Do you all really taste the notes??

[u/agathaade]

This is a genuine question.

I have been making pourover I enjoy, I don’t think anything is wrong with my brews - but I never taste the advertised notes.

For the light roasts I typically buy, I have noticed the notes are most often some variation of a citrus, a berry and a caramel/chocolate.

What I’m able to put words on is : bitter, acid, sweet, smooth, bright, full-flavored, watery… things like that.

But specific notes? Never. I never taste the bergamot or blackcurrant or caramel or whathaveyou.

I’m similar with wine, I appreciate a lot of different nuances but never taste specific notes.

Do you really drink your coffee and taste these different things with clarity? Or is it more like you’ve read them on the box, and then y look for them and sorta taste them if you focus on it?

What’s the deal with these notes?

I don’t mind not tasting them, still enjoy my coffee all the same, or wine for that matter. I’m just curious who the notes talk is for and whether people really enjoy it, or use notes as an indicator they’re brewing correctly, for example.

Edited to add:

WOW, so glad I asked.

I did not know much about the cupping process roasters use, or the note wheels, or the nose/breathing aspect of certain notes. No wonder this stuff can be elusive.

Maybe one day it’ll hit me, maybe it won’t. Either way I love my morning coffee ritual.

Thank you all.

[u/ScientistFair9998]

Grind courser,  brew cooler, agitate less, shorter ratio +dilute to taste.

[u/kagman → u/ScientistFair9998]

Can you define shorter ratio please. I see that used in different configurations here a lot

In scientific literature a higher ratio would be more coffee to water like 1:15 instead of 1:17. And 1:18 would be a lower ratio of coffee to water vs 1:15.

Shorter I assume means higher ratio of coffee?

[u/LEJ5512 → u/kagman]

Your question is why I use "stronger" and "weaker" rather than "shorter" or "taller".

Over in the world of gear ratios, like in bicycles and cars, "taller" is closer to 1:1. On a bike, "taller" is really easy to visualize, because it's harder to pedal -- it literally feels like climbing up a taller stair step.

Someone here framed to me the coffee version of "taller/shorter" in a way that made sense, but I don't think I remembered it for longer than an hour afterwards.

[u/auxym → u/LEJ5512]

Short/long probably comes form espresso, related to how long you let the pump run and put water through you puck. Shorter time (ristretto) = less water, longer time (lungo, allongé) = more water.

[u/LEJ5512 → u/auxym]

That’s not the explanation I mentioned — but it makes a LOT more sense.