Coffee Sensory Skills Experience at Keffa Coffee
Recently our assistant production roaster Tyler and I attended a sensory skills experience hosted by one of our green coffee importers, Keffa Coffee. What do I mean by “sensory skills”? I’m glad you asked! And no, we weren’t putting our hands into a mystery box to feel what’s inside like Fear Factor (anyone?). But before I get to that, let me explain what sensory skills are in coffee.
Generally speaking, coffee sensory skills involve the ability to identify the unique attributes of smell, taste, and “feel” of coffee. A quick internet search on “coffee sensory skills” will show how complicated it can be. In the coffee industry, highly trained professionals called “Q-graders” taste coffee at different points in the supply chain to validate origins, determine quality, and identify defects. Defects are a broad range of conditions that include bug damage, mold, and even industrial contamination. But it’s not all bad!
Finely tuned coffee sensory skills can also help identify the positive flavors that coffee conveys. These flavor “notes” are reminiscent of the wine industry and help consumers relate to the complex flavors that are naturally present in coffee. From chocolate, nuts, and spices, to floral, herbal, and fruit notes, each coffee and origin has its own unique flavor profile. Entire books have been written about the subject, so I invite you to do more research while I keep this a bit shorter.
Okay, so there we were, at Keffa Coffee headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. A table of identical cups filled with water each laced with a different FlavorActiv solution was before us (and a group of about 15 other roasters and coffee professionals). Our task was to taste each cup of water and identify the “defect” that was present. Like a bad game of “BeanBoozled” we enjoyed delectable flavors of leafy/grass, mold, musty/dusty, ferment, phenolic and everyone’s favorite, leather.
Why would we subject our tastebuds to such torture? For you of course! Okay, and maybe to satisfy a little twisted curiosity. At Bugle Call Coffee, we have the privilege of roasting high quality specialty coffee beans. Actual defects are hard to come by and are usually headed off at the pass by our importers who screen for the best quality beans from farms and co-ops around the world. Still, coffee is an imperfect agricultural product, and we must stay aware of both the negative and positive potential it offers. Our ability to quickly and accurately identify problems helps us ensure that only the highest quality coffee is delivered to your cup!