Tasting Notes On Coffee Bags: A Guideline Not A Guarantee




  • I’m sure it has happened to you before… You become excited when you find a bag of coffee with notes like “marshmallows, cherry cola, grape jelly, or pomegranate” on it only to brew up a cup and find to your dismay that the coffee tastes nothing like the bag says.

    For the non-coffee experts, me included, we may not realize that those tasting notes that we see posted on coffee bags are what the coffee company found in the coffee and should be taken as more of a guideline than a literal “this is what you’ll taste in this coffee” kind of way.

    Some people can’t distinguish past the sweet notes, or the fruity ones in coffees and it isn’t because those people have tastebuds for crap, but their palates aren’t fully evolved to taste those finer notes that lie in a coffee.

    I’m sure I’m starting to sound like a wine expert here, but to us coffee lovers that’s exactly how we treat are coffees — like a fine wine except we drink it throughout the day ;)

    Having come from using half n half in my coffee for a long time, it took awhile for my palate to adjust to just drinking black coffee. When it did, I couldn’t distinguish past the sweet notes, the fruity ones, or really anything and it was frustrating. It took some time but I built up my palate by eating new things as well as really taking in all the foods I ate and trying to experience all that I could.

    I soon realized that you can’t expect what you see printed on a coffee bag to be in the cup either. If you do, you’ll only be letdown time and time again.

    Instead of wishing to have a coffee taste like cherry cola, or grape jelly — work on expanding your coffee palate to new foods. Take the time to taste those foods you eat everyday instead of scarfing them down. Before you know it you’ll start to notice new flavors in your coffee you hadn’t noticed before.

    You coffee is like a fine wine so make sure to treat it like one and expand your palate.



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    September 17th, 2011 | Jamie | 3 Comments | Tags: , ,

About The Author

Jamie Ferguson

From sunny Sarasota Florida, Jamie Ferguson has been drinking coffee since a very young age. Jamie is just your average jane who has a serious addiction to coffee, but more so has a bigger love for the heart, and the dedication that is put into growing, processing and roasting coffee. Come and join the adventures...

  • Piper Jones

    I couldn’t agree more, Jamie. Educating your palate is an ongoing project for most – including sommeliers, Q graders, etc. The more  you put into it the more nuance you can pick out. Those taste notes are what the writer or tasting team got out of that particular coffee. The truth of the matter is that cupping coffee, like wine tasting, is a bit subjective. I love that we can come to the table with different components we pick out – it makes the evaluation that more interesting. One person may get stone fruit while the next pulls molasses. When we finally go to print it’s more of a consensus after much testing. 

    Piper

    • http://thecoffeeadventures.com Jamie Ferguson

      Sorry for the late reply, Piper. Glad you enjoyed the post. 

      It always amazes me what different people taste from the exact same coffee. I wish those aroma kits weren’t so expensive because that would be a big help to anyone new to drinking fresh coffee in addition to eating lots of new things.

  • Piper Jones

    I couldn’t agree more, Jamie. Educating your palate is an ongoing project for most – including sommeliers, Q graders, etc. The more  you put into it the more nuance you can pick out. Those taste notes are what the writer or tasting team got out of that particular coffee. The truth of the matter is that cupping coffee, like wine tasting, is a bit subjective. I love that we can come to the table with different components we pick out – it makes the evaluation that more interesting. One person may get stone fruit while the next pulls molasses. When we finally go to print it’s more of a consensus after much testing. 

    Piper