Coffee tasting
Flavor is the overall perception of the coffee in your mouth. Acidity, aroma, and body are all components of flavor. It is the balance and homogenization of these senses that create your overall perception of flavor. On the following page we describe the typical flavor characteristics.While tasting the coffee, you should try to discern whether the flavor, body, acidity and aroma of the coffee is pleasant, or unpleasant. Here are the criteria that most tasters use to judge coffee:
Acidity
Acidity is a desirable characteristic in coffee. It is the sensation of dryness that the coffee produces under the edges of your tongue and on the back of your palate. The role acidity plays in coffee is not unlike its role as related to the flavor of wine. It provides a sharp, bright, vibrant quality. With out sufficient acidity, the coffee will tend to taste flat. Acidity should not be confused with sour, which is an unpleasant, negative flavor characteristic.
Aroma
Aroma is a sensation which is difficult to separate from flavor. Without our sense of smell, our only taste sensations would be: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. The aroma contributes to the flavors we discern on our palates. Subtle nuances, such as “floral” or “winy” characteristics, are derived from the aroma of the brewed coffee.
Body
Body is the feeling that the coffee has in your mouth. It is the viscosity, heaviness, thickness, or richness that is perceived on the tongue. A good example of body would be that of the feeling of whole milk in your mouth, as compared to water. Your perception of the body of a coffee is related to the oils and solids extracted during brewing. Typically, Indonesian coffees will possess greater body than South and Central American coffees. If you are unsure of the level of body when comparing several coffees, try adding an equal amount of milk to each. Coffees with a heavier body will maintain more of their flavor when diluted.
Regions of Coffe
There are four popular coffee regions in the world, below you will find a list with more information.
- Arabia & Africa: These are some of the most distinct coffees you will ever taste. includes coffees from Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Grown at the perfect altitude in rich black soil and the almost foggy evenings with hot days produce a coffee of legendary stature.
- The Americas: These coffees are grown on some of the most beautiful mountains ever witnessed. With virtually rainforest conditions these coffees are grown in an almost perfect atmosphere bearing the most aromatic and well balanced coffees of all time. Includes coffees from Colombia, Costa Rica And Guatemala. Coffees of the Americas represent what you will find in many of our blends.
- The Pacific: Ready to go island hopping? Well that’s what you will have to do to find all the great coffees grown in the pacific. Includes coffees from Sumatra, Java, New Guinea and Sulawesi. The almost magical climate with some of the best coffee growers in the world produces coffees that will embed themselves into your taste buds forever.
- Exotics: Includes Certified Jamaica Blue Mountain and Certified Hawaiian Kona
Coffe Characters
Coffee grows on varied soils – volcanic, siliceous clay, alluvial and peat and sand. Like the vine, soil gives a particular character to the same botanical species and different “Vintages” arise. Soil must be deep (roots are 1 to 2 metres) and acid (pH 4.5 to 6).
Important growing factors are:
- Avoiding excessive cold and heat.
- 1200-1500mm of rain per annum.
- A few hours of light per day.
- No strong winds.
- Altitude – The higher the better.
Coffee grows between 28 degrees North and 30 degrees South; so growing areas include Central America, Caribbean, Brazil, West Africa, East Africa and Yemen, Madagascar, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The Cherry
The cherry is the name usually given to the fruit of the coffee tree. Botanists prefer to call it the “drupe”. Green to begin with, the berries ripen over several months, becoming successively yellow, then red, garnet red, and finally almost black.
The ideal time for harvesting is when the berries are red. Inside the drupe, protected by the “mesocarp” or pulp, lie two small beans separated by a groove. These must be extracted and roasted before they can be used for consumption. Coffee is a member of the Rubiaceous family (Gardenias, Quinquina, Garence), it has a lot in common with Jasmine. The plant was first classified in 1753 and there are now about 60 different species, each having different varieties. However, there are two main types: Arabica and Robusta.
A Coffee called Cafétière
For the perfect Cafétière coffee, use water that has just come off the boil – boiling water will scald the coffee and impair its flavour.
