Specialty coffee fundamentals
Specialty coffee fundamentals, every question in the silo with its quick answer. Click for the full entry. 45 questions.
What is the difference between aroma and flavor in coffee?
Aroma is what the nose picks up (orthonasal olfaction) before the sip, while flavor combines retronasal olfaction (air exhaled from the palate rising to the nasal cavity) with gustation (five tastes d
What is a baggy defect in coffee?
The baggy defect (or 'baggy taste') is a characteristic off-flavour that green coffee absorbs during transport or storage in defective jute or polypropylene bags. In the cup it presents as a note of d
What is the difference between bright and flat acidity in coffee?
Bright acidity is a lively, clean, and positive acidity that stimulates the salivary glands and enhances fruity aromas, it is a prized quality in specialty coffee. Flat or dull acidity is a lifeless
What is a chocolatey coffee profile?
A chocolatey profile describes a cup whose dominant notes evoke cocoa, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, truffle or brownie, often extended by hazelnut, caramel or vanilla. These profiles typically com
What is acidity in coffee?
Acidity in coffee refers to the brightness, liveliness and lift you feel on the palate, not to sourness or harshness. It comes from five main organic acids, citric, malic, phosphoric, quinic and chl
What is aftertaste in coffee?
Aftertaste is the aromatic and gustatory persistence that stays in the mouth and through retro-olfaction after swallowing or spitting the coffee. It is one of the ten SCA attributes and captures the l
What is balance in coffee?
Balance in coffee is the way its sensory attributes, acidity, body, sweetness, aroma, aftertaste, interact without any single one overwhelming the others. It is one of the ten SCA scores and judges
What is body in coffee?
Body in coffee is the tactile sensation in the mouth, viscosity, weight, texture, separate from flavour. It comes from oils (lipids), colloidal fibres and insoluble compounds extracted during brewin
How does a coffee cupping work?
A cupping follows the SCA protocol: 8.25 g of coarsely ground coffee per bowl, covered with 150 ml of water at 93 °C, steeped for four minutes without stirring. Tasters break the crust with a spoon wh
What is sweetness in coffee?
Sweetness in coffee is the round, sugary sensation on the palate, driven mostly by the natural sucrose of the ripe cherry and by Maillard reactions during roasting. It is one of the ten attributes sco
How to describe coffee with precise vocabulary?
Describing coffee with precise vocabulary rests on four axes standardised by the SCA: acidity (type and intensity), body (texture and density), sweetness (roundness and perceived sugars) and aromatic
What is the difference between fragrance and aroma in cupping?
In the SCA cupping protocol, fragrance refers to volatile compounds perceived by smelling dry, freshly ground coffee before any contact with water. Aroma is evaluated after brewing: it is what you sme
What is a dominant note in coffee?
A dominant note in coffee is the aromatic descriptor that a taster perceives most intensely and persistently, in fragrance, in the mouth and in the aftertaste. It serves as a compass to place the cof
What is a fermented coffee profile?
A fermented coffee profile shows heavy aromas that recall red wine, rum, cider, kombucha or ripe mango, sometimes pushing into funky, leathery or yeasty notes. This register comes either from intenti
What is a floral coffee profile?
A floral profile refers to a cup dominated by flower-like aromas, jasmine, orange blossom, bergamot, lavender, chamomile or rose, rather than roast or heavy fruit notes. These descriptors sit on the
What is a fruit-forward coffee profile?
A fruit-forward profile is a cup whose dominant aromas evoke fresh fruit, citrus, red fruit, black fruit, tropical fruit or stone fruit, rather than the roasted notes of chocolate and hazelnut. It c
How to organize a home cupping with friends?
Organising a home cupping requires no professional equipment: a scale, a kettle, tablespoons, identical cups or bowls, and two to six different coffees are enough. The simplified protocol involves pre
How do you use the coffee flavor wheel?
The SCA Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel is a visual tool first published in 1995 and revised in 2016 that organises coffee sensory descriptors in concentric circles, from the centre (broad categories) o
How to identify over-fermentation defects in coffee?
An over-fermented coffee displays aceto-alcoholic notes, vinegar, alcohol, solvent, that are not natural coffee aromas but by-products of uncontrolled microbial degradation. In the cup, the main war
What is linger or persistence in coffee?
Linger in coffee refers to the duration and quality of aromatic and flavour persistence after swallowing. It is the temporal dimension of the finish: a coffee with long linger continues to express ple
What does a mouldy coffee taste like?
A mouldy coffee is a coffee whose green bean underwent fungal growth during drying or storage. The cup shows notes of wet soil, cellar mushroom, damp cardboard, wet leather or humus. It is one of the
What is mouthfeel roundness in coffee?
Mouthfeel roundness in coffee refers to the tactile sensation of fullness, absence of harshness, and continuity that develops across the tongue and palate during and after swallowing. It is distinct f
What is a nutty coffee profile?
