Do you actually taste all the tasting notes shown on the label? If so, Daddy Hoffman would be so proud.
Do you actually taste all the tasting notes shown on the label? If so, Daddy Hoffman would be so proud.
by N-Performance
29 Comments
DubEspressoFiend
I’m not a cat person but that look of pensive thoughtfulness straight down the camera is golden.
lorrenzo
Can’t taste it, same with wine and perfume, I just take it as a big circle jerk and I am not invited to the club.
TheRealCrazyGamer
Sometimes. Most of the time, the strongest note is the one I can truly discern. I’ve been having more medium roasts lately, so I’ve been enjoying more chocolatey and taffy notes as of late, but one time I got a coffee that had a blueberry note that made my latte taste like blueberry muffins!
Jargon48
Not really, I can get broad strokes like a more fruity or caramel/chocolaty notes but that’s about it. The real specific stuff is beyond me.
Lords7Never7Die
Sometimes. I have a Brazilian medium i order from George Howell that has really forward tastes of raw cocoa and blueberry like it says on the bag. Another time, I ordered a coferment from Black and White and while it was good, I did not taste the fruit punch or cherry laffy taffy. I did taste the wine notes a little bit but mostly because of the yeastyness.
LovelyHatred93
I’m into coffee, bourbon, and cigars. Have been for a few years. I still can’t points out flavor notes. Every once in a while I’ll taste one and get excited, but otherwise I know if something tastes good or if it doesn’t and that’s enough for me.
lambchops111
My wife and I have been experimenting trying to identify flavor profiles. We did the Onyx Advent calendar and have been using the beans for pour overs. We got some “nutty” or “fruity” flavors from a couple of them, but one day I said “that tasted like a gala apple.” Turns out “gala apple” was the primary tasting note. Either I got lucky, or our tasting practice is actually somewhat developing my palate.
LauraTFem
Coffee has like three or four flavors that are described as 10-20 different ones. Anything synonym of fruity just means it has a sour/sweetness to it. Chocolate or any synonym of bitter just means it’s a dark roast coffee. Anything smooth or creamy is just talking about the thickness/crema texture.
Coffee is good, but not as complex as some people really want to believe. We just want our addictions to be “experiences” so we glaze them.
tour79
I’ve only seen one coffee shop do tastings, many employees report, and I doubt most shop employees taste all the flavors
Personally I can get first layer, and maybe second. The really rare flavors? No way I taste all of them
skviki
I don’t.
PhilosophicChinchila
I only do when I have multiple cups infront of me. But when it’s just one, I don’t know if I do.
False-Raspberry6779
Most of the time I don’t unless at least some like chokolade, blueberry are really in your face.
agracadabara
Coffee bag notes are never determined from espresso but cupping. Notes that you get from cupping seldom translate to other brew methods including filter. Also notes are written by what someone thinks they taste like.
One coffee had a flavor note on the bag of Peach Gose. That’s a flavor of non-alcoholic beer form one company. At least that’s what I got from doing a search. Who the fuck thinks that is a universally recognizable flavor?!
callMeBorgiepls
Yes tho Idk if Id always use the same descriptors. They may say walnuts, I may say hazelnut. They say citrus like lemon I say citrus like oranges.
Its usually just a small difference but large enough to matter
bwabwa1
Pour over? Sure. Espresso? Not so much. If I make Americanos maybe, but not lattes.
ManbrushSeepwood
Yes, and my experience doing semi-blind cuppings (we know what coffees are in the cupping, but not which cup is which) with other people very into specialty is that we largely agree on notes. E.g. my “stone fruit” is someone’s “nectarine” is someone else’s “peach tea”. The biggest area of disagreement tends to be florals, unless it’s something very characteristic like jasmine.
Now in espresso itself the presentation is usually a bit more blended, but soup shots and turbos with light roasts tend to be very transparent to me, similar to cupping.
This is all for light roast washed or lightly processed naturals. For funkier stuff and co-ferments, I think the dominant notes are extremely present even for people who don’t normally drink specialty or black coffee. You can usually pick them up just from opening the bag.
EdgarDrake
Typically nutty “aroma” is the strongest I can taste. And burnt roast, if it says “dark chocolate”.
