# Is it really there 'In the cup'?



## Britmac (Apr 24, 2015)

I've read with excited anticipation, the claims on various artisan roaster's websites, what to expect 'in the cup' when I buy a pack of their coffee. I can honestly say, that I have never tasted any of the exciting flavors they seem to find in their cup. Am I brewing it wrongly, or are those wonderful blueberry and citrus lemon chocolate flavors followed by a hint of caramel flavored red wine and nutmeg marshmallow, reserved solely for those around the cupping table at the original plantation? Do my fellow coffee lovers manage to extract these fantastic flavors?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

How are you brewing it ?

With what water ?

How are you grinding it ?

Are you grinding it at home ? With what

I find lots of wonderful tastes in my coffee .

Check the what's in my cup thread and you'll see that a few find pleasure in a variety of tastes in their coffee.


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## robashton (May 9, 2015)

Most places don't, most home places don't, I can think of about half a dozen times I've really gone "wow there it is" outside the confines of my own home (Black Lyan in London was the last).

Cupping sessions are usually where these flavours jump out for me, certainly more so than my average brew (well until I got the behmor anyway)

Best not to worry about it and just drink coffee on the basis of whether it has attributes that you like or not. You start picking out some of these notes after a few years anyway - if you start cupping your coffees side by side rather than just doing a brew you might start tasting more of t.


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## risky (May 11, 2015)

robashton said:


> Best not to worry about it and just drink coffee on the basis of whether it has attributes that you like or not.


This has got to be what it comes down to.

If I drink a coffee and think, that's really nice, but I'm not getting any of their tasting notes I don't get upset. If anything it's encouraging as it lets me know I need to try other things to reveal these flavours. Sometimes they never reveal themselves to me, but as long as I enjoyed the coffee I'll be happy.

There are a few coffees I've had where one particular note is unmistakable, but if you go into it expecting to taste every note in every drink you will be disappointed.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Britmac said:


> Am I brewing it wrongly...
> 
> are those wonderful blueberry and citrus lemon chocolate flavors followed by a hint of caramel flavored red wine and nutmeg marshmallow, reserved solely for those around the cupping table at the original plantation?
> 
> Do my fellow coffee lovers manage to extract these fantastic flavors?


If I treat it like that as 3 questions I think it's briefly:

Not necessarily answer MrBoots for comment on that.

No.

Some do.

I think as mentioned above most people don't find those flavours in the coffee. I did find that annoying and thought it's a bit of a conspiracy in a way but now I try to just enjoy coffee and pick out what I can. I think if you taste enough, try cupping etc then you'll get better at it and if you're paying attention to other variables it'll start to pay off. Don't get lost in the quest though if you're happy with what you're doing now.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Britmac said:


> Am I brewing it wrongly, or are those wonderful blueberry and citrus lemon chocolate flavors followed by a hint of caramel flavored red wine and nutmeg marshmallow, reserved solely for those around the cupping table at the original plantation? Do my fellow coffee lovers manage to extract these fantastic flavors?


My hunch is that you are probably extracting to a level where the body/mouthfeel of the brewed coffee is overpowering the flavour notes. This is very easy to do and it doesn't take much to take the extraction beyond the point where you loose the flavour characteristics mentioned in the tasting notes.

Assuming your beans are pretty fresh, try grinding coarser. Use a decent bottled water - Ashbeck, Volvic or Waitrose Essential. Keep your brew method very constant, i.e. don't change anything. If you are using a paper filter pour over method, keep an eye on time - grinding coarser should shorten brew time slightly. Allow coffee to cool sufficiently - above 70c, you won't get the tasting notes so allow to cool to around 60c and below. If you are stirring the slurry during the brew time, e.g. during blooming, do so very gently as stirring can impact significantly in boosting extraction levels.

Try cupping the beans before you do any brewing. You don't need much in the way of equipment - have a look on the HasBean website for guidance on how to cup. This will give you a very clear idea of what to expect from the beans in the cup. Lastly, try a bean offering that's naturally processed - these offerings, as a consequence of the processing method, are big and bold in their flavours notes.


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## elonii (Jun 24, 2015)

I get some, and I think a lot of it is down to technique. There was one day where I clearly had a moment of mozart-like coffee brilliance and I got a cup that did indeed have those chocolate and caramel overtones I had been dreaming of. I generally use those descriptions to work out which new coffees I should try and manage to get something that could be an approximation of it. Sometimes I get through a whole bag without "getting it". But I generally think that's down to my skills and limited coffee making time. If I stuff up a shot, I still have to drink it before shooting into my office to work.


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Maybe technique. For me - I don't have great sense of smell and that probably affects my taste and then I realised that I didn't have a good vocabulary for recognising and describing what I taste, so I have been working on that and various cupping events have helped with that as well as conversations at forum days and with baristas (one classic moment when the tasting notes on a coffee suggested 'Turkish delight', and the barista confessed that he had never had Turkish delight so had no idea what that was supposed to taste like). So. I'm with others on this thread - the starting point is whether I generally like the taste and if I do, I'll drink more of it and buy more of those beans (for as long as they are available) and then it's worth working on the palate through cupping and talking with others.


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

Best one I had was the CC LSOL where I was constantly getting grapefruit, not just a hint because someone mentioned it - but hitting me in the mouth (I like grapefruit).


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

There are times, too, when we focus on other things, enjoying the drink and having a chat; from Brian's latest blog:

'This was prepared by V60 and was a lovely, sweet cup, which was very drinkable. I should, obviously, gush about the various flavour notes, but if I'm honest, I was too busy chatting with Alison and my friend Shannon (of stripy-sock fame; it's a twitter thing, don't ask) that I completely forgot take notes. It was a very fine cup of coffee, however, I do remember that much, presented, as it should be, in a carafe with a separate cup.'

http://www.brian-coffee-spot.com/2015/08/24/blk-coffee/


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

I personally think that your ability to distinguish the flavours in the tasting notes evolves as your palette learns and you develop a vocabulary and taste memory to adequately describe what you are tasting. Most of us know what chocolate, various nuts, vanilla, honey, strawberries and many of the berries taste like. If you don't eat a variety of stone fruits and tropical fruits how can you say a coffee has that taste in it. Today I am drinking a coffee which is supposed to taste like a toasted marshmallow. I know what that tastes like from my childhood and can honestly say I can distinguish that in the coffee (especially in milk drinks). If you never had a toasted marshmallow, how would you know that is what it tastes like. You would probably just say it tasted sweet, maybe a very light brown sugar taste.

Your tasting vocabulary will expand the longer you are in the game and the more you challenge it. Work on developing a palette of reference tastes ie. taste fruits you have not before to understand what they taste like in their own right.

It takes years to become a trained sommelier, why should it be any different when trying to become a coffee taster/sommelier?


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