2

I'm on the hunt for new kinds of coffee, and I want to know how they taste before I buy them. I've found one way of doing this on this site.

If you hover your mouse over the coffees, a flavor profile wheel appears that gives you an idea of the coffee flavor. I understand visual pictures like this much better than a written description of the coffee.

Problem is, I've already tasted many of their coffees. I'm drinking one of them as I type this. But I want to branch out and explore other options.

Does anyone have suggestions for how to find out this level of visual detail about how a coffee tastes? I'm sick of paying for a pound of coffee plus shipping, only to find out that the coffee tastes like rocks.

Improve this question
2
  • 2
    To clarify, is your question about methods for discerning and subsequent visual articulation of flavour profiles of coffee or is it about using and understanding how coffee tastes from the flavour profile in order to find specific tastes that you look for?
    – Shiri
    May 9, 2017 at 14:34
  • @Shiri my question is whether there are other roasters that provide the same kind of information in a visual format so I can visually get a sense of the flavor profile of their coffees, especially blends, rather than having to weed through written descriptions that take many words to say what I could easily get out of a glance. If you hover your mouse over the different coffees on the site that I linked to, you'll see specific examples of the kind of thing I am looking for.
    – erixoltan
    May 16, 2017 at 22:39

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

That is a simplified 'consumer' version of a coffee flavor wheel that roasters / importers etc use for trying to put words to a coffees flavor. It is a really good way to try and explain the flavor of the coffee, but honestly, most roasteries won't have the development background or funds to make the fancy background on their products.

I run my own roastery, and happen to be a software developer as well and to get that to work on my site would take quite a bit of customization.

My recommendation would be to familiarize yourself with a standard SCAA flavor wheel and pay attention to the cupping notes on each coffee. Here's the caveat. If the roaster is terrible, his cupping notes (or flavor wheel graphics) will still probably say the same things as a roaster that is producing high quality coffee.

If you become accustomed to single origin coffees you will be able to immediately go straight to your preferred origins from each roaster faster. For instance, I have a customers who will only drink Guatemalan coffee because it matches their particular preferences, the same for Ethiopian etc. If you find that Ethiopian fits your preferred flavors, then you can explore more confidently knowing that most Ethiopian coffees will have a 'similar' flavor profile. Not all coffees from a particular country will have the same flavor profile, but it's a good place to start if you are looking for something to fit a particular flavor.

Improve this answer
0
0

I stumbled across this app on youtbe. It's called Tastify

It'e $10 a month but seems to give you access to what you're looking for.

Here is the video I watched:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B_ak-eMIFg

I also wrote a guide to getting abetter tasting coffee, and I think the biggest thing is finding your own taste.

Origin isn't the only thing that affects taste, it's also how the bean has been processed. I took a section out of the article and posted it below for you. Hopefully this helps.

Central America(Guatamala, Costa Rica, Honduras,Mexico, El Salvador) – Balanced; having both fruit and cocoa type characteristics.

Brazil – Generally speaking Brazilian coffee will taste slightly like peanuts and have a lingering aftertaste.

Colombia – Colombian coffee’s are sweet with a medium body.

Ethiopia – The home of the Arabica Bean! There are so many different unique varieties growing here, the climate is so great for coffee that it naturally thrives in the wild. As you can imagine, all of those varieties come with a huge flavor range. Coffee from here can taste like anything from intense blueberry or strawberry flavors all the way to cups of coffee that taste more like a tea with lemongrass.

Kenya – Kenyan coffee, unlike most coffee are grown mostly without shade. This, combined with the a unique processing method gives coffee from this region usually has sweet and savory characteristics. (Think tropical coffee.)

Indonesia – Popular coffee regions from within Indonesia are Papua New Guinea and Sumatra. Coffee beans from Papua New Guinea are usually sweet and floral while beans from Sumatra are really heavy tasting with earthy spicy tones.

There are three main ways of processing the coffee bean: Semi-washed, Washed, Sun-dried

Washed(Wet Processed): This is the most popular method used around the world. Coffee processed this way are said to show the true flavor of the bean. This a very popular method in central America, This allows the beans to really show off their acidity.

Natural(Sun-dried): Coffee processed this way will have a bigger body and lower acidity. 80% of coffee in Brazil and Ethiopia is processed this way.

Semi-washed: This processing method combines the benefits of both natural and washed. Coffee that is processed this way will have a taste that is deep and fruity with a some what creamy mouth feel.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.