The Basics of Tasting Coffee

[@brewinghabits]

Have any good ways of improving your sense of taste that weren't mentioned? Comment them below!

[@davidmaurice1294]

I think my sense of smell might be damaged from decades of allergy problems and I almost resigned myself to never really getting the true taste of the coffee I make. From watching your video I now feel that I might be able to compensate by being much more intentional about tasting and by using the training techniques you outlined. Thanks!

[@brewinghabits]

Glad that you enjoyed the video and have come to that realization! The sense of taste and smell is something similar to a pull-up. If you have never achieved a pull-up, then you would think that it's just impossible to do or that you are just bad at pull-ups. However, once you start building the foundation and grow the muscles for a pull-up and get that first one, a whole new world opens up :D

[@FER_R]

Very very interesting. I am a coffee lover, and I love to experiment with recipes and methods. But I also love food and cooking and find myself lacking in finding ways to describe mouthfeel and taste. This video (and your mouthfeel one) are very enlightening and something I will come back to so I can pick up more tips to hopefully develop my taste and vocabulary. Your way of explaining things is very accessible and simple. Thank you and keep up the good work!

[@brewinghabits]

Really appreciate the kind words, even though tasting is something we do every day, it really is amazing how little most people know about the mechanics of it haha. If you ever have any random coffee (or tasting) Q's then you know where to find me!

[@FER_R]

@@brewinghabits Thank you for the reply and the generous offer. I have been slowly getting through all your videos, but I am sure I will have questions...

[@coffeewithcarl1779]

I love how you explain topics!

[@brewinghabits]

Thanks bud, glad you like my video style :D

[@garygardens]

Another excellent video, Paul. Thanks. I need to work on my tasting, particularly defining what I'm tasting as you said. Another effective way of tasting coffee is to chew it. I read that somewhere and thought it was crazy but, when I tried it, found it really works. Just be careful to keep your mouth closed when you do it.

[@brewinghabits]

Thanks for another thoughtful comment! Chewing is an interesting tip. I know that you are suppose to chew 32 times for more solid foods however perhaps there should be a ~5 chew quota for when you drink coffee +_+ Never tried it myself but will have to give it a whirl tomorrow!

[@garygardens]

@@brewinghabits I thought it was a little crazy until I tried it. I think chewing forces the coffee into areas of the mouth it usually never hits.

[@brewinghabits]

I tried it this morning and it's totally does improve the tasting range. Yea I think it is what you just said with the liquid covering those crevasses in your mouth that you never let liquid touch when drinking normally! Solid tip :D

[@MeggaChen]

One of the best video about tasting coffee I never knew I needed! Thank you for the video ✨

[@brewinghabits]

Glad that you liked the video 🔥 You know what they say, the best things in life are... randomly stumbled upon on the sidebar of KZbin :D

[@voravitlee]

thank you for coffee knowledge series easy to listening and understanding

[@brewinghabits]

You are welcome, glad the knowledge was easy to digest :D

[@cindylanovia3759]

Thank you 😀

[@shahryarshon3880]

awesome video! thank you.

[@jonnypeatersons]

I love your channel! I have recently been getting really passionate about coffee and your videos have taught me so much that is helping me have a lot of fun getting the results I am looking for. Thank you :)

[@brewinghabits]

Thanks for the fuzzy comment, I am glad you have improved and seen positive coffee results from the content that I am creating! If you have any specific coffee Q's then ask away, always down to share more knowledge :D

[@jonnypeatersons]

@@brewinghabits Awesome! I hope you are doing well :) I'll take you up on that offer to ask a few questions! Along side my magical moka pot and french press, I recently acquired a 'rok presso' manual espresso machine and grinder. Because the rok is cast from a big hunk of aluminum, I have heard that it creates a challenge for heat management and for reaching an optimal extraction due to the heat loss. I tried to get the machine as hot as possible by passing a few rounds of boiling water though the reservoir and portafilter then started to dial in a grind for a 1:2.5 ratio with 16g (which is the standard rok basket size) of a med/dark blend in and 40g out. On the second grind and shot poured, I got to a fine enough grind until the pour was 35 seconds long with a 15ish seconds pre-infusion. I felt like the shot was very strong and under extracted, very salty, sour and thick, I could taste the acidity a bit too much even with milk (which is what the beanbag/roaster suggested to be served with) but I feel like I missed out on the sugars, nuttiness and pleasent bitter notes that I have tasted with my balanced french press brews? What do you think would be the best variable to change first to help me increase extraction? Should I grind finer, dose less, higher ratio, increase pour or pre-infuse time? Do you think the heat loss is a big issue? perhaps retro-fitting a kind-of heated rod to the top water reservoir to stabilize temperature? Would love to hear your opinion. Cheers!

