COFFEE 101: TASTE

Nov 22, 2017

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“TO TASTE IS TO LIVE, TO LIVE IS TO TASTE”

-by Scott McMartin.

taste: /tāst/  noun – the sensation of flavor perceived in the mouth and throat on contact with a substance.

Our sense of taste is arguably the most primal and enjoyable of the five human senses. What we eat and drink gives us sustenance, joy, pleasure, and a sense of being. Tasting and enjoying coffee is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. Coffee tasting and enjoying coffee as a consumer is a different exercise than the more technical, industry specific activity of coffee sensory evaluation known as “cupping”. When coffee experts evaluate coffee, they look for specific taste attributes that have traditionally defined the growing regions they came from. Coffee samples are graded and scored according to their quality and special flavor profiles. Most often, the best tasting and complex coffees command the highest prices in the global marketplace.

For Briggo Blend, we have purchased the best coffees available and artfully roasted the coffee to bring out the unique characteristics of each region and bring a complex flavor to our customers.

Grab a cup and join us on a sensory journey…

AROMA

Aroma refers to the smell of the coffee, both before and after it is brewed. Many defects are revealed by coffee aroma, as are the basic qualities of freshness and hints to the coffee’s origin. Humans eat and drink with our eyes and nose, before our mouth. Don’t believe me? Try plugging your nose now and take a sip – did you get anything?

With our signature Briggo blend, we were aiming to convey fresh-roasted sweetness and complexity.

 

ACIDITY

Acidity is also related to the feel of the coffee, it is more about the quality of tangyness exhibited in the cup. “Smooth” is often used to describe coffees with less acidity, while “bright” might describe a coffee higher in acidity such as lemons or grapefruit. Coffee acidity has zero relation to pH balance, high-acidity is actually correlated to high-quality, specialty coffee grown at higher altitudes.

We aim for a bright, crisp, citric flavor which translates well from the origins and altitudes from which we source our Briggo blend.

 

BODY

Ask yourself how the coffee feels on your tongue, specifically the weight of the coffee in your mouth. Body can be described generally as light, medium, or full…or sometimes with more flourish (syrupy, lush). Body in any liquid is the thickness and weight in your mouth and coffee is no different. Coffee with light body has less impact and less lingering presence for the drinker.

The complexity and thickness (or “mouthfeel”) of the Briggo blend is primarily concentrated in our Colombian beans.

 

FLAVOR

What does the coffee taste like in general? Flavor can be both positive (nutty, chocolaty) and negative (grassy, stale) to the drinker. In short, flavor is the combination of aroma, acidity, and body.

When evaluating and designing our Briggo flavor, we strove for distinction and balance to meet our highest quality thresholds.

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To read more about Scott’s journey with Briggo, click here.