How do you define the perfect cup of coffee? That all depends on your palate. Every coffee or coffee blend is slightly different depending upon the beans: where they are from, how they were roasted and ground, if there were any spices or flavors added to them, and how the coffee was prepared.
It is fun tasting the different varieties of coffee. Here are some suggestions:
- Take a few beans in your hand and rub them around. Are they oily or smooth? Describe their color. How do they smell?
- Grind the beans and smell the ground coffee. What is its aroma?
- Brew as many roasts as possible
- Serve the coffee samples immediately after they are brewed
- Pour into a simple coffee mug or cup. Swirl the coffee around in your mouth. How does it taste?
Coffees are usually discussed by:
- Roasts – Light, Medium Light, Medium, Dark, and Darkest
- Region – Colombian, Costa Rican, Ethiopian, Guatemalan, Jamaican Blue Mountain, Java, etc.
- Acidity
- Body
- Flavor
If you want to sound like a connoisseur, check out our coffee glossary and you will be an expert in no time.
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Coffee Glossary and Terminology
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Acerbic – a bitter or sour sensation on your tongue or mouth
Acidity – a measure of the acid flavor, sharpness and tartness; usually a biting flavor described as bright, dry, sharp, or vibrant
Aftertaste – the residue flavor after swallowing, ranging from carbony and chocolaty, to spicy
Alkaline – a dry taste sensation usually found on the back of the tongue
Aroma – the sensation of smell derived from beans or brewed coffee, ranging from fruity and floral, to herby
Astringency – the pungent, salty sensation in your mouth. This is not to be confused with bitterness
Attractive – beans that are uniform in size, color and texture |
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Baggy – an unpleasant taste, usually from poor roasting or storing
Baked – a taste or odor reflecting a flat bouquet and insipid flavor
Balance – no one quality or characteristic overwhelms the other
Beany – beans that have not developed their full aroma
Bitter – an unpleasant, caustic taste perceived by the back of the tongue, usually caused by over roasting
Bland – soft and neutral tastes perceived by the side of mouth and tongue; lacking flavor
Body – a coffee having fullness and strength in your mouth; sense of heaviness, richness, and thickness; can range from light to full
Bouquet – the total aromatic profile: fragrance, flavor, aroma, aftertaste
Brackish – a salty or alkaline taste
Bready – coffee that has not been roasted enough
Brew – good, properly prepared coffee
Briny – over roasted coffee
Buttery – an oily material suspended on or in your coffee
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Character – distinct qualities that allow you to detect the region where the coffee was grown
Caramelly – a flavor that tastes like candy or syrup
Chocolaty – usually refers to an aftertaste reminiscent of unsweetened chocolate or vanilla
Carbony – a burnt flavor
City – a slightly darker American roast
Clean – without any off-putting flavors
Complexity – refers to coffee’s many characteristics
Course – a coffee rough on the tongue
Creamy – oily material suspended in coffee
Crema – remnants of coffee beans and oily material that settles on the top of coffee
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Dark – a dark or shiny color
Delicate – mellow, subtle flavor
Depth – a subjective term to describe characteristics
Dirty – bad flavor, sourness or mustiness
Dull – coffee lacking lively bright character in both appearance and taste |
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Earthy – can either mean flavor or body
Empty – coffee lacking fullness or substance
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Flat – coffee with no characteristics
Flavor – an extension of character and aromatics
Fresh – vivid flavor
Fruity – citrus or fruit flavor
Full – a good combination of strength and color |
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Hard – a pungent, sour flavor
Heavy – a moderately high level of suspended material floating in your coffee |
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Insipid – coffee with a lifeless character |
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Light – a coffee lacking strength and color |
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Malty – coffee that tastes like whole grains
Mellow - a satisfying smooth taste
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Neutral – lacking a predominant taste
Nippy – sweet or sour sensation
Nutty – tastes like roasted nuts |
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Oily – refers to beans and taste
Ordinary – bland flavor |
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Papery – coffee that tastes like a paper filter
Pale – a coffee that does not have depth of color
Piquant – a sweet, prickling taste
Plain – coffee that is lacking desirable characteristics
Point – a bright, acidic and penetrating characteristic
Poor – common or bad flavor
Pungent – astringent with a combination of briskness, brightness, and strength
Pulpy – strong, pungent fruit-like flavor
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Quality – describes the most desirable qualities
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Rancid – a very displeasing flavor
Rasping – a very coarse flavor
Rough – a sharp, salty taste
Rich – full of these characteristics: flavor, aroma and aftertaste
Round – a full, smooth tasting coffee |
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Soft – a coffee lacking any characteristics
Spicy – an aftertaste of cinnamon, clove, or nutmeg
Stale – coffee that has an unpleasant taste
Strength – the substance, flavor and body of coffee
Strong – Rich in flavor
Sweet – no harshness, sugary taste
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Taint – an unfortunate taste that is foreign to coffee such as oil, garlic, or onion flavor
Tarry – a smoky, unpleasant burnt aroma and flavor
Thick – high level of suspended material in coffee
Thin – an insipid light coffee lacking desirable characteristics or acidity
Tired – a coffee that is flat or stale
Twisty – different negative characteristics from cup to cup
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Watery – too much water and not enough coffee flavor
Weak – lacks body
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Now you can add your own words and be an expert.
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