We all order
our favourite coffees, but do we actually know what they are comprised of?
Of course
these are just 12 variants of coffee – we can progress all the way into wet and
dry cappuccinos, ristretto, piccolo latte, half-caf and on and on; the list really is impressive!
I’m always
asked by my non-coffee friends what they should drink if they are just getting
into coffee. While the drawing above does not entirely show it, the best one to
drink would be a flat white (if you’re ordering in an Australian coffee shop).
The reason being that milk to coffee ratio is the higher, as one shot of
espresso in the cup is topped off with milk and very little foam, making it a
milkier coffee. As such the coffee taste (with the usual brunt and bitter taste
that is so common in poorly mad coffees today) is less prominent.
Traditionally
I was always a long black drinker (i.e. an Americano), but coffee shops today seem
to butcher the flavour. Even the really good and high end cafes with the best
machines, baristas and beans can often produce coffees with undesirable
flavours. While all coffees will experience these tasting notes, at least the
sweetness (from properly textured milk that hasn’t been burnt!) can cover them,
whereas a long black just seems to highlight them.
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| Flavour Profile Wheel |
Funnily
enough though, some coffee shops have taken to advertising what flavour
profiles you’ll experience in your coffee. Honestly I think it’s a great idea;
you’re educating the customer about what they’re going to taste and what’s good
and bad. I just can’t stand it when someone mindlessly words off flavour
profiles without knowing what they’re talking about, nor do I appreciate it
when someone rhymes of statements such as “the back of pallet acidity will
mellow out and the front pallet sweetness will conjure up flavours of chocolate
covered strawberries with rough saltiness”… yes, believe it or not, a shop
owner has said something very similar to me!
Amiss are
the days when you could just drink a coffee and describe it as tasting like
coffee. But is it really that bad that we are becoming more discerning with our
taste? On the whole, I think not.
Overall it
comes down to the individual. Most of use can’t taste the difference between a
really good coffee and simply an average one, let alone the individual taste
profiles… however, it’s always good to informed when it comes to making your
choices. Why keep drinking that burnt coffee when there are so many cafes
trying to produce the best coffee for their customers at the same price?
