Lately we've been moving the art around at the shop. We have a row of coffee bags turned into wall scrolls up and some old posters that have not been up in a while are back on the walls. One of the most noticeable changes, however, is that some of the posters used with sensory training have been taken out of the roasting area and moved where customers can see them. As the purpose and usefulness of these posters might not be entirely clear, I was asked to write a page explaining what these posters are and what they have to do with coffee roasting. Here is what it says:
The aroma of roasted coffee is one of the most recognizable scents. Who hasn't opened a package of coffee and taken a deep breath to savor that wonderful aroma full of promises for a delicious, perfectly brewed, invigorating cup of coffee? Certainly, it would be a huge disappointment to find coffee that does not smell like coffee, just as coffee ought to taste like coffee. Anybody with a sense of taste and smell can taste coffee and say if it tastes like coffee or smell coffee and say if it smells like coffee.
Of course, not all coffees are the same. There can be great variations in the flavor and aroma of coffees. Some origins and appellations are known for possessing particular elements of flavor and aroma that separate that coffee from the other coffees of the world. In order to properly evaluate the quality of these coffees, it is useful to be able to critically and accurately communicate these distinctions that make a particular coffee special. The normal daily experience of drinking a cup of coffee, while helpful in developing a sensory memory, does not demand the sort of critical evaluation necessary to communicate the sensory properties of a particular coffee.
For this reason, we use a set of vials containing various scents. These are perhaps the most important scents found in coffee presented without the other aroma constituents that would be present in coffee. Through training the sense of smell to identify various components of an aroma individually, it becomes possible to correctly identify these scents when they are found in coffee. We also make an effort to consider the component flavors of a coffee. The Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel is a useful tool providing names for several common flavors found in roasted coffee.
When the flavor and aroma of a coffee can be critically analyzed, it becomes possible to determine the origin of that flavor or aroma. These can be altered by the soil, rain, and sun while the coffee is still growing, by several steps in processing the coffee cherries into green coffee, by the conditions in which the green coffee is stored, by the roasting process, and by staling, grinding, and brewing. Knowing where the flavor and aroma of coffee comes from allows us to find a way to accentuate the desirable parts of the coffee while diminishing any undesirable parts.