{"id":2102,"date":"2014-07-08T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2014-07-08T16:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freshcup.com\/?p=2102"},"modified":"2014-09-29T14:22:28","modified_gmt":"2014-09-29T21:22:28","slug":"describing-flavor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/describing-flavor\/","title":{"rendered":"Describing Flavor"},"content":{"rendered":"

[W]hether in the cupping room or in the living room, flavor descriptors for coffees can be as bewildering as they are helpful. With coffee drinkers arrayed along the spectrum of taste ability\u2014some struggling to detect that \u201cvegetal element\u201d and others easily differentiating between tea rose and coffee blossom notes\u2014roasteries take many different paths to offering flavor descriptors for their coffees.<\/p>\n

Ceremony Coffee Roasters<\/a> in Annapolis approaches flavor descriptions with creativity that results in humdingers like \u201csnickerdoodle cookie,\u201d<\/a> \u201ccampfire aromatics,\u201d and \u201cSnickers Bar.\u201d Ronnie Haas, Ceremony\u2019s director of wholesale, says, \u201cFor every coffee we release, we collaboratively taste and re-taste it several times and at different stages of cooling to close in on a somewhat complete representation of that coffee (without lapsing into word salad). Everyone smells and tastes slightly different worlds, so multiple inputs from the crew here help us get closer to what are hopefully accurate or overt descriptors for each coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n

He acknowledges that a complex descriptor like \u201cChartreuse\u201d<\/a> (an herbaceous French liqueur) can be confusing, but also points out that with a little research, the drinker can discover that the liqueur represents herbal, bitter, and sweet notes. \u201cDescriptors like \u2018snickerdoodle’ certainly represent spice\/butter\/sugar browning, and sometimes it does take a practiced palate to label those characteristics as precisely \u2018snickerdoodle,\u2019\u201d says Ronnie.<\/p>\n

In a cupping room, with the intention of isolating defects, tasting coffees objectively, and determining roast profiles, such romantic descriptors are almost useless. In other settings, though, they can be fun and helpful for coffee drinkers to get more out of their standard cup of coffee. Ronnie says, \u201cI hope our descriptors can offer an experience map of sorts and an exciting, new way to perceive a delicious coffee at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FlavorSaver_Wheel\"<\/a>
Counter Culture Coffee’s Taster’s Flavor Wheel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Buying a bag of whole bean coffee is always an event, especially for newish coffee drinkers. If, instead of choosing between \u201cchocolate, apricot, and clove\u201d and \u201cwhite grape, kiwi, and cantaloupe,\u201d the eager coffee lover can hearken to flavor descriptors like \u201cs\u2019mores\u201d and \u201cclove gum\u201d or \u201cNapa chardonnay\u201d and \u201cfruit punch,\u201d the experience can be more comprehensive, touching on personal experiences and rituals.<\/p>\n

Often, says Ronnie, \u201cwe’re pleasantly surprised to hear people articulating the same descriptors in blind, public cuppings\u201d as were determined in the tasting process. The descriptors also serve as a helpful guide to new coffee drinkers and experienced ones, who might find abstract(ish) flavor concepts like \u201csnickerdoodle\u201d easier to approximate than the breakdown of spice\/butter\/sugar browning\u2014since not everyone is obsessed with flavor compounds and elements.<\/p>\n

As for the cupping room, while describing a coffee as cookie-like won\u2019t help with the kind of objective tasting needed, it can add fun and, ultimately, increased viability to the coffee as the flavors are transferred to marketing materials where, with purchase, a shared experience becomes reality.<\/p>\n

Flavor descriptors handily serve as both guides to and confirmation of the tasting experience, regardless of how they\u2019re done. Roasters who experiment with flavor descriptors can have fun, connect with their customers, and sell more coffee.<\/p>\n

\u2014Emily McIntyre<\/a> is a writer based in Portland.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a coffee tastes like “snickerdoodle.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":2105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}},"beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[26,18],"tags":[67,261],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDescribing Flavor - 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