Coffee Tasting Guide
A step-by-step guide to identifying each coffee's distinctive characteristics using the Coffee Tasting Framework.
Coffee Tasting Framework
Identify and communicate each coffee's distinctive characteristics
With this guide, you’ll learn how to identify a coffee's defining characteristics and understand why some coffees are tastier than others. Plus, recognise the coffee drinkers that will find it appealing.
Print the latest version of the The Coffee Tasting Sheet, plus use the Aroma Map and Flavour Wheel to understand what makes each coffee unique.
Preparation
Set yourself up for success
It's best to work through this guide with a cup of coffee. Ideally, brew a distinctive, single-estate coffee.
This framework works across all brewing methods, but we’ll assume you’re drinking filter coffee.
Brewing for Tasting
- Brew at least 250 ml of filter coffee to SCA standards, using around 60 grams of ground coffee per litre of water.
- Begin tasting once the coffee cools to 75°C (you can assess the visual characteristics while the brew is hotter).
- Finish the tasting assessment before the temperature drops below 50°C.
Serve the coffee in a glass tumbler so you can easily assess colour and transparency. A white porcelain cup is also acceptable. If using a tumbler, place it on a light surface (such as a white tablecloth or sheet of paper, if your tabletop is dark or textured).
Print a Coffee Tasting Sheeet per person for each coffee. And everyone will require a pen or pencil.
Coffee Tasting Sheet
Look & Smell
Before you drink, take a moment to assess each coffee's colours and aromas.
Visual
Look, really look, at the coffee
What colour is the brew? How transparent is it?
Coffee has a range of brown hues: some are reddish, others yellowish or greenish.
The transparency varies too. Some brews are completely opaque; others let the light pass through.
Consider
- How do colour and opacity shape your expectations of aroma, mouthfeel and flavour?
Aroma
Raise the tumbler to your nose, smell the coffee
What does the coffee smell like?
You can use the Coffee Aroma Map to identify key primary aromas.
Are there more specific second-order aromas? For example, does a strawberry note smell ripe or unripe?
Do aromas combine into compounded aromas? For example, do a strawberry and vegetative note evoke a strawberry patch? Or might strawberry and sweetness suggest jam?
Primary aromas should be distinct and readily identifiable. Most specialty coffees should have at least one aroma from the top loop and one from the bottom loop.
Consider
- Do aroma and colour correlate, or diverge, noticeably?
- How do the aromas shape your expectations of flavour?
on the palate
Coffee’s flavour evolves as it cools. Different compounds volatilise at different temperatures. Many coffees are easier to taste – and more expressive – below 70°C. We recommend tasting between 50°C and 75°C to reflect real-world drinking experiences.
Mouthfeel
Swirl the coffee around your mouth
How does the coffee feel in your mouth? Is it light, medium or heavy?
Does it have a distinctive texture? For example is it effervescence, viscous or astringent?
The coffee’s body can be categorised as light, medium or heavy. The ‘weight’ is important when it is notable. For example, is the coffee particularly, or unexpectedly, light or heavy.
Some coffees have a distinctive feel on the palate, this is called ‘texture’. For example, some coffees have lightly sparkling sensation, despite not being carbonated. Others are particularly syrupy on the inside of your mouth and can be labelled as viscous. Texture describes only the feel. For example, a coffee could be both light bodied and viscous.
Understanding Astringency
Probably the most miscommunicated coffee mouthfeel descriptor is astringency, which is quite common especially in lower-quality coffees. This is the texture associated with a drying of your mouth (try eating a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder).
Label this mouthfeel as astringent. The term 'dry' comes from wine and means not-sweet. It has nothing to do with mouthfeel. For example, the sweetness scale extends from dry to sweet.
Mouthfeel is a critical and often under-appreciated, quality. Even consumers with limited tasting experience instinctively respond to it. People generally prefer a soft, silky or viscous mouthfeels and dislike thin or astringent brews.
