Tasting Coffee

Introduction to Coffee Tasting and Flavor Development

Coffee tasting is the practice of evaluating coffee’s aromas, flavors, acidity, body, and aftertaste. For professionals, the tasting is done with a specific method called cupping but for anyone who is interested in training their palate, coffee tasting can be done in various ways with the same goal; become better at tasting different nuances and being able to better communicate them. Just like with wine, coffee has a vast range of flavor notes influenced by origin, processing, roasting, and brewing. Developing your palate takes time, but with regular tasting and mindful practice, you can sharpen your ability to recognize and appreciate different coffee profiles.

How to train your palate

1. Always focus when tasting – Pay close attention to the aromas and flavors in your cup – of anything really! You can train your palate with everything and the key is to pay attention to whatever you’re tasting, drinking, eating or smelling. Taste and smell different fruits, nuts, spices, and other foods and flavors that you can also recognize in coffee.
2. Compare and connect different coffees – Tasting multiple coffees side by side helps highlight differences in acidity, sweetness, and body. It also helps you connect different attributes and create a mental library for flavours.
3. Use all the senses, all of them – Smell plays a huge role in taste. Before sipping, inhale the aroma deeply. Also touch, or mouthfeel in this case, can help you describe the taste and body of the coffee and compare it to different ones.
4. Taste, practice, repeat – Like any skill, training your taste buds requires consistency. Try cupping sessions at home or with a group to refine your ability to pick out subtle notes and recognise different processing methods and features in coffee.

If you want to host a professional coffee cupping, you can find our guide here.

How to taste coffee by Freda Yuan (from the book Sip ‘n’ Slurp)

1. Prepare a cup of black coffee
2. Prepare a pen and paper to write down the sensory data you perceive
3. Smell the coffee’s aroma.
4. Have a sip of coffee from the cup.
   
   – Which basic tastes have you perceived? What was the intensity of those tastes?
5. Slurp. Grab a spoon and scoop a small amount of coffee on it. Slurp the coffee from the spoon just like your mama asked you not to when you were drinking soup as a kid.You can swirl the coffee in your mouth or even chew it.

Focus on the seven attributes and analyse them. Each coffee has a unique combination of these attributes, making the tasting experience exciting and diverse.

Cup Taster Competition – A test of sensory skills

The Cup Taster competition is a coffee tasting event where competitors identify the odd cup in a set of three, relying on their sensory precision and speed. With different origins and processing methods in play, the challenge requires an advanced ability to distinguish even the subtlest flavour nuances.

Training is crucial for success in Cup Taster. Professional tasters practice by sampling coffees with varying attributes, using triangulation tests to enhance their differentiation skills. Over time, their palates become more refined, allowing them to recognize delicate variations in acidity, sweetness, and body—essential skills for both competitions and the coffee industry. The competition however also invites people from different backgrounds to challenge their taste buds too. You don’t necessarily need to be a coffee professional, but you might work in another field that also requires precise taste, such as wine or food industry. The competition is a great opportunity to test how you can separate different flavours and aromas from each other. In Finland, a variation of the competition is organised by Coffee Competitions Finland and you can read more about it on their website and check for possible upcoming dates.

Whether you’re aiming for competition or simply want to enjoy coffee on a deeper level, tasting practice will unlock a new world of flavours!