A nutty coffee profile centres on aromas of toasted hazelnut, almond, peanut, praline or nut paste. It is a dry, rounded, gentle register with no sharp acidity, usually tied to Arabicas from low to mi
What is a phenolic defect in coffee?
A phenolic defect is an aromatic contamination that gives coffee a taste of medicine, wet plaster, burnt plastic, disinfectant or iodine. It is caused by certain bacteria or chemical residues during f
Difference between phosphoric, malic and citric acidity in coffee?
These three major organic acids in coffee have distinct sensory profiles and different geographic origins. Phosphoric acid delivers a luminous, almost 'pop' acidity at the attack, characteristic of Ke
What are primary defects in green coffee?
Primary defects in green coffee are the most serious imperfections identified in a batch of green beans before roasting. The SCA defines five main categories: full black bean, full sour bean, dried ch
What Q-grader score defines an exceptional coffee?
In the SCA framework, an exceptional coffee scores 90 or more out of 100 in a certified Q-grader cupping. This category, often called '90+' or 'Outstanding' represents less than 0.1 % of global ara
How to recognize over-extracted coffee?
An over-extracted coffee is one where too many soluble compounds, notably bitter and astringent ones, have been dissolved beyond the optimal point. In the cup, this produces a dry, lingering bittern
How to recognize under-extracted coffee by taste?
An under-extracted coffee is one where not enough soluble compounds were dissolved during brewing. The result in the cup is a sour, thin, and flat flavour, lacking sweetness or body, often with a mild
What is the SCA cupping score?
The SCA score is the 100-point rating given to a coffee during cupping under the Specialty Coffee Association protocol. Ten sensory attributes are scored out of ten (fragrance, flavor, aftertaste, aci
What is the SCA flavor wheel?
The SCA flavor wheel is a circular sensory tool published in 2016 by the Specialty Coffee Association and World Coffee Research. It sorts coffee descriptors into nine main categories, fruity, floral
What is a spicy coffee profile?
A spicy coffee profile describes a cup with notes of cinnamon, clove, black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg or anise. These descriptors most often appear on Indonesian coffees processed wet-hulled (giling ba
How to taste coffee like a pro?
Taste in five steps: smell the fresh grind, smell the brewed cup, slurp a sip to aerate it across your palate, identify acidity, body and sweetness, then focus on the retronasal finish. Use a filter b
What is terroir signature in cup coffee?
A coffee's terroir signature is the set of distinctive sensory characteristics that result from the unique combination of soil, altitude, microclimate, variety, and farming practices of a specific pla
How to train your palate for coffee tasting?
Training a coffee palate rests on three pillars: regular exposure to varied profiles (at least three to four origins per month), structured olfactory identification practice (an aroma kit such as Le N
What is the triangular cupping test?
The triangular cupping test (or triangle test) is a sensory discrimination protocol in which three cups are presented to the evaluator: two from coffee A and one from coffee B (or the reverse), unlabe
What is uniformity in cupping?
Uniformity is one of the ten attributes in the SCA cupping protocol. It measures the aromatic and taste consistency across the five cups brewed from the same lot: each cup should present the same prof
What defines a complex coffee?
A complex coffee presents multiple distinct aromatic layers that evolve perceptibly throughout tasting, at the attack, mid-palate, finish, and as the cup cools. Complexity does not necessarily mean m
What defines specialty coffee?
Specialty coffee is coffee that scores at least 80 out of 100 on the SCA cupping protocol, with a traceable supply chain back to the farm or cooperative of origin. Both conditions, measured sensory q
What does clean cup mean in coffee?
Clean cup is one of the ten attributes scored under the SCA cupping protocol. It assesses the complete absence of any negative or defective impression perceived from first sip through to finish. A cof
What is a wine-like coffee?
A wine-like coffee is one whose aromatic profile and acid structure clearly evoke wine: complex acidity built on malic or tartaric acids, notes of red or dark fruits, light tannins on the finish, and
What is a funky coffee profile?
A funky coffee is one whose sensory profile departs dramatically from the classic specialty coffee norm, offering atypical aromas often associated with controlled long or anaerobic fermentation: very
Why do some coffees taste burnt?
Coffee tastes burnt when roasting pushed past the useful stage, when the grounds met too-hot a surface, or when extraction ran into over-extraction. Typical descriptors are smoky, charred, ashy, tarry
Why is coffee sometimes too bitter?
Coffee tastes too bitter when over-extraction, too dark a roast or a caffeine-heavy variety have pushed bitter compounds, caffeine, chlorogenic acids, quinides, degraded trigonelline, past the level
Why does my coffee taste too sour?
Coffee tastes too sour when acidity shifts from a quality trait (lively, clean, fruit-like) to an aggressive, piercing, vinegar-sharp or astringent sensation. In eight cases out of ten, this signals u