I can discern differences of fruity vs floral, but to discern what kind fruity (peachy/orangey/etc).. nah, can’t
SubstantialAd1241
Sometimes yes. The one that stands out the most, in general, is obvious. but the smallest ones are not often and without knowing it it’s complicated 😅
noobfivered
Im in the realm of chocolate = bitter af, fruity = sour af, I’m happy!
PlatypusLucky8031
Broadly. I can detect chocolate, caramel, floral (whatever that means), fruity (usually a kind of black forest plum/cherry/currant thing), nutty, and then of course whatever 2000s hipster fairy floss nutmeg bullshit the roasters did for limited edition promo bags that they send us and we never buy. Last year for Christmas they sent us a bourbon flavoured roast that they claim to have roasted in old bourbon casks but I think they must have just soaked the things in bourbon because the taste is so strong I swear you could get drunk off it. It’s nasty.
I can pick out individual flavours in wine much easier, if I had been born into a less destitute family I could have been a super taster perhaps. As it stands I have this mental catalogue of all these flavours that I don’t have names for until the off chance I go to a wanky restaurant and find out that one was called, “tarragon”
Kyan1te
Pour over, yeah. Espresso… a struggle.
geko921
I had coffee with peach, white chocolate and something I don’t remember .. the taste was quite accurate. Even with milk as a flatwhite or cappuccino.
It’s the first time ever I encountered this. Maybe it was like that because I read the tasting notes and my brain was like. Uhh yeah could be peach and so.
Rusty_924
I am not sure whether anybody cares but here is my 13 year espresso story.
Started in 2012 with rancilio silvia and rancilio rocky (flat 40mm) stepped grinder.
At the time i was able to pull better shots than cafes around me. Italian style dark shots.
Years went by and around 2019 or so my taste started to change. I started trying lighter roasted coffees and tried various roasters in my country. and also many 3rd wave cafes have opened in 50km radius around where I live.
I started liking their coffee more and i could not tell the notes yet. But i could tell that i like burnt (roasted) flavors less and less. and preferred more delicate flavors.
I could not replicate it even with same coffee. I upgraded my grinder first. to niche zero. Improvement in quality was huge. this was for medium roasts.
But having to temperature surf an espresso machine with a pid became another variable. i decided i wanted to upgrade my espresso machine as well. i wanted quick heat-up time, rotary vein pump and dual boiler with pid without E61 group head.
Got the La Marzocco Linea Micra. It was so freaking amazing it reignited my hobby. I started going lighter and lighter. And then hit the wall again. The niche zero was not good enough for the very light roasts and shots were astringent.
So I got a good deal on new EK43 s. And use that now. Even light roasts taste great now. I can now taste so much more. Some natural heirloom Ethiopias (primariliy from Yirgacheffe) have clear notes of jasmine and peach. Some washed Kenyas can have blueberry notes. Got some amazing spice/earthy/woody notes from Indonesian coffees. Brazil naturals seem to be generic sweet flavor on the budget. And Colombia is super diverse, but generally have some juicy coffee.
Now add various fermentation and co-fermentation methods (which i do not love), and you can clearly taste coconut, banana, peach, wine, oak barrel, rum, cinnamon, etc.
And here is the TLDR:
Drinking espresso at home since 2012. Couldn’t taste any notes. Upgraded equipment over 13 years. Spent abou €6000 on gear and €60/kilogram on high quality coffee and can taste many notes. Many tasting notes just guide you. Some are pretentious. Some honest. But it is possible to improve your ability to taste. And it is huge fun. My favourite hobby for sure.
Frequent-Mud-6067
Lol, no. Sometimes I taste something distinct, like chocolate or almond. But no way I’m tasting the plums, raspberry, hint of peach, etc. But I do drink medium roast with my Robot because it’s easier and I don’t like strong sourness. I did have a light roast once that smelled and tasted distinctly like cherry. Like, an explosion of cherry flavor. That was fun 🙂
benanderson89
I’ve gotten it from time to time. I’ve legitimately had that sort of hazelnut flavour or cherry acidity multiple times with good coffee from my local roaster. The coffee I had this morning out of a Moka pot with a touch of sugar legitimately tasted like caramel to me, too.
komari_k
Depends on the beans. I’ve had some that really have a characteristic of the labeled notes, but others that are very broad
Levaporub
I could get a very realistic red berries and dark chocolate when my beans were fresher (1 week off roast) but haven’t been able to replicate the red berries. Dark chocolate still remains.
reuben_iv
Not really I kinda get fruity, citrusy/acidic, bitter, unless I’m told in which case ‘omg yeah I taste the caramel’
29 Comments
I’m not a cat person but that look of pensive thoughtfulness straight down the camera is golden.
