In this guide, we’ll discuss how you can choose the right coffee for you based on coffee flavor notes.
What are tasting notes?
Tasting notes are the result of the combination of three things in coffee: acidity, sweetness, bitterness (body). Generally, you have different expressions of these 3 flavors in your coffee that combine together to make it taste like certain fruits, chocolates or flowers. We use these as a rough guide to communicate what we taste in a coffee.
Is coffee flavored?
No. In the world of specialty coffee, when you see flavor notes listed on a coffee bag, it’s not because the coffee was flavored with raspberry syrup or something like that. Those are the natural flavors from the coffee fruit that translate into the coffee bean.
When we talk about fruit flavors, try to imagine the different types of fruits (citrus, berries, stone fruits). All of these fruits have flavors that can be found in coffee. Same thing also for notes of chocolates, florals, etc. These flavors depend on the region where the coffee is grown and other factors we’ll get into later.
How to better understand flavor notes
1. Flavor notes need a basis (it’s not just marketing)
We have to remember that we use flavor notes to make relatable descriptions of what we’re tasting. Somebody new to specialty coffee might not know what a Colombian coffee tastes like. But they definitely would know what an orange tastes like.
While it’s true that flavor notes can be exaggerated, they have to be based on something. Example, chocolate is a fairly common flavor note that can mean a lot of things. We know it as a sweet dessert. But the actual fruit is quite bitter.
Likewise, you’d see some flavor notes like “sweet dark chocolate”. Even if it were an exaggeration, there had to be something that made the roaster specifically say that instead of plain “chocolate”.
2. Who determines flavor notes?
Flavor notes on a bag of coffee are determined by the person who roasted the coffee. Sometimes when picking flavor notes out, he might have a team with him to get a consensus for what they’re tasting.
More often than not, roasters reference the Specialty Coffee Association’s (SCA) flavor chart when listing flavor notes. A lot like to comment on how this standard for tasting notes is “too Western”. But we can’t discount the fact that this is the product of years and years of tasting by many people.
What we use as standards for tasting notes are thought to be “good flavors”. Example, even if you don’t know what berries taste like, as a standard it is still widely associated with good acidity and sweetness.
3. How to taste flavor notes
Always try to take note of intensity first before the actual notes found on the packaging. Don’t try to force yourself to taste specifics, especially if you’re newer to the game. Example, think of an orange. How intense is its acidity? What about its sweetness? Do those intensities apply to the coffee you are tasting?
Once you can pick out intensity, the next thing I recommend is to try to get a lot of experience with the coffees from each origin. This is to get at least a rough idea of how each would taste.
When I’m tasting coffees, I’d imagine a graph like the one above to see how close or far what I’m currently tasting deviates from what I know. In this case, an 82-scoring Colombian coffee with a medium roast would be sweet, have a good body and a mild acidity.
This also applies to brewing. I’d imagine a graph as a rough guide. But I have a choice to follow it or not. After getting an idea of the intensities, I’ll move on to general tasting notes.
4. Set a baseline per origin
Type-casting coffee flavors based on their origins are quickly becoming things of the past. But at the same time, I still do believe that origins still have the usual characteristics of where they are from.
If you familiarize yourself with these “type-casts”, you are less likely to fall for the marketing hype of coffees that sound really good but don’t end up tasting like what their packaging says.
Per origin, producers can have small lots of coffee (microlots) that are quickly becoming more unique in their flavors that you can’t tell anymore what to expect. However, the majority of coffees found in the market still adhere to these “type-cast” flavors.
Your experience is your best bet to tell you what to expect from different origins. Explore the nuances that producers and roasters can present to you.
5. Compare to other flavor notes used by the same roaster
When I’m considering coffee flavor notes, I’m not trying to taste the exact notes on the bag. Instead, I’m trying to understand what the roaster was thinking when he listed the notes.
When you’re buying from a roaster you don’t have experience with, try to look at the other coffees they offer. Here’s an example, let’s say the following are all natural-processed coffees:
| Origin | Flavor Notes |
|---|---|
| Ethiopia | Jasmine, Peach, Strawberry, Cacao Nibs |
| Brazil | Hibiscus, Mandarin, Cherry, Milk Chocolate |
| Colombia | Orange Blossom, Tangerine, Raspberry, Toffee |
These flavor notes only really make sense for the Ethiopian coffee given its processing method and the general flavors from that origin. But notice the pattern:
- Florals – jasmine, hibiscus, orange blossom
- Citrus fruits – peach, apricot, mandarin, tangerine
- Red fruits – strawberry, cherry, raspberry
- Chocolates/sweets – cacao nibs, milk chocolate, toffee
If I was about to buy from this roaster but saw the notes of these coffees side-by-side, I’d be careful. Even if the Brazilian and Colombian coffees are outliers, it’s more likely that these notes aren’t accurate because the roaster is following a pattern.
