# Body, Acidity and Aroma



## Guest (Dec 29, 2015)

Dear friends,

I've some questions about coffee beans. I've been interesting coffee roating and making espresso etc. Mostly I like to drink milky coffees as latte, cortado, flat white etc so I prefer coffee beans with rich body out of density. But I don't know that what is important of acidity and aroma for milky coffee. Which level acidity should i choose and aroma?

For instance sometimes my latte was light even my coffee beans rich body so I mean acidity and aroma is important for milky coffees, could you help me about this issue


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## h1udd (Sep 1, 2015)

unfortunately there is no right or wrong answer as it comes down to personal taste.

there is no right or wrong coffee when it comes to milk based drinks .. you are no longer drinking espresso, but a "cocktail" if you like. Some people try to get their coffee to punch through the milk and go for dark roasts where the sugar has all been burnt off and use the milks sweetness to put this sugar back in to the drink.

Ultimately though, you should be using whatever bean you like the taste of and getting it to work with the milk .... try your normal espresso ratio with the milk .. too sour ? then increase the extraction until you find that perfect balance of acidity.

but to summarise, again. there is no wrong or right bean, they can all go with milk, you just need to try them and change the recipe until you find a taste you like .. it really is a personal thing


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## Guest (Dec 29, 2015)

Can we say acidity mean is sour for coffee?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

cdsoft said:


> Can we say acidity mean is sour for coffee?


Nope - not the same thing

Sourness is predominantly a function of extraction


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Acidity is a positive attribute, whereas I think most folk would say sourness is a negative, or at best 'interesting'.

Think juiciness in ripe fruit like plums, peaches, melons, grapes etc., as acidity.


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## h1udd (Sep 1, 2015)

It's a balance ... Sourness is an attribute as much as acidity ... You just don't want too much of it ... Look at the barns Maruta barundi, lively taste of sour cherries


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Nope - not the same thing
> 
> Sourness is predominantly a function of extraction


Let me re phrase that - when people give notes of a coffee as sour - I presume it's predominantly a function of under extraction and said as a negatives


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## risky (May 11, 2015)

h1udd said:


> It's a balance ... Sourness is an attribute as much as acidity ... You just don't want too much of it ... Look at the barns Maruta barundi, lively taste of sour cherries


I don't know about that...I think Mr. Perger describes it well:

As per http://www.baristahustle.com/coffee-extraction-and-how-to-taste-it/



> Sourness -
> 
> This is a tricky one, especially with our desire for acidity in coffee. I hear lots of people ask "Aren't sourness and acidity the same thing?" and it's a very valid question; in a lot of languages 'sourness' is the same word as 'acidity'. As you can imagine, this makes multilingual cuppings a little difficult.
> 
> ...


And as always it comes down to the individual palate. I love a 'bright' coffee with really prominent fruity acidity.


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