How To Describe Flavor Notes in Coffee

Let’s talk about what you’re tasting

Hops, musk, raspadura, and volcanic minerals are among some of the most peculiar and puzzling tasting notes I’ve ever seen on a bag of coffee.

You know the part of the bag I’m talking about - the three or so foods or fruits that are usually found on the front of the bag in a prominent position under the title “Roaster’s Notes”, “Flavor Notes”, or “Tastes Like”. 

But there’s a problem - what if you don’t taste any of them?

I’ve been there, after buying and brewing a bag of coffee feeling less than satisfied because I didn’t pick up the notes of lingonberry, mangosteen, or cherimoya.

You might know that feeling too. Looking at the notes on the bag and asking yourself, “Did I brew it wrong? Am I tasting it wrong? Am I just bad at this?”

Here’s the thing - in my experience, any effort to talk about what a coffee tastes like is generally an attempt to describe one of three things - sweetness, acidity, and body.⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣A coffee that's properly brewed or "dialled in" as we like to say is especially sweet, has a pleasant acidity, and a notable body.

The sweetness a coffee boasts is thanks to the sugars that are present in the fruit. When describing the sweetness of coffee, it can be likened to the mouth watering sweetness of a strawberry, the quick pop of sweetness⁣ of a green grape, or the dark amber sugars of maple syrup (just to name a few!).⁣

When it comes to acidity, some folks have a love/hate relationship with acids in coffee. They're there whether we like it or not, acids like citric, malic, lactic, and acetic, but some coffees accentuate them more than others. When describing the acidity of coffee, it can be compared to the malic acidity of a green apple, the puckering citric acidity of a lemon or lime, or even the lactic acidity of your favourite milkshake IPA. ⁣⁣⁣

Finally, the way a coffee feels on your tongue and palate and the lingering sensation it leaves is what we are describing when we talk about body. The body of a coffee can be described as thin when it falls off your tongue, thick when it thoroughly coats it, and sometimes it's even reminiscent of other drinks you've had like tea or port wine.⁣

The way we describe these things - sweetness, acidity, and body - is dependant entirely on our own experiences. This is why I like to use language like "this reminds me of" instead of "this tastes like". Taste is subjective in the way that it depends on past experiences that you've had. 

You can't describe a coffee as tasting like strawberries if you've never had a strawberry, but you likely have had a fruit with similar sweetness that you can put language to.

You can't describe a coffee as tasting like a green apple if you've never had a green apple, but you likely have had a fruit with similar acidity that you have a memory of.

You can't describe a coffee as tasting like jasmine green tea if you've never had jasmine green tea, but you've likely have had a drink with a similar body that will be reminiscent to you.

So use the experiences that you’ve had to inform the language that you use to describe how coffee tastes. Much like the roaster did when they tasted the coffee and labelled the bag with their own language, lean on your own lexicon of flavors to talk about how your coffee tastes to you.

That being said, what’s your favourite flavor you’ve ever been reminded of in a cup of coffee? Let me know!