If you already bought the coffees, cup them when in doubt. Cupping is the easiest way to tell if you can trust what the packaging says because it’s meant to be an honest brew.
6. Consider the price of the coffee
Most tasting notes are just boundaries. Once you’ve had a lot of experience with coffees of different origins, processing methods, roasts, etc. you’ll have to question if the flavor notes you’re seeing on the bag makes sense for the price.
Going back to the chart we had for what Colombian coffees generally taste like, that should also establish a baseline for what other Colombian coffees should taste like for a similar price of around $10 (US) per 250g.
Now what if for another Colombian coffee, at that same price, you see notes like: “maraschino cherry, strawberry, and milk chocolate”? At that point, I’d be a bit skeptical because it’s quite an outlier.
I’m not saying that outliers don’t exist. There certainly are farms that produce coffees at various prices that break the norm.
Unless that farm is known for unique coffees like Finca El Paraiso or La Palma y El Tucan in Colombia, then those notes I’m seeing would tell me that it’s a low-grade coffee that was made to taste fancy with an experimental processing method.
Other factors that influence tasting notes:
At the farming, roasting, and brewing levels, these are other factors that influence tasting notes:
1. Varietals
A lot of people in the industry like to rave about varietals. At cup scores of 87 and above, they’d be a big factor, for sure. But when your cup score is at 82, I’d argue that varietals aren’t that big of a factor for how the coffee will taste.
While varietals are important in determining the natural capacities for sweetness, acidity, and other factors, it’s hard to narrow those down to just one characteristic. There are too many factors going on in one crop to tell that it’s the varietal alone making a difference.
2. Roast style
The way a coffee is roasted impacts the intensity and balance of the flavors. Lighter roasts will highlight the flavors natural to the coffee. Darker roasts will highlight more bitter characteristics as the coffee gets longer exposure to the maillard reaction.
The issue here is roast defects. Over and under roasting coffees is still a problem.
3. Processing method
Processing methods should “evolve” the current taste of the coffee to something else but with roots to the original taste of the coffee. Certain processing methods are more true to the natural flavors of the coffee while others can add, sometimes even mask, some flavors natural to the coffee.
Washed, honey, and natural processing methods impart more flavors inherent to the coffee. While experimental processes (anaerobic, carbonic maceration, etc.) add a lot of other flavors.
4. Brewing method
The three aspects of flavor in coffee (acidity, sweetness, body) get extracted at different stages in the brew. The type of brewer (pour over, immersion, espresso, etc.) can also highlight certain aspects of the coffee more than others.
Brewing method dictates how much of the flavors you will get from your coffee and if you can balance those flavors. While it sounds easy, brewing is still tricky since palate training and understanding how coffee extracts are important to master this step.
5. Elevation
The growing altitude of a coffee influences the general flavor notes found. These are how the general notes pan out at different heights:
| Height (Meters Above Sea Level) | Notes |
|---|---|
| 700-1000 | Nutty |
| 1000-1500 | Chocolatey, Sweet |
| 1500-1700 | Fruity, Citrus, Berries, |
| 1700 and above | Floral |
6. Coffee grades
In general, better flavors in coffee usually follow higher-graded coffee. However, as you can tell from all these factors listed, there’s a lot more to it. Usually, you can be confident in tasting something good with a high-grade coffee. But it does not automatically follow that high grade = better flavor.
How to train your palate
Eat lots of fruits and drink lots of coffee. Just like anything, learning to taste takes experience. It doesn’t just come overnight.
Your palate adjusts to what you intake. If you’re used to drinking bitter coffee, you won’t notice bitter flavors anymore because your palate is so used to them. Conversely, when you do try something else (like a fruitier coffee) you’ll pick up on the acidity even more because of how your palate has been conditioned.
If you need to neutralize your palate, the best way is to eat or drink things opposite of what you’ve gotten used to. But if you need to do a quick reset, drinking soda water can help.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’m not tasting anything written on the bag. Am I doing something wrong?
If you’re unsure about flavor notes, do an honest brew like a French Press or a cupping. This should eliminate any error that might happen from brewing something like a pour over. If you still don’t taste what’s listed on the bag, there could be an issue with the roast or the actual green coffee itself.
Why isn’t there a version of flavor notes for “Eastern flavors”?
On paper, it’s not a bad idea. But the challenge is who decides on what Eastern tasting notes are good and bad. At scale, many “Eastern flavors” have not yet been agreed on as “good” or “bad”. Likewise, some might want to push for eastern flavors that aren’t universally perceived to taste good solely because it’s a unique “Eastern” flavor.
About the Author
Tidow Gothong
Tidow is a barista and roaster that has worked in the coffee industry for 10 years. He runs 2 successful specialty coffee shops and a nano roastery.
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Lodi!
Thanks for reading the article, Stefan! Stay tuned for more articles from Tidow
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