Page 55 - Thirst Magazine Issue 1 (Feb 2017)

HAVE YOU SMELLED their first complaint will generally be that
the coffee is too acidic or too sour. This
SOMETHING AND phenomenon is recognised as Cognitive Strain
THOUGHT, “THAT’S - a sudden shift in sensory experience that can
generate alarms in the neural circuitry.
SO SWEET” WITHOUT CONCLUSION // REAL WORLD IMPLICATION

EVEN TASTING IT? So with all these factors at play, one can never
be sure of what one is experiencing, or what
reality is when it comes to coffee tasting.
Teenagers, seniors, men and women all
than bitterness, our perception of taste swings experience flavours differently. We can’t swap
more towards the sweetness; with bitterness our noses, tongues or mouths with others;
disappearing significantly. so we can only embrace our own unique
An example of this phenomenon in action experiences.
is when someone adds sugar to a cup of bad As professionals in our field, we need
bitter coffee to take away the bitterness and to study and understand that good flavours
improve the taste. aren’t a single point on the scoreboard, but
Choosing a cup of good coffee often in fact encompass a rich gamut of areas. It’s
means paying more for it. But it also means a important therefore to take a step back, not
better tasting cup of coffee, without the need take ourselves too seriously, and maintain
to add sugar. a sense of empathy. Take time to appreciate
what the customers may be experiencing and
IS IT REAL? strive to serve them well.
The fact is, aromas are capable of suppressing
taste. Sometimes, our sense of smell can lead
to a false perception on whether something COFFEE EXTRACTION:
is sweet or bitter. In truth, sweet and bitter BALANCING SWEETNESS AND BITTERNESS
tastes can only be detected via our tongue and Coee Extraction: Balancing Sweetness and Bitterness.
mouth area. An example of how this works is
when you smell a rose and think it is sweet, DELAY BITTERNESS, MAXIMISE BALANCE and SWEETNESS
Upfront Sourness. Stop brewing before Bitterness Exceed Sweetness.
without actually eating/tasting it. INTENSITY
Similarly, if you encounter the aroma of Acidity Sweet (Maximised) Bitter (Original)
strawberry or vanilla in a beverage, it could Bitter (Delayed)
make you think that something is sweet, Sweet (Original)
even when it isn’t. If after that, you use your
tongue to taste it, it may even taste sweeter
than it actually is. This increased intensity of
sweetness arises from your initial perception. COFFEE BREWING DURATION TIME
In other words, the actual level of sweetness in 30 Seconds
the beverage has not changed; however your
perception of its intensity has been altered by
smell. So you can see how aromatics can be
Roasted Coee with Distinct Taste Balance
used to influence taste in coffee. ROASTED COFFEE WITH DISTINCT TASTE BALANCE
COGNITIVE EASE VS COGNITIVE STRAIN REFRESHING ACIDITY followed by SWEETNESS
Upfront Sourness. Maximum Sweetness to counterbalance Bitterness.
When we experience a particular flavour INTENSITY
or taste on a regular basis, the human mind Acidity Sweet
becomes more accustomed to those notes. So Bitter
if you consume bitter things daily, bitterness
becomes more tolerable.
In the case of speciality coffee, acidity
and sourness are persistent in lighter roasted COFFEE BREWING DURATION TIME PERCEIVED PRESENCE OVER TIME
DOMINANT SWEETNESS
coffee. When speciality coffee baristas LONG ACIDITY with BITTER FINISH
consume their “speciality grade” coffee, their Prolonged Sourness. Minimal Sweetness to counterbalance Bitterness.
brain becomes more accustomed to and more INTENSITY Bitter
acceptable of higher levels of sourness. On Acidity
the other hand, commercial coffees tend to be Sweet
more bitter. Commercial coffee baristas tend
to be more tolerable to bitterness. This is a
phenomenon known as Cognitive Ease. COFFEE BREWING DURATION TIME PERCEIVED PRESENCE OVER TIME
When commercial coffee baristas or DOMINANT ACIDITY & BITTERNESS
consumers move into the speciality segment,

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