How to best taste coffee?

Coffee tasting

Most coffee bags describe the flavour profile of the coffee beans. A cup of freshly brewed coffee can tell a lot to someone with a keen interest in coffee. By tasting, it can be determined which type of beans were used, perhaps their origin, from which country or region, which processing method was used, which roast, and even how this cup of coffee was prepared. After roasting, coffee beans contain thousands of different molecules that can be discovered in a cup of the prepared drink.  

Tasting through cupping

The process of coffee tasting, or cupping, involves all our senses.
First, we look at the colour of the coffee, or the crema, the texture of the crema (when present), and the clarity of the colour. After examining the coffee, we bring it to our nose and smell the aromas. Perhaps you can describe what the aromas remind you of. Then the coffee is slurped up with a cupping spoon and rolled around the mouth. Attention is paid to, among other things, the mouthfeel, the aftertaste, and its duration.

Flavours and aromas

Most taste buds are found on our tongue. Our tongue can distinguish five different tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami. The deeper flavours, such as naming whether the coffee has a berry, citrus, or tropical fruit taste, come through our nose and are aromas. For example, when you have a cold, you no longer smell these aromas and cannot "taste" as well. To make it easier to articulate flavours, the flavour wheel has been developed. It is, after all, easier to communicate to others that the coffee has an aftertaste of strawberry and apricot than to say it tastes like a sweet summer sun.

In addition to distinguishing flavours and aromas, we also experience a mouthfeel; just as with wine tasting, we describe the thickness of the coffee we experience in our mouth. Every country and region has its own climate. Coffee from a different area therefore also tastes different.

Tasting coffee at home

With Kaldi's tasting kits, you can discover various coffees. In this way, find your ideal taste, or find out what makes each coffee different.  

1. Grab a bag of coffee beans to test, or create a real tasting by using multiple, different coffees.

2. Use multiple cafetières or "rinse" your coffee machine after the first cup with a small handful of the new coffee beans before comparing multiple cups of coffee.

3. Let the coffee cool down a bit. It is easier to distinguish the different aromas in warm coffee than in hot coffee.

4. Look at the coffee carefully and try to say something about the colour; is the coffee transparent or intense in colour, does the coffee have a crema layer, and what does it look like? Is it a thick crema layer or a thin one, and is the crema dark or light in colour?

5. Take a few small sips of the first coffee before moving on to the next cup and try to name the differences. This is very difficult.

First, focus on the texture. What is the mouthfeel of the first coffee compared to the second coffee? Is the first sweeter than the second, or does it contain more acidity? Try to write down a few words as you taste.

6. Don't worry about the aromas. Aromas are the most difficult to name. You can use a flavour wheel as a reference. If you can name an aroma, write it down. If not, don't worry. Every word or sentence that describes what you taste is useful. For example, do you taste spices, fruit, or flowers? You can make it even more difficult for yourself by naming the type of fruit. Do you taste citrus, tropical fruit, or berries?

7. When you are finished tasting, compare it with others, or look at the coffee description. Coffee suppliers often try to communicate about the taste of the coffee on their packaging. Describing flavours is becoming easier. Even experienced tasters continue to practice this.