Coffee Flavors

The worlds of coffee and wine are similar on many levels. Starting with the importance of flavor. As any wine lover will tell you, the beauty of the object of their passion lies in the complexity of its aromas. And they’re not wrong: approximately 400 flavors can be discerned in wine. But did you know that there are no fewer than 800 flavored components in coffee? It’s enough to get your taste buds tingling! Just as every last drop of a good wine deserves to be savored, quality coffee should also be lovingly tasted to appreciate the aromatic subtleties associated with each bean, each origin, and each process of production. So, without further ado, let's take a closer look at the main flavors that make a coffee with excellent taste ... The main flavors of coffee When you drink coffee, your taste buds will take on many different flavors that you can learn to understand, analyze, and decipher. It may be difficult at first, but with a little practice, you can train to identify each individual flavor. The goal is to adjust your own preferences to make sure you always choose the coffee that suits you best. But, as we have already seen, trying to cover any possible aromatic subtlety in a single article would be an impossible task. That’s why we’re going to start you off with some introductory tips :) By now you’re probably already wondering which coffee is right for your palate. To help you with that choice, we’re going to look at the four main flavors of coffee types typically present in a cup of coffee: acidity, bitterness, sweetness, and saltiness. Acidity For the untrained palate, acidity is easily confused with bitterness. However, the two are actually at opposite ends of the flavor spectrum. In some respects, the acidity is quite easy to identify, as it is taken up on the sides of the tongue. Think about the taste of fresh lemon juice ... OK, it may be an exaggeration, but you would be surprised by the acidity of certain beans! The aroma is typical of Arabica coffee grown at altitude and, when well-controlled, it is an aroma highly appreciated by many coffee specialists. If you’re a fan of this type of flavor - or if it’s new to you and you’re curious to try it - you should look for lightly roasted coffees. If I had to choose one, it would be Moka Sidamo Marabou from Cafés Lugat, a truly remarkable Ethiopian coffee with distinct citrus notes. Bitterness Unlike acidity, bitterness is high on the top of the tongue and on the back of the mouth (if you want a good example of the bitter taste, try eating the white skin of a grapefruit!). Surprisingly, many people find it a rather unpleasant aroma. But when well managed, it can bring a truly distinctive quality to a coffee and we think you would be pleasantly surprised by the result! The bitterness of a coffee develops during its roasting process: the longer the beans are roasted, the more bitter the resulting coffee becomes. Scientifically speaking, bitterness comes from the chlorogenic acids that are present in caffeine. It’s for that reason that Robusta coffee can contain up to twice the amount of caffeine found in Arabica coffee , and consequently, dark roasted Robusta beans often have a pronounced bitter flavor. If you’re a fan of bitterness, or you simply want to experiment with it, then dark roasted coffees are the ones for you. Italian coffee is a good place to start or for maximum bitterness. Simply pick up the first pack of Robusta beans you come across. But do you take into account what you gain in bitterness? you may lose complexity, as Robusta coffee tends not to offer the textured flavors of an Arabica coffee. Sweetness Sweetness is such a familiar sensation that I won’t spend all day describing it here! But it goes without saying that this pleasant taste brings a milder aroma to the coffee. A little tip for making slow coffee: once your coffee is ready, be sure to swirl it around in its container (like the Chemex for example) to let it have plenty of air in. By doing s