Enhance Your Coffee Tasting Experience with Expert Barista Tips

Coffee tasting, also known as ‘coffee cupping’, is the art of tasting coffee and evaluating the complex flavour combinations and nuances of the beans. To coffee roasters, coffee cupping is a meticulous process that breaks down all the different layers of the cup.

Anyone can do informal coffee tasting anywhere - you likely already do it every day without even knowing it, whenever you comment on the flavour or smoothness of your coffee. The only difference is how in-depth you go, and how much attention you pay to the coffee as you enjoy it.

In this guide, we provide you with expert tips and more advanced coffee knowledge to enhance your coffee-tasting experience, and help you better appreciate your cups' unique flavours and profiles.

Coffee Tasting Tips

While Merlo undertakes formal structured ‘coffee cupping’ sessions on an ongoing basis, the enjoyment of coffee tasting is not confined to cupping alone. Many factors can influence the taste of the coffee and how enjoyable it is. Additionally, everyone’s tastebuds are unique and so have different preferences regarding the ‘perfect cup’.

You can evaluate your coffee at any time using the following criteria:

Fragrance/Aroma

Have you ever found yourself walking past a cafe or bakery and then stopped due to the enticing scents wafting through the doors or windows? This is the impact that fragrance and aroma can have on our other senses. Beautiful fragrances can make the food or drink taste even better.

For this reason, the true coffee experience begins before you even take a sip. It begins with the fragrance and aroma of the coffee.

Fragrance refers to the scent of dry coffee, while aroma is the term used for wet coffee. This is important to know as it is not unusual to observe a distinct change between the characteristics in freshly ground coffee and once it has been saturated with water.

So, next time you sit down to enjoy a freshly brewed coffee, take a moment to appreciate the aroma before diving into the taste. Coffee is an experience that requires multiple senses to fully appreciate.

Flavour

Flavour is often the main thing coffee drinkers pay attention to. For those just wanting their daily caffeine intake, flavour may be the only factor that they really care about.

In professional coffee cupping sessions, flavour refers to the combination of the tastes on your tongue and the aroma wafting from the cup. There are many profiles that you may notice when sipping your coffee, including sweet, bitter, strong, or bland. You may also notice flavour hints of chocolate, caramel, fruits or other spices that enhance that taste.

To fully experience and appreciate the flavour combinations, take small sips allowing the coffee to linger on your tongue. Pay attention to how the flavour evolves from the first sip through to the aftertaste. When you drink fast you may miss this progression, but with slow sips, you will be able to appreciate more about the flavour of the beans including their origin and roasting process as well as any extra additives.

Acidity

While acidity may sound like an undesirable characteristic, it is actually highly desirable in coffee. 

The right balance of acidity can add sparkle and verve to the cup. Acidity can often be described as fruit-like, such as citrusy, berry or green apple-like. It creates a pleasant cleanness on the palate and is termed bright, effervescent, and crisp.

Acidity is to coffee as dryness is to wine, so coffees without acidity tend to taste flat and dull, like flat soda. Darker roasts tend to have flattened acidity, while lighter roasts may showcase more acidic and brighter notes.

Unlike the flavour, you will often notice the acidity best on the first taste. When you take your first sip pay attention to any unique and bright flavour hints. Even if it is subtle or barely noticeable, this is also noteworthy as it may indicate a darker roast.

Body

The next criterion to pay attention to is the body of your coffee. This is the physical mouth feel and texture of a coffee, such as the physical sensation on your tongue or roof of your mouth as you hold the liquid in your mouth.

A coffee’s body is its thickness due to the amount of dissolved and suspended solids extracted from the coffee grounds and may range from thin and watery to thick and creamy or a medium balance in the middle.

Light-bodied coffees are often smoother, while full-bodied coffees are more rich and robust. Similar to flavours, you will notice the body best when taking small sips and savouring each mouthful on your palate. You may also notice how the body melds or contrasts with the flavours and acidity.

Balance

Next, consider how well everything blends together. A well-balanced coffee should have a good mix of sweetness, acidity and bitterness. 

You don’t want any one characteristic to overpower the others as this can detract from the overall flavour. Instead, you’re looking for a cup where each characteristic highlights the others.

As you continue to develop your coffee-tasting skills, you will learn to pay attention to each characteristic as well as how they balance each other out.

Become a True Coffee-Tasting Aficionado

Drinking coffee is not just about the caffeine hit. It’s a full experience that treats your taste buds and sense of smell. Each cup presents an opportunity to discover new flavours and profiles.

Whether you’re just starting, or are looking to enhance your coffee-tasting experience by delving into more professional methods, these tips will help. So, next time you make yourself a coffee at home, or treat yourself to a cup at one of our Merlo flagship cafes, take some time to savour the cup and experience its unique characteristics.