Can’t taste it, same with wine and perfume, I just take it as a big circle jerk and I am not invited to the club.
Sometimes. Most of the time, the strongest note is the one I can truly discern. I’ve been having more medium roasts lately, so I’ve been enjoying more chocolatey and taffy notes as of late, but one time I got a coffee that had a blueberry note that made my latte taste like blueberry muffins!
Not really, I can get broad strokes like a more fruity or caramel/chocolaty notes but that’s about it. The real specific stuff is beyond me.
Sometimes. I have a Brazilian medium i order from George Howell that has really forward tastes of raw cocoa and blueberry like it says on the bag. Another time, I ordered a coferment from Black and White and while it was good, I did not taste the fruit punch or cherry laffy taffy. I did taste the wine notes a little bit but mostly because of the yeastyness.
I’m into coffee, bourbon, and cigars. Have been for a few years. I still can’t points out flavor notes. Every once in a while I’ll taste one and get excited, but otherwise I know if something tastes good or if it doesn’t and that’s enough for me.
My wife and I have been experimenting trying to identify flavor profiles. We did the Onyx Advent calendar and have been using the beans for pour overs. We got some “nutty” or “fruity” flavors from a couple of them, but one day I said “that tasted like a gala apple.” Turns out “gala apple” was the primary tasting note. Either I got lucky, or our tasting practice is actually somewhat developing my palate.
Coffee has like three or four flavors that are described as 10-20 different ones. Anything synonym of fruity just means it has a sour/sweetness to it. Chocolate or any synonym of bitter just means it’s a dark roast coffee. Anything smooth or creamy is just talking about the thickness/crema texture.
Coffee is good, but not as complex as some people really want to believe. We just want our addictions to be “experiences” so we glaze them.
I’ve only seen one coffee shop do tastings, many employees report, and I doubt most shop employees taste all the flavors
Personally I can get first layer, and maybe second. The really rare flavors? No way I taste all of them
I don’t.
I only do when I have multiple cups infront of me. But when it’s just one, I don’t know if I do.
Most of the time I don’t unless at least some like chokolade, blueberry are really in your face.
Coffee bag notes are never determined from espresso but cupping. Notes that you get from cupping seldom translate to other brew methods including filter. Also notes are written by what someone thinks they taste like.
One coffee had a flavor note on the bag of Peach Gose. That’s a flavor of non-alcoholic beer form one company. At least that’s what I got from doing a search. Who the fuck thinks that is a universally recognizable flavor?!
Yes tho Idk if Id always use the same descriptors. They may say walnuts, I may say hazelnut. They say citrus like lemon I say citrus like oranges.
Its usually just a small difference but large enough to matter
Pour over? Sure. Espresso? Not so much. If I make Americanos maybe, but not lattes.
Yes, and my experience doing semi-blind cuppings (we know what coffees are in the cupping, but not which cup is which) with other people very into specialty is that we largely agree on notes. E.g. my “stone fruit” is someone’s “nectarine” is someone else’s “peach tea”. The biggest area of disagreement tends to be florals, unless it’s something very characteristic like jasmine.
Now in espresso itself the presentation is usually a bit more blended, but soup shots and turbos with light roasts tend to be very transparent to me, similar to cupping.
This is all for light roast washed or lightly processed naturals. For funkier stuff and co-ferments, I think the dominant notes are extremely present even for people who don’t normally drink specialty or black coffee. You can usually pick them up just from opening the bag.
Typically nutty “aroma” is the strongest I can taste. And burnt roast, if it says “dark chocolate”.
I can discern differences of fruity vs floral, but to discern what kind fruity (peachy/orangey/etc).. nah, can’t
Sometimes yes. The one that stands out the most, in general, is obvious. but the smallest ones are not often and without knowing it it’s complicated 😅
Im in the realm of chocolate = bitter af, fruity = sour af, I’m happy!
