Learning to Taste

Being able to taste good coffee is no magic – just practice and a few simple words. Once you know what to look for, a cup suddenly reveals fruit, nut or blossom where before there was only «coffee».

The four things to notice

Go through them deliberately with your next sip:

• Acidity – not «sour», but the liveliness: from soft (nut, chocolate) to bright (citrus, berry).
• Body – how heavy the cup feels: from light and tea-like to thick and syrupy.
• Sweetness – the natural sweetness of the fruit: caramel, honey, ripe berry.
• Finish – what stays after you swallow: short or long, clean or drying.

How to practise

Smell first – a large part of taste is aroma. Then take a good, almost slurping sip so the coffee reaches your whole palate. And don't ask «is this good?», ask «what does this remind me of?». That question is exactly what trains your nose – after a few cups, naming what you taste gets easier and easier.

A short glossary

Crema

The golden-brown layer of foam on an espresso; created by pressure and the CO₂ of freshly roasted beans.

Body

The mouthfeel – the «weight» of the coffee, from light to full.

Acidity

The pleasant liveliness in coffee, not to be confused with «sour».

Single Origin

Coffee from one single source – country, region or farm – rather than a blend.

Blend

A deliberate mix of several coffees for a consistent, rounded profile.

Terroir

The sum of soil, climate and altitude that gives a coffee its sense of place.

Cupping

The standardised tasting method roasters use to evaluate and compare coffees.

Extraction

How much the water dissolves from the coffee: too little tastes sour and thin, too much tastes bitter.