The Flavor Wheel and Taste Spectrum of Coffee basic knowledge of Coffee scaa latest Flavor Wheel of Fine Coffee

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When you come to Qianjie Cafe, you can see two versions of coffee flavor wheels hanging on the walls.

One is the coffee flavor wheel published in 1995.

One is the coffee flavor wheel published in 2016.

Compared with the two versions of the coffee flavor wheel, you can notice that the 2016 version of the flavor wheel is more detailed in the flavor description. So, what's the difference between the two versions of the flavor wheel?

The birth of coffee flavor wheel

Everyone will have different views on the definition of taste. Before 1995, people could not reach a consensus on the definition of coffee flavor, so there would be different opinions. Or when people drink a flavor, they suddenly can't remember what it looks like and fall into contemplation.

To solve this problem, Mr. Ted Ringer, then director of SCAA, released the first coffee flavor wheel in 1995, providing a reference for the basic flavor of coffee and distinguishing whether such a flavor in coffee is good or bad.

What do you think of the old coffee flavor wheel?

The old coffee flavor wheel is divided into two parts, and on the left is the reverse flavor wheel (commonly known as defective taste), which illustrates the defective taste of coffee beans caused by external pollution, internal pollution, aroma pollution and taste defects. for everyone to infer which link goes wrong when the coffee is defective.

On the right is the positive flavor chakra, which is divided into taste (taste) and smell (wet fragrance). Looking at the two parts from top to bottom, it can be observed that the flavor arrangement is from light to heavy. There are three stages to change the flavor of coffee, enzyme-promoted in coffee cultivation and raw bean treatment, caramelization after the first explosion, and dry distillation after the second explosion. So we can know the flavor performance from the old flavor wheel directly when the baking degree is from shallow to deep and the extraction degree is from low to high.

Why do you want to study the new version of coffee flavor wheel?

After watching the old version of coffee flavor wheel and then look at the new version, do you think the new version looks more dense and dazzling? Careful students can also find that there is a varying degree of gap between the flavor and flavor of the new coffee flavor wheel. Why?

The new version of coffee flavor wheel optimizes the old version of the flavor wheel can not clearly explain the relationship between aroma and taste and the relationship between defective flavor and positive flavor. So SCAA, in conjunction with the World Coffee Institute (WCR), Kansas State University, German Agro-Industrial University and coffee industry representatives, analyzed and tested the flavors of 105 different samples from 13 coffee-producing countries and compiled the World Coffee Research sensory Dictionary as the basis for the new coffee flavor wheel.

Then 29 members who had not received sensory training but had long-term coffee consumption and 43 coffee industry experts were invited to test the relationship between flavors. Finally, the coffee flavor is classified into nine categories: flowers, fruit, acid / fermentation, green plants / herbs, others, roasting, spices, nuts / cocoa and sugars, among which "other types" and "flowers are polarized. and sweetness, fruit, flower fragrance is thought to be the most close.

What do you think of the new coffee flavor wheel?

The new coffee flavor wheel allows us to more intuitively understand the relationship between aroma and taste, as well as the relationship between defective flavor and positive flavor, and the orientation of taste and aroma can also be more detailed. So in tasting / cup testing a coffee we can compare with the new coffee flavor wheel, first look at the inner circle to determine the category of flavor, then look outside to determine the category of flavor, and finally look at the outer layer to determine the final flavor.

Just mentioned above, there are varying degrees of gaps between flavor and flavor in the new coffee flavor wheel, and the size of the gap indicates the sensory similarity between the two. The smaller the gap, the higher the similarity between the two, and the larger the gap means that there is an obvious difference between the two.