Broadly. I can detect chocolate, caramel, floral (whatever that means), fruity (usually a kind of black forest plum/cherry/currant thing), nutty, and then of course whatever 2000s hipster fairy floss nutmeg bullshit the roasters did for limited edition promo bags that they send us and we never buy. Last year for Christmas they sent us a bourbon flavoured roast that they claim to have roasted in old bourbon casks but I think they must have just soaked the things in bourbon because the taste is so strong I swear you could get drunk off it. It’s nasty.
I can pick out individual flavours in wine much easier, if I had been born into a less destitute family I could have been a super taster perhaps. As it stands I have this mental catalogue of all these flavours that I don’t have names for until the off chance I go to a wanky restaurant and find out that one was called, “tarragon”
Pour over, yeah. Espresso… a struggle.
I had coffee with peach, white chocolate and something I don’t remember .. the taste was quite accurate. Even with milk as a flatwhite or cappuccino.
It’s the first time ever I encountered this. Maybe it was like that because I read the tasting notes and my brain was like. Uhh yeah could be peach and so.
I am not sure whether anybody cares but here is my 13 year espresso story.
Started in 2012 with rancilio silvia and rancilio rocky (flat 40mm) stepped grinder.
At the time i was able to pull better shots than cafes around me. Italian style dark shots.
Years went by and around 2019 or so my taste started to change. I started trying lighter roasted coffees and tried various roasters in my country. and also many 3rd wave cafes have opened in 50km radius around where I live.
I started liking their coffee more and i could not tell the notes yet. But i could tell that i like burnt (roasted) flavors less and less. and preferred more delicate flavors.
I could not replicate it even with same coffee. I upgraded my grinder first. to niche zero. Improvement in quality was huge. this was for medium roasts.
But having to temperature surf an espresso machine with a pid became another variable. i decided i wanted to upgrade my espresso machine as well. i wanted quick heat-up time, rotary vein pump and dual boiler with pid without E61 group head.
Got the La Marzocco Linea Micra. It was so freaking amazing it reignited my hobby. I started going lighter and lighter. And then hit the wall again. The niche zero was not good enough for the very light roasts and shots were astringent.
So I got a good deal on new EK43 s. And use that now. Even light roasts taste great now. I can now taste so much more. Some natural heirloom Ethiopias (primariliy from Yirgacheffe) have clear notes of jasmine and peach. Some washed Kenyas can have blueberry notes. Got some amazing spice/earthy/woody notes from Indonesian coffees. Brazil naturals seem to be generic sweet flavor on the budget. And Colombia is super diverse, but generally have some juicy coffee.
Now add various fermentation and co-fermentation methods (which i do not love), and you can clearly taste coconut, banana, peach, wine, oak barrel, rum, cinnamon, etc.
And here is the TLDR:
Drinking espresso at home since 2012. Couldn’t taste any notes. Upgraded equipment over 13 years. Spent abou €6000 on gear and €60/kilogram on high quality coffee and can taste many notes. Many tasting notes just guide you. Some are pretentious. Some honest. But it is possible to improve your ability to taste. And it is huge fun. My favourite hobby for sure.
Lol, no. Sometimes I taste something distinct, like chocolate or almond. But no way I’m tasting the plums, raspberry, hint of peach, etc. But I do drink medium roast with my Robot because it’s easier and I don’t like strong sourness. I did have a light roast once that smelled and tasted distinctly like cherry. Like, an explosion of cherry flavor. That was fun 🙂
I’ve gotten it from time to time. I’ve legitimately had that sort of hazelnut flavour or cherry acidity multiple times with good coffee from my local roaster. The coffee I had this morning out of a Moka pot with a touch of sugar legitimately tasted like caramel to me, too.
Depends on the beans. I’ve had some that really have a characteristic of the labeled notes, but others that are very broad
I could get a very realistic red berries and dark chocolate when my beans were fresher (1 week off roast) but haven’t been able to replicate the red berries. Dark chocolate still remains.
Not really I kinda get fruity, citrusy/acidic, bitter, unless I’m told in which case ‘omg yeah I taste the caramel’
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