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I have gotten fairly into coffee but I struggle to independently pick up these subtle notes. I'll take a sip, struggle to put any concrete words on the taste, a

I have gotten fairly into coffee but I struggle to independently pick up these subtle notes. I'll take a sip, struggle to put any concrete words on the taste, and then read the tasting notes and (honestly) think "ah of course, yes I definitely get that". But I'm sure it's all just the power of suggestion. (An exception is some Ethiopian beans which have an unmistakable blueberry aroma and taste that they are famous for.) I've stopped worrying too much about "advancing" past that level. Now I just buy the coffee, read the notes, enjoy experiencing the sensations that have been placed in my head. Is it "connoisseurship"? Is it a placebo? Who cares, it's fun!

WaxProlix 4y ago
It might be useful to you - it definitely was for me - to get a few french presses of strikingly different coffees that are 'emblematic' of certain flavor profiles. This was a long time ago, so I just used Starbucks blends (sorry current me) but you could certainly do something even more telling nowadays. So you'd get a yergachiffe that was definitely blueberry, but then a slightly different Ethiopian bean that's very lemony, and some Arabian style Indonesian beans for Spice characters, a Guatemalan or something for nuttiness, etc.
poloniculmov 4y ago
It's much easier to get subtle notes in cuppings than drinking brewed coffee, because the brewing method will skew the taste. You also need to train your palate, you obviously can recognise what tastes good to you, but most of us never actually worked on pinpointing those flavours. Unfortunately, some roaster embelish those notes to drive up sales, since it's the only to differentiate between coffees, especially if you're not familiar with that particular farm/region. Or, you can just ignore them and have fun :)) Coffee can be a rabbit whole where you can spend lots of money to get certain microlots or improving your water profile.

WaxProlix 4y ago

It might be useful to you - it definitely was for me - to get a few french presses of strikingly different coffees that are 'emblematic' of certain flavor profiles. This was a long time ago, so I just used Starbucks blends (sorry current me) but you could certainly do something even more telling nowadays. So you'd get a yergachiffe that was definitely blueberry, but then a slightly different Ethiopian bean that's very lemony, and some Arabian style Indonesian beans for Spice characters, a Guatemalan or something for nuttiness, etc.

poloniculmov 4y ago

It's much easier to get subtle notes in cuppings than drinking brewed coffee, because the brewing method will skew the taste. You also need to train your palate, you obviously can recognise what tastes good to you, but most of us never actually worked on pinpointing those flavours. Unfortunately, some roaster embelish those notes to drive up sales, since it's the only to differentiate between coffees, especially if you're not familiar with that particular farm/region. Or, you can just ignore them and have fun :)) Coffee can be a rabbit whole where you can spend lots of money to get certain microlots or improving your water profile.