Professional Coffee Tasting Knowledge: Why Do Different Cups Affect the Taste of Coffee?

The Impact of Coffee Cups on Flavor Perception

As the saying goes, a good horse deserves a fine saddle, and fine tea deserves a proper container. As the primary vessel for holding coffee, the different designs of cups have gradually gained attention for their impact on the tasting experience. Some coffee shops even invest heavily in creating specialized coffee cup sets to provide a dual experience of visual aesthetics and taste buds.

Similar to wine, cup shape does have a certain impact on the sensory experience of coffee. Therefore, which type of cup to choose for different coffees has gradually become a concern for many enthusiasts. Today, let's temporarily set aside price considerations and experiment with comparing the effects of drinking the same pot of coffee using cups of different shapes.

Establishing Common Ground

First, we need to reach two points of consensus:

1. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the definition of a coffee cup should be born from coffee making itself. As long as it's a container that can hold liquid, even pots, bowls, and spoons from home can be called "coffee cups." Therefore, there's no distinction between superior and inferior—only what suits you best is the finest choice.

2. Coffee is the protagonist, while the cup is merely a supporting character. Once a cup of coffee has been extracted, regardless of the container's price, size, thickness, depth, material, or shape, it ultimately won't affect the flavor compounds contained within. Therefore, when coffee is over-extracted or under-extracted, even using the most expensive cup won't help.

Tasting the Same Coffee from Different Cups

What differences in flavor emerge when drinking the same pot of coffee from cups of different shapes?

Due to the wide variety of coffee tasting cups on the market, FrontStreet Coffee will focus on mainstream rim types, selecting three relatively common styles for comparison: open-rim, straight-bodied, and narrow-rim types. During the process, FrontStreet Coffee will record flavors through the stages of smelling coffee aroma and tasting at both high and low temperatures.

Experimental Setup

To obtain more reference information, FrontStreet Coffee will use three coffee beans for the experiment. The first is a dark roast FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain No. 1, used to experience richness, body, and balance (brewing parameters: 15g coffee, 1:15 ratio, 87°C water temperature, EK43s setting -10.5/Chinese standard sieve 75% pass rate, three-pour method).

The second is a medium roast FrontStreet Coffee Sidra, featuring rich floral and fruit notes with full, satisfying sweet and sour textures (brewing parameters: 15g coffee, 1:15 ratio, 91°C water temperature, EK43s setting -9.5/Chinese standard sieve 82% pass rate, three-pour method).

The third is a light roast Gesha Village Red Label, primarily showcasing light floral aromas, acidity, and aftertaste (brewing parameters: 15g coffee, 1:15 ratio, 91°C water temperature, EK43s setting -10/Chinese standard sieve 80% pass rate, three-pour method).

Aroma Analysis

In the aroma stage, all three coffees showed similar trends: the open-rim cup's coffee aroma was fleeting and quickly became the lightest of the three; the straight-bodied cup's aroma concentration was moderate with little change; the narrow-rim cup had the richest aroma, with each bean's characteristics well represented.

Flavor Performance by Bean

Blue Mountain No. 1 Flavor Performance: The straight-bodied cup showed the most concentrated flavor, high intensity, and rich body; the narrow-rim cup had noticeable sweet aftertaste, clear and smooth; the open-rim cup was overall lighter, with slight acidity and lacking richness.

Sidra Flavor Performance: The open-rim cup leaned toward citrus and stone fruit acidity, with some tea-like notes; the narrow-rim cup had the highest sweetness, tasting like mature grape juice; the straight-bodied cup maintained good balance in both aroma and mouthfeel, remaining comfortable from beginning to end.

Gesha Village Red Label Flavor Performance: The straight-bodied cup had rich fruit aroma, solid mouthfeel, and tea-like astringency in the finish; the narrow-rim cup's aroma wasn't prominent but caramel notes stood out; the open-rim cup had relatively distinct layers, with bright fruit acidity and slight fermentation notes at high temperatures, revealing citrus and black tea characteristics as it cooled.

Why Do Cups Affect Coffee Taste?

The structure of the human tongue makes us differently sensitive to various tastes. Generally, the tip and edges of the tongue more easily detect saltiness, the root of the tongue responds to bitterness and spiciness, the front of the tongue is more sensitive to sweetness, and the sides near the cheeks are often stimulated by sourness. When we combine this with the flavor comparison records above, we can draw some general conclusions.

Open-Rim Cups

Open-rim cups are wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with large diameters and rims that tilt outward at more than 45 degrees. When used for drinking coffee, the liquid has maximum contact with air, so aroma dissipates quickly. The larger tilt angle allows coffee to flow most smoothly into the mouth while also being most dispersed, first flowing across the sides and tip of the tongue. Therefore, when tasting light to medium roast coffees, it's easier to capture fruity sweetness and acidity as well as subtle flavor variations, suitable for African beans like FrontStreet Coffee's Guji and FrontStreet Coffee's Xiaofanqie.

Straight-Bodied Cups

Straight-bodied cups maintain basically consistent diameter from rim to middle, some perpendicular to the tabletop, with taller bodies. The straight-line design allows coffee liquid to flow concentrated into the mouth, creating greater impact on the entire oral cavity's senses, especially during medium to high temperature tasting. The flavor concentration is highest, with full and solid mouthfeel, better expressing richness and caramel aromas, making it more suitable for dark roast coffees like FrontStreet Coffee's Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's Huilan.

Narrow-Rim Cups

Narrow-rim cups are characterized by their inward-curving tops and outward-bulging bodies, allowing aromas to release at the widest point before converging at the rim, which better facilitates aroma appreciation. Many red wine glasses adopt this narrow-rim design.

When drinking coffee from a narrow-rim cup, we first need to raise our jaw, forming a forward-concentrated shape with our lips. At this point, the coffee liquid preferentially lands on the front of the tongue, which is more sensitive to sweetness, before distributing throughout the mouth. Therefore, it provides weaker aroma but the highest sweetness perception. To highlight its advantages, FrontStreet Coffee believes it's best to choose beans with flavor descriptions of candied fruit (dried fruit), toffee, ripe fruit, or fermentation notes, such as medium roast coffees like FrontStreet Coffee's Sidra and FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy.

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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