Consider
- Is mouthfeel aligned with colour or aroma?
- Is the mouthfeel pleasant?
Taste
Hold the brew in your mouth
Which basic tastes are present? Is the coffee balanced?
There are just five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. These attributes are detected on the tongue.
Acids are present in all coffees and are perceived as sour and all coffees have some bitterness. Well-roasted coffees have some sweetness. Saltiness is rare. Umami is becoming more common with the increased prevalence of fermentation processing methods.
Identifying Tastes
If you are struggling to distinguish between bitterness and sourness, swirl the coffee around your mouth, swallow, then look at your feet and open your mouth. If saliva would drip out, it’s acidity.
Consider
- Is there a correlation between aroma and taste?
- Are the tastes harmoniously balanced?
Flavour
Let air mix with the brew while it's in your mouth
What are this coffee’s defining flavours?
Use the Coffee Flavour Wheel to identify key primary flavours. Good coffees have at least one readily identifiable flavours; great coffees often have four or more.
Are there more specific second-order flavours? For example, might a peach flavour be unripe or ripe? Or even a particular variety?
Do flavours and tastes combine into compound flavours? Might cocoa plus sweetness evoke chocolate?
Don’t overreach for flavours. If a note is faint or dull, it’s not worth recording.
Consider
- Do colour, aroma and flavour align?
Do flavours linger? A long, pleasant finish is more tasty.
- Are tastes and flavours aligned?
Assessment
Assessing the coffee's quality and appeal by compiling the components and checking their alignment.
Alignment • Important Assessment
How do each of the components interact?
Do colour, aroma, mouthfeel, taste and flavour align?
Good coffees benefit from harmonious alignment, especially between mouthfeel, taste and flavour.
Do the mouthfeel and taste align? For example if there's astringency, is there corresponding pleasant bitterness? Or, might sour tastes align with a crisp refreshing mouthfeel? Or, if the brew is particularly sweet, is the texture sufficiently viscous.
Importantly, check if there are readily-identifiable flavours for each taste. And if there is proportionate sweetness, sourness and bitterness for each of the key flavours.
Aromas & Flavours
One of the qualities that makes coffee beguiling is its aromas and flavours are often profoundly different; more so than other food and drink items. Don't penalise a coffee if its aromas and flavours differ, but are pleasant.
You can also assess for strong alignment. For example, if you detect malic acid, expect aligned fruit flavours such as apples or peaches.
The better aligned a coffee is, the tastier it is. Delicious coffees almost always benefit from a strong alignment, especially between taste and flavour.
Consider
- Is there alignment between mouthfeel and taste?
- Are tastes and flavours aligned?
Quality
Why some coffees are tastier than others
Assessing each coffee's characteristics
Despite all the possible aroma and flavour combinations, tasty coffees share three traits: a pleasant mouthfeel, a harmonious balance of tastes and good ‘alignment’ between the taste and the flavour. Once this baseline criteria is met, complexity adds to the tastiness.
By contrast, coffees that don't meet this baseline requirement as well as coffees with no distinct flavours (or flavours that are not on the Coffee Flavour Wheel), are typically inadequately tasty or unpleasant.
1. Mouthfeel
A pleasant mouthfeel has appropriate weight and is free of unpleasant textures. Some common pleasant textures include silky and viscous.
The mouthfeel should also align with taste. For example, astringency is quite common in coffee and is typically unpleasant; but can be agreeable when it aligns with a pleasant and harmonious bitterness.
2. Balance
Pleasant tasting coffees have a harmonious balance between two or more tastes. The balance might be between any of bitterness, sourness, saltiness, sweetness and umami.
The tastes don’t need to be of equal intensity, but they must work together and the dominant tastes should be supported by aligned flavours to be perceived as pleasant. A useful rule of thumb is that good coffees balance at least two tastes; great coffees balance at least three.
3. Alignment
When mouthfeel, taste and flavour align with one another, the coffee is easier to appreciate.
