As we have seen in the other articles, coffee cupping consists of six steps which evaluate a coffee’s fragrance, aroma, taste, nose, aftertaste, and body. We will now take a closer look at the last three.
NOSE
The aroma and taste characteristic of a coffee sensed by the nose, especially when exhaling coffee vapors after swallowing, is called nose. Forceful sucking actions draw gases up into the nasal cavity and enables us to analyze the nose of the coffee brew.
AFTERTASTE
Aftertaste can be sensed swallowing a small portion of coffee after it has been held in the mouth for a few seconds. The flavor compounds found in the aftertaste may have a sweet characteristic reminiscent of chocolate or resemble campfire or pipe-tobacco smoke or be similar to a pungent spice, such as clove. They may exhibit any combination of these characteristics. Coffee aroma is also experienced after drinking the coffee when vapors drift upward into the nasal passage. This "retro-nasal" aroma is responsible for much of a coffees aftertaste.
BODY
Body is like the physical mouth feel and texture. When, eliciting a tactile sensation, the oiliness, or slipperiness, of the sensation measures the fat content of the brew, while the sensation’s “ heft,” thickness and viscosity, measures the fiber and protein content. Combined, the two sensations constitute the brew’s body.
Full bodied coffees (sensed when the tongue slides gently across the roof of the mouth) have a strong, creamy, and pleasant, mouth feel. A coffees body is its thickness due to the amount of dissolved and suspended solids and oils extracted from the coffee grounds, and may range from thin and watery to thick and creamy.
Below, in the resources, you can find a full description of flavors, but we should name the most common faults of coffee as well:
FAULTS
Sour wine-like: this is when the potential sweet, pleasant flavor becomes so sour it reaches the point of being offensive.
Earthy: Is a dirty very marked unpleasant taste where the overwhelming flavor is of moist earth.
Over ripe fruity: Flavor that is like ripe pineