My Coffee Tastes Like Coffee…
Coffee taste notes… are they real? Can coffee taste like more than just coffee? Read on…
Have you heard of a friend or family member talk about coffee tasting notes? It might have been brought up at home or at your local coffee shop. At My Sip Of Coffee, we put character notes on our coffee bags to help you gauge the flavor profile of the beans.
To someone who is new to coffee or not super exploratory, coffee taste notes probably sound ridiculous. Well, coffee can indeed taste like a lot of things that might sound odd. “Fruity” is the most common flavor note. This is because of the natural acidity in coffee.
SCA Flavor Wheel
There is actually a whole flavor wheel for coffee written by the SCA. (Specialty Coffee Association.) Here’s the link to a free adapted version.
Drip coffee can be sweet as well. Not sugary sweet, but a darker sweet, like molasses or syrup. Sometimes you can taste notes of cane sugar, but it will never taste the same as dumping real cane sugar in your coffee. Remember, these notes are produced naturally, and are to be taken with a grain of salt. Speaking of salt, you can put that in your coffee too to balance the PH levels. More on that in another post! Coffee can taste sweet due to the roasting process that caramelizes the beans. If done right, you can bring out a lot of natural sweetness!
More Flavor Notes Than You Think
Savory flavors exist too. Your coffee might taste nutty, toasty, spicy, or well roasted. There’s earthy, like dirt, flowers, greens, tomato soup, skunky, tobacco, Petroleum, and so much more. The whole chart created by the SCA breaks down “all” the possible coffee taste notes by real, branded foods or things.
As mentioned, our coffee has suggested flavor notes on the bags, so next time you have a cup, try thinking about the notes and see if you can taste them! If you’re having a hard time finding flavors, look up the coffee taste notes in the SCA chart and buy the product that flavor is associated with. Try the coffee, and then try the food to spot the similarities!