Delicious coffees almost always benefit from a strong alignment, especially between taste and flavour.
And coffees that have a potentially disagreeable characteristic, such as bitterness, astringency or a short finish, must have good alignment to be considered pleasant.
4. Complexity
The more distinct aromas and flavours a coffee has, the more interesting, and usually the more tasty, the coffee is.
Better tasting coffees also benefit from a long, pleasant finish.
As a rule of thumb, good coffees have at least two readily identifiable aromas and flavours. Great tasting coffee have many more.
Profiles
Matching coffees to coffee drinkers, and vice versa
Regardless of a coffee's 'quality', not all coffee drinkers will find it appealing. It's important to match each consumer to a coffee with an appropriate profile.
In fact, many coffee drinkers will be more satisfied if the coffee's profile meets their expectations; even if the specific flavours are not what they asked for. There are three key 'expectations':
Comforting
These drinkers want reassurance and often value routine. Steer them toward sweet, low-acidity coffees with pleasant body and good alignment. Many comforting coffees have a heavier, pleasant mouthfeel and feature aromas and flavours from the centre and bottom of the Coffee Aroma Map and Coffee Flavour Wheel.
Classic
This group seeks clarity and recognisability. They happily enjoy coffees with a wide range of tastes and flavours, but the tastes must be well-balanced have good alignment with the flavours. Some classic coffees are basic and some can be very sophisticated. These coffee drinkers often appreciate textbook examples of known origins; equally, most quality archetypical coffees have evolved to be well-aligned.
Curious
The trickiest coffees to appreciate are complex, well-balanced, but poorly aligned coffees. Some are delicious; many are disgusting; and even high scoring ones are often not liked by consumers.
Curious drinkers seek novelty. They enjoy surprises and appreciate coffees that challenge their preconceptions. While the majority of these coffees are well-aligned, this is the only segment of coffee drinkers that takes satisfaction in complex, well-balanced, but poorly-aligned coffees.
What's your default expectation?
When assessing coffee, it's good to be impartial. Be aware that your own expectations will shape how ‘tasty’ you think a coffee is. Part of the skill of a coffee taster is to consider each coffee from the perspective of your customers. Appraising a coffee from comfort, classic and curious expectations is useful for understanding its appeal.
Tastiness
Assessing 'Quality'
Some coffees are more tasty than others
For simplicity, we suggest dividing tasty coffees into four grades: good, very good, excellent and outstanding.
Good
Fault-free, well-roasted coffee with balanced taste and basic alignment between taste and flavour. Should have at least two readily identifiable aromas or flavours.*
Very Good
Multiple aromas and flavours, plus good alignment between mouthfeel, taste and flavour. Less well-aligned coffees can included if they have notable aroma, mouthfeel or flavour qualities that more-than-compensate. This also approximates the minimum grade of coffee a barista would wish to drink as a filter coffee.
Excellent
Distinctive, balanced, multi-flavoured coffees that are well-aligned.
Outstanding
Complex array of aromas and flavours, a harmonious balance of tastes and generally with excellent alignment across mouthfeel, taste and flavour. You’d wholeheartedly share a cup with someone who loves coffee.
* We’re aware that an increasing number of specialty-grade coffee don’t meet this standard. Our view is that coffees that lack distinctive flavours fail to meet both the spirit and intention of specialty coffee. While appreciating the commercial imperative of stretching the boundaries of specialty coffee definition, it’s hard to envisage a lower baseline standard based on principles of tastiness. Alternatively, appreciating that the definition of ‘specialty’ isn’t up to us, we can accept that this framework is most suitable for assessing ‘tasty’ coffee.
Guide
Share tasting notes that sell, guide and delight
Tasting notes are simultaneously marketing copy, a promise to the drinker and a translation of a sensory experience into a narrative.
Assessing a coffee and communicating tasting notes are two completely different skills. This guide takes you through each tasting note component and provides the tools for you to develop your own style and format.