance of aftertaste. As final consumers, if we want to obtain rich aftertaste performance, we naturally need to adjust from the extraction method. Endless extraction is obviously not advisable because coffee has not only positive flavors but also negative characteristics. Therefore, what we need to do is to improve the completeness and intensity of coffee extraction during the extraction process, extracting as much substance from the coffee as possible without releasing negative substances, while maintaining concentration. In this way, we can obtain excellent aftertaste performance. As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned earlier, aftertaste can be equated with flavor in a sense, so doing this not only elevates the aftertaste but also enhances the concentration of flavor.

Different coffee extraction methods will make coffee aftertaste performance very different. For example, using the same coffee beans for pour-over coffee and espresso extraction, the aftertaste of the extracted espresso will definitely be stronger and longer than that of pour-over coffee. Besides the higher concentration mentioned by FrontStreet Coffee, it's also because espresso's filtration method is not as precise, allowing more coffee lipids to penetrate through the portafilter. Therefore, with the enhancement of lipids, coffee will have more excellent aftertaste performance.

But this is not to say that pour-over coffee cannot produce excellent coffee aftertaste—of course it can. The three-stage brewing method that FrontStreet Coffee shares daily is a good example. Coffee not only obtains complete extraction but also has a relatively high concentration. Besides brewing methods, we can also change the filter paper! Using filters such as non-woven fabric or flannel for pour-over coffee production, their larger pores allow more lipids to penetrate. With the enhancement of oils, coffee can not only be smoother but also have excellent aroma and aftertaste performance.

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