Is it true that coffee is not bitter and drinks "sweet"? Coffee and strawberry and pineapple?

Professional coffee knowledge exchange more coffee bean information please follow the coffee workshop (Wechat official account cafe_style)

The concept of "coffee = bitterness" has been deeply rooted in the impression of most people, but in fact, coffee does have a natural sweetness. In the cup tester's evaluation table, "sweetness" is one of them. Let's talk about the natural sweetness of coffee.

Is the "coffee sweet" that coffee lovers often say is a kind of self-hypnosis? In fact, no, coffee will be sweet because of its aroma, not because it contains a lot of sugar. It can be explained a little from the tomato research example: the experimenter analyzed the chemicals of two different varieties of tomato and found that the sucrose content of "A variety" was higher than that of "B variety", but the volunteers' test report found that "B variety" was sweeter. According to the experiment, it is found that although the sugar content of "B variety" is not higher than that of "A variety", the quantity of seven aroma volatiles is higher than that of "A variety". This difference makes "B variety" taste very sweet. Coffee contains several fragrant substances that can cause sweetness, and the same substances are also found in strawberries or pineapples, so there is often a "strawberry feeling in this cup of coffee!" "or" smells like pineapple! "comments.

How to get the sweetness in the coffee?

Even though we have explained so much scientific research, readers have not yet drunk a cup of sweet coffee, and there are two suggested directions for those who want to experience "coffee sweet": one is to "choose coffee that is sweeter in itself"; and the other is to "practice feeling the sweetness more acutely."

In the international coffee evaluation authority Cup of Excellent cup competition, sweetness performance is considered to be related to the picking of coffee fruits of appropriate maturity, usually picking ripe coffee fruit will make the whole cup of coffee feel sweeter and cleaner without disturbing odor. However, when buying coffee, sometimes even the barista does not know whether the coffee is picked after maturity, so there is no way to use it as an indicator of choice.

Sweetness is also related to variety, as many people know, coffee has two big branches, one is Robusta, the cheap and abundant species that are hardly afraid of diseases and insect pests, and the other is Arabica, which is expensive and delicate. Robusta has several times more caffeine than Arabica, but in addition to caffeine, Arabica also has more sugar than Robusta. So if you want to taste the sweetness of your coffee, start paying attention to whether your coffee is Arabica or Robusta.

In addition to what happens on coffee farms that affect the sweetness of coffee, roasting and cooking are also important factors. When roasting coffee, the longer the roasting time and temperature, the more sugar and sweet aroma will be volatilized, and a lot of bitter substances will be synthesized at the same time, so "medium and shallow roasting = relatively easy to drink the sweetness of coffee" can be regarded as an indicator. In stewed rice, the control of sweetness is a deep knowledge, which we will discuss in detail later.

Practice feeling sweetness more acutely

I just mentioned that the brain is addicted to sweetness, and the more sugar it has to eat, the more the brain will secrete dopamine. in addition, the more sugar you eat, the more numb your tongue will be to natural sweetness. Did you know that drinking a bottle of 350cc Coke is equivalent to consuming 39 grams (about nine teaspoons) of sugar? The capacity of ordering a latte is about 350cc. Imagine that you add nine teaspoons of sugar to the latte. It should be very difficult to get back to the original taste of coffee. If you want to "feel the sweetness more acutely", the most direct and effective way is to quit sugar. If you can't quit sugar, reducing the frequency of drinking sugary drinks will also have a certain effect.

Finally, a way to return to zero taste is called "inhibitory release method" (release from suppression), which is not difficult at all. To put it bluntly, it is to reverse your perception of sweetness through acid. The actual practice is like this, prepare a few sweet oranges and lemons for juice, do not try to make it convenient to buy lemon juice on the market, even if the lemon juice is written on it, there may be more or less sugar added to it. So use real fruit as much as possible, dilute both cups of juice with water, and dilute the two cups in the same proportion.

First, take a sip of sweet orange juice. At first, you may feel that the sweet orange juice is sour and sour, and then you may have a sip of lemon juice. At this time, you may already frown with acid, and then go back to the orange juice. You will feel that the orange juice is sweeter than just now, indicating that your sense of sweetness has been restored. Slowly increase the concentration step by step, and your sweet perception will return to your most primitive taste. Don't rush to drink coffee sweet right away, use inhibitory release to restore your sense of taste, and match it with sugar abstinence or sugar reduction habits, and one day you will be surprised to find the true sweetness in your coffee.

Source: "Taste Coffee: follow the cup tester to get to know the 36 flavors of coffee and find the best coffee."

END