Roasters Book Page 42

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Coffee Tasting Notes

have a bready aroma. Bready coffees may also be described as “green” or “beany”.

Bright: Coffees with a pleasant, almost tangy, flavor. Bright coffees may also be described as having a wine like acidity.

Briny: A salty taste often caused by continuously heating coffee after brewing is complete. Brewed coffee that sits on a burner overnight is likely to taste briny.

Burnt: Either the pleasant flavor of Dark French or Spanish roasts, or the flat taste of burnt rubber in your mouth, depending on how you view such things.

Caramelly: A flavor and aroma characteristic of candy or syrup in which sugars have oxidized and become caramelized. Coffee beans contain sugars which caramelize during roasting and, if not burned, may be detected as caramelly notes in the cup.

Carbony: The flavor and aroma characteristic of burnt food, or burnt wood. Carbony flavors and aromas are often used as an indication of roast degree when cupping darker roasted coffees. Also called “burnt” or “smoky”.

Chocolatey: The taste or aroma of chocolate. Coffees rarely have a very strong chocolatey flavor or aroma, but some Central American and Yemeni coffees have a distinct chocolatey aroma and a slightly bitter-sweet chocolatey taste.

Citrus: The aroma and taste of ripe citrus fruit. Citrus notes are often found in coffee, which is not surprising considering the fact that coffee beans are the seeds of coffee cherries. Coffees with flavor characteristics of unripe citrus are described as “sour”.

Clean: Flavorful, but without any pungent or unusual flavors.

Complexity: The array of flavors and flavor shifts experienced when smelling and tasting a coffee. While not necessarily a positive attribute, complexity can sometimes be gained by blending one coffee with another or by blending a dark roast with a light roast. Some excellent single origin coffees are by themselves both complex and balanced, but agreeable complex flavors are most often achieved by blending two or more complimentary single origin coffees.

Earthy: The aroma characteristic of fresh earth, wet soil, or raw potatoes. While not necessarily negative characteristic, earthiness may be caused by molds during the processing of harvested coffee cherries. Earthy notes, for example, are commonly found in semi-dry processed coffees from Indonesia.

Flat: Lacking flavor and aroma.

Floral: The scent of flowers including honeysuckle, jasmine, dandelion and nettles. Mildly floral aromas are found in some coffees and are generally perceived along with fruity or herbal notes.

Fruity: The aroma and taste of fruit. Many coffees have fruity notes, which is not surprising