How Will I Know?

The ever growing wall of coffee we have available at our South Calgary location (and also online!) is overwhelming. Even at the general grocery store, how do you choose? There are so many bags from so many producers and so many tasting notes and and and…

How will I know if I’ll even like it?

What do I even want my coffee to taste like?

That’s really the first question I think - What do you Like?

If you’ve never really thought about it and are overwhelmed just by that question - hey, we all gotta start somewhere. Think about if there’s places you liked versus places you didn’t like - are you more Tim Hortons or McDonalds? Are you more Folgers or more Maxwell House?

If you know that - think, why did I like that?
Was it bold? Was it smokey? Was it sweet? Bitter? Fruity?

At this point we may be able to consider the Flavour Wheel (™). Various versions of flavour wheels exist, I’m rather fond of the one by Counter Culture Coffee (linked at the bottom!)
The main idea with the flavour wheel is to start closer to the center and work outwards when tasting. You’ll taste a note, and maybe it’s chocolatey. Start then near the center of the wheel at chocolatey, and look outwards to the more specific options; is it more Dark Chocolate or Milk Chocolate? If it’s a fruity note, it is a Stone Fruit? Is it a Berry, a Tropical Fruit?

For purchasing coffee - consider it in reverse. Start with a tasting note on a bag, and work backwards to simpler, more comfortable descriptors. As well, you can consider that roasts that are darker or lighter will share similar characteristics. With other roasts of similar levels.

For example, Night Walk by Paradigm Spark lists itself as tasting like Dark Chocolate, Molasses and Black Tea. Looking at the Counter Culture flavour wheel, these simplify to Chocolatey, Earthy and Sweet. These are also all darker notes - Dark Chocolate, Black Tea. These are notes you expect to see on a dark roast, notes that relate more to the level of roast and the process of the caramelization of the beans than the beans themselves.

On the other side of the spectrum, a Light Roast like Finca Cultiveras by Pro-file Coffee has the tasting notes Cantalope, Mint and Honey. On the flavour wheel, that breaks down to Melon/Fruit, Herbal, and Sweet. These are also all more delicate flavours, neither Honeydew or Mint are very bold flavours, and the lighter you go the flavours tend to be more tea-like and delicate. Some folks love this (myself included), and some folks (many of my colleagues) feel this just Doesn’t Taste Like Coffee. Wherever you find yourself on the spectrum, I hope this overview helps you make choices that better support a cup you enjoy every day. =)

(And never be afraid to ask for a recommendation!)

Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel – Counter Culture Coffee
Credit to Counter Culture for the Flavour Wheel Image used in this post