How to pass the Q-grader exam (2) Taste skills

Taste skills: sweet, sour, salty

This part of the test is related to the taste of your tongue, and the solution used for the test has no smell! There are three different concentrations of aqueous solution, which taste salty, sweet and sour. The first part of the test requires you to evaluate / confirm their taste.

The second part of the test requires you to rank the solution according to its strength from low to high.

Note that if you are in the wrong order, such as a low-intensity solution, next to a high-concentration solution, the low-intensity solution tastes almost tasteless. This situation will make it difficult for you to sort.

The third part of the test requires you to identify mixed solutions of different strengths (sour, sweet and salty). To be honest, this part of the test is very difficult. A mixture of low salty and highly sweet solutions is more difficult to identify. In the exercises before the exam, focus on the texture of the solution, not just the taste. Touch can help you identify the concentration of the solution, and sweetness is usually slippery or thicker than others.

Points for attention

1. You can use sugar, salt and citric acid to prepare a mixed solution for practice to understand the interaction between these flavors.

two。 Don't drink all the mixed solution, keep some for reference.

3. Don't overdo it when tasting the solution, which can lead to taste fatigue.

4. Trust your instincts and don't question them over and over again. Your first impressions are usually correct.

Triangular cup test

The triangle cup test is a simple concept; identify a different cup of coffee in a group of coffee (a group of three cups) according to different producing areas or processing methods, for example, two cups of coffee in three cups come from the same producing area, another cup of coffee comes from different producing areas, or two cups of three cups of coffee are treated in the same way, and the other cup is treated differently. There are four groups of this kind of triangle cup test.

During the pre-exam practice, you will have the opportunity to taste four of the six kinds of coffee used in the exam. You should taste these coffees carefully, understand them, and make a description of their characteristics. Please focus on the main flavor characteristics of coffee. What makes it different? Try to make these feature descriptions part of your sensory memory.

I like to use exclusion, that is, to find the two most similar coffees of the three cups, and the remaining cup of coffee should be the answer.

Points for attention

Excessive tasting will lead to taste fatigue, because small bites should be tasted.

Trust your instincts and don't question them over and over again. Your first impressions are usually correct.

Acid test

Acid testing is one of the most common tests for sensory professionals. As coffee cup testers, we often use different types of acids to describe coffee. Of course, not all acids are bad acids such as butyric acid butanoic acid (acid gas of vomit) and isovaleric acid Isovaleric ac (mildew / mildew acid). Fortunately, these two acids are not common in coffee. The most common acids associated with coffee are citric acid, malic acid, phosphoric acid, acetic acid, lactic acid and quinic acid. The last two, lactic acid and quinic acid, do not appear in the acid test, but may appear in the written test.

In the test, there were 4 cups of coffee (as a group), a total of 8 groups. Of the four cups, two cups of coffee remained unchanged, and the other two cups were added with acid. You have to find out which coffee is sour and say what kind of acid is added.

Here is a quick guide to help you identify the acid in coffee. My views on these acids are contrasted with each other.

Organic acid: carbon base

Lemon-A strong citrus fruit with a sour taste (lemon)

Malic acid-acid, ending with sweetness (green apple)

Acetic acid-the acid of vinegar that ends with bitterness (white vinegar).

Inorganic acids: minerals

Phosphoric acid-A complex citrus fruit acid that ends with a sense of convergence (dry), like a sprinkle of salt on melons or mangoes.

Points for attention

During practice, you should taste the acid in the coffee against the reference (different acid) samples provided in the exam, which is a common test method. As a roaster, you can use the "comparison method" to check the consistency of the product in the coffee production process.