Add two teaspoons of ground coffee per cup – moisten the grounds with a little of the water first to release the flavour before topping up to the desired level.
Brew for one to two minutes before pushing down the plunger.
Add milk and sugar to taste.
Types of Coffee
Cafétière Coffee
For the perfect Cafétière coffee, use water that has just come off the boil – boiling water will scald the coffee and impair its flavour.
Add two teaspoons of ground coffee per cup – moisten the grounds with a little of the water first to release the flavour before topping up to the desired level.
Brew for one to two minutes before pushing down the plunger.
Add milk and sugar to taste.
Types of Coffee
A Caffe Latte is a single shot of espresso with steamed milk. The milk is steamed, not frothed to produce a smooth texture. There is no frothed milk in this drink. A latte is the perfect coffee for those who like a milky coffee that still has plenty of flavour. It is the ideal breakfast coffee but is great any time of day.
The basics of a caffè latte is espresso.
A Caffe Latte should have approximately 120 – 150 ml of milk in it.
Serve in tall, heatproof glasses.
Some History
According to the legend, coffee was discovered in Ethiopia, where it grew wild. Some shepherds discovered that their flocks didn’t sleep during the night after eating coffee.
Another legend gives us the name for coffee or “mocha”. An Arabian was banished to the desert with his followers to die of starvation. In desperation, Omar had his friends boil and eat the fruit from an unknown plant. Not only did the broth save the exiles, but their survival was taken as a religious sign by the residents of the nearest town, Mocha. The plant and its beverage were named Mocha to honor this event.
In the 9th century in the Muslim world, coffee began use as a medicine, was liked for taste and became a pleasurable drink.
During the 14th century some coffee trees were transplanted to Arabia. They named it Kaweh.
One early use for coffee would have little appeal today. The Galla tribe from Ethiopia used coffee, but not as a drink. They would wrap the beans in animal fat as their only source of nutrition while on raiding parties. The Turks were the first country to adopt it as a drink, often adding spices such as clove, cinnamon, cardamom and anise to the brew.
By 1500 it was already in Turkey and then in Italy. In 1720 Gabriel Mathieu de Chieu, a French Marine Official, brought to Martinica three coffee trees from Paris. Only one of these trees survived the trip. From this surviving tree, coffee growing started in the New World.
Coffee shops began to open in the late 1600’s in country’s capital cities then in the larger cities and from then on into the beginnings of domestic use.
How is it?
Coffee is…
- The second most widely used product in the world after oil.
- It was worth 6 million tonnes per year in the mid 90’s.
- It is worth €30 billion per year to the producing countries.
- It is a living to more than 100 million people.
- It is consumed at the rate of 1400 million cups per day.
- The world’s second most popular drink after water.
Where did the word ‘coffee’ originate?
Kaffa? A province in Ethiopia where it was first discovered.
Kaaba? The holy building in Mecca.
Kavus Kai? A Persian king who was able to defy gravity and levitate by drinking coffee.
Kahwe? Meaning roasted in Turkish.
Cahouah? A hunger curing drink in Arabic.
Cohuet? Meaning strength or vigour in Arabic.
Items of Coffee
- Vincent Van Gogh was a big frequenter of the café society and famously said “I have tried to show the café as a place where one can go mad.”
- Pope Clement VIII loved coffee and authorised its use.
- Revolutions have been planned in coffee houses, namely the French and the American Revolutions.
- At the end of the 16th century records show there were at least 500 cafes in Istanbul alone. The first European cafes were opened by immigrants from Asia around 1650.
- A coffee tree has a lifespan of about 50 to 70 years.
- The coffee cherries turn from yellow to orange and then bright red, 6 – 8 months after flowering.
- When it is in bloom, the coffee tree is covered with 30,000 white flowers which begin to develop into fruit after 24 – 36 hours.
- A coffee tree can flower eight times in any one year – depending on rainfall.
- There are 900 different flavours of arabica. Complex and very volatile, they deteriorate if exposed to air and light.
- The aromas in coffee develop at the 10th minute of roasting.
- Coffee increases in volume during roasting by 18.60%.
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