[@brewinghabits]

Here are my thoughts on those topics! + From my espresso days, I hardly deviated from a 1:2 ratio. Usually I was able to get a good shot by tweaking the other variables before the ratio. + My first assumption from your description is that your grind is not fine enough. What grinder are you using? Is it capable of going even finer? Dosing less/a higher brewing ratio would both just take your brewing ratio way out of a "normal" espresso ratio range. + A pre-infusion is a relatively new concept and its used to prepare the puck by adding a dash of water before the full pressure occurs to not disturb the grinds too forcefully. So it shouldn't be used too much as a variable to tweak its extraction, instead more as a mechanic to keep things consistent. I am not fully sure how your pre-infusion works (as you mention a second pre-infusion?) but perhaps remove it as a variable and go straight into the pull? + I used to have a Rancilio Silvia where temperature surfing and proper heating was quite important so I assume the same can be said for the Rok. With that said, as long as you are consistent and the device is sufficiently warm, it doesn't really matter too much because you will be tweaking your brewing recipe according to the "usual" temperature of the Rok. Just make sure to go through the same routine and habits and try to keep it consistent between days. Let me know how your next espresso shot turns out if you try grinding finer/any other changes!

[@jonnypeatersons]

@@brewinghabits Thanks for such a detailed reply! This makes a lot of sense and gives me a really good idea of what to do next, and where to move from there. Which will be to use a 1:2 and get the grind finer, I'm using the Rok hand grinder which is sold along side the press, and it did have a few more steps down for a finer grind. In regards to the second pre-infusion, sorry about that, it was a typo that meant to say "15ish seconds". You make a really good point regarding consistency so I think I will leave it as recommended by others and keep it the same. I really appreciate you sharing your experience and helping me even more than you already have done with your videos. I will let you know how and what the next one tastes like, I have a good feeling about it, thanks again!

[@jonnypeatersons]

@@brewinghabits I did it! Thanks to your sage advice I was able to make a delicious sweet and buttery coffee from my beautiful little coffee machine, in my unrefined opinion the beans have a flavour of orange marmalade and almonds which was nice to compare to a filter brew of 1:16 with the same beans. I was able to bypass the steps in the grinder and really dial in the grind after changing my recipe to what you suggested, it took a couple to get it right but having the table for dialing in from your other video helped keep the other variables consistent. I am just so pleased in the results and very grateful for the support. You are a gem.

[@fredricknyakuna2842]

I'm keenly following you

[@radwi69]

I had never understood all this confusing science, despite tons of "Vloggers” yakking away and making it impossible to grasp! Arigato-gozi-mas!

[@jherbranson]

Hi. Thanks for the videos! Are you planning on doing more Let's Brew Good Coffee videos? Those are a great resource. Cheers!

[@brewinghabits]

Hey Juel, I took a mini-pause with that series but plan on coming back to it with different brewing devices down the road! Currently I am working on an Aeropress guide that will be somewhat similar in style to the Let's Brew Good Coffee series so stay tuned for that :D

[@jherbranson]

@@brewinghabits Great to hear. Thanks for responding!

[@yuvrajyuvraj2664]

Hello All, Anyone can suggest me a book or web source to learn coffee sensory. Thanks

[@biniyamfekadu8408]

i like it

[@phamelabaculio2740]

this is random but you look so good like coffee

[@brewinghabits]

🔥🔥🔥

[@Almo-sj3xp]

2 comment 5th like 10th view 😁

[@brewinghabits]

The days of easy "firsts" are long gone my friend haha :D

[@m.s.g1890]

great stats, man lol

[@Almo-sj3xp]

@@brewinghabits yea i know :( thats good tho. Shows your progress!!