The wheel of coffee: how to taste coffee the right way

What can we taste in a cup of coffee? Chocolate, blueberry, or vanilla? We sure can. Coffee contains more than 800 different aromas – and indulging in it equals a true journey of the senses. Experiencing and enjoying these fine nuances is what we’re curious about. Here’s how to taste them.

Wine tastings are well known. Ever tried a coffee tasting? To understand coffee tasting, let’s look at where taste originates. Even though we ingest coffee with our mouth and tongue, taste is a multisensory experience. Our tongue alone is only capable to discern five different flavours: sweet, bitter, salty, sour, and umami. Only the interaction of tongue and nose enable us to detect more nuanced and sophisticated flavours: aroma rises to the nose as soon as we close our mouth. This means, a clear nose is key to a successful coffee tasting. The following steps help us embrace and identify the full range of nuanced aromas hidden in our coffee:

Step 1: Smelling the soft and warm steam ascending from the cup comes first. Closing our eyes helps us to fully focus on the sensation. To further describe the experience, we can focus on what the scent reminds us of. Smells can also create pictures in our mind.

Step 2: After taking the first small sip of coffee, we let it spread in our mouth for a few moments – while slowly breathing through our nose. Paying attention to the new sensation, allows us to compare it to our first impression. Is the first impression of taste in line with what we smelled before? Does it add another layer to it? How can we categorise the overall taste? Is it sweet or fruity, sour or nutty?

Step 3: Time for another sip, or – even better – a slurp. Slurping aerates the coffee allowing us to taste it with our whole mouth. With the initial impressions and images in mind, we can now categorise the taste sensation even further.

Aspects to focus on when tasting finest nuances in coffee:

• Sweetness: What kind of sweetness is there to detect? Is there a way to describe it? Comparing it to known nuances of sweetness like honey, maple sirup, or brown sugar can help.
• Acidity: Does the coffee have a certain tartness?
• Body: How does the coffee feel on the tongue? Does it feel heavy and rich, light and smooth, or thin and watery?

In 1995, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) created the Coffee Taster’s Flavour Wheel as a guide to the true taste of coffee. It was developed based on insights and studies from various scientists and experts who identified different aromas coffee can contain. Since then, the colourful graphic has become a valuable tool for both, coffee experts and casual coffee lovers. Let’s look at how the wheel of coffee can help us discover the true taste of coffee.

Even though the many colours might be distracting at first, the Coffee Taster's Flavour Wheel is easy to read. Starting from the centre, we proceed to make our way outwards. At first, we identify which of the categories in the inner circle best describes what we smell and taste. From our chosen category, we then make our way outwards to further refine our choice with a set of sub-categories. Example: if settled for the overall category nutty/cocoa, we can define whether the aroma is more nutty or more cocoa.

We keep refining until we reach the wheel of coffee’s outer circle which enables us to precisely describe the aroma we perceive. Continuing the example: going with the cocoa sub-category, we can further define whether the mixture of scent and taste reminds us more of sweet and creamy or heavy and dark chocolate.

Most coffees contain more than just one nuance or aroma. Therefore, we can repeat the journey through the graphic until we feel like we fully discovered the unique synergy of coffee aromas unfolding in our cup.

Regularly training our senses will help us getting used to defining finest nuances. Whenever we eat something, the sensation of the food’s flavour in every detail and saving this impression in our memory will become the foundation. Referring to these sensory experiences and memories will make it easier to compare, recognise, and identify different aromas when tasting coffee.

Experimenting with different brewing methods and brewing parameters enables us to unleash even more coffee aromas out of a single bean. Brewing temperature, contact time, amount of water and pressure will impact a coffee’s taste in different ways.

Modern technology based on German engineering makes unleashing finest nuances from our coffee as easy as can be. The new Siemens EQ900 fully automatic espresso machine lets us create our individual coffee experience and specialties. The baristaMode is the heart of the machine, enabling us curious coffee lovers to adjust all brewing parameters to our individual taste – just like a barista. Thanks to the large intuitive touch display, we can experiment with water and coffee quantity, grind size, milk quantity, as well as contact time and brewing temperature to influence taste and aromatic nuances to our liking – all at the convenience of a fully automatic espresso machine. The innovative beanIdent technology supports this process: first, we choose the coffee bean type used via the large touch screen. Afterwards, beanIdent automatically identifies the optimal settings for all brewing parameters for the specific coffee bean.

There are no limits to brewing creativity – ensuring perfect coffee results, fascinating coffee moments, and unleashed coffee aromas to satisfy the curious coffee connoisseur. Ready to discover the new Siemens EQ900?