Part II: Aroma, or “Is that berries I smell?”
The easy response to answering the question, “What does your coffee smell like?” is of course to shoot back, “Coffee. Duh.” But, if one takes a moment or two longer to think about the aroma associated with a cup of coffee (or even the roasted bean itself) it is not all that difficult to discern a whole host of other fragrances emanating from that steaming cup. If you truly explore for a few minutes the aroma of the coffee before you, you’ll find myriad smells that wash over you in waves as you connect those smells to something other than coffee.
Perhaps you’ll detect something that reminds you of chocolate, cinnamon, italian spices, shoe leather — even dried cranberries or an unlit quality cigar.
Each particular roast and growing region will impart subtle smells into the coffee bean making it a common personal challenge amongst practiced tasters to attempt to identify (along with the other characteristics, taste and body) the origin (or varietal) of a coffee bean in a blind tasting. “Blind” tastings are where the persons are initially unaware of the source of the coffee beans they are tasting. The trick is to match up mental notes of other similar coffee experiences to the coffee at hand in order to make a guess as to where it might have been grown.
In this article, we are more concerned with the beginning coffee taster however, not the experienced taster.
The important thing to remember when taking in the aroma of a coffee as someone new to cupping is that you are attempting to identify smells outside of the typical coffee smell and put a name to those fragrances. There are plenty of other places on the internet that will give you a list of descriptive words for the aroma you are experiencing and I encourage the reader to search those pages out for examples if the reader feels as if they need guidance and examples for words to use. Be sure to also explore wine-tasting terminology, as the adjectives used tend to cross over quite nicely in many respects. On the other hand, my experience has been that the individual usually comes up with more meaningful words than the “official” or unofficial lists give as adjectives. Perhaps it might be best to glance at the lists and then promptly forget what you have read. Personalize your cupping experience! Your choice of words will have more meaning and power for you than any word you force upon the aroma you are experiencing based on lists that other people have created.
Some common words used to describe aromas found in coffee: chocolate, fresh dirt, caramel, floral, fruity, warm toast, nutty, grassy. Again, these are just a small selection to plant the germ of ideas. I’ve heard phrases like “I smell fresh cherries”, “It reminds me of my old biker leather” and “I’m sorry, this smells like dirty socks”. More important than the word choice is that you write it down or talk it over with a fellow cupping partner. You’ll find confirmation more than disagreement when you share the experience and it might be that whomever you are cupping with will have the exact word you were looking for whereas you had only settled on the first adjective that had come to mind.
In my opinion, there are no “right” or “wrong” adjectives for the aroma. There are people who will, of course, argue against that opinion, but I believe that each person’s association with a particular aroma is more important than a standardized language of adjectives describing the possible fragrances a person can experience.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, cupping is best done with a group of friends. When you can compare notes with your peers, you will often come to a consensus that is better than any list of adjectives you can find published by experts. What is important is your opinion and it also happens to be what makes cupping enjoyable.
Next: The Art of Cupping, Part III: Taste
Related Articles:
The Art of Cupping, Part I: Whats and Wherefores
The Art of Cupping, Part III: Taste
The Art of Cupping, Part IV: Mouthfeel and Body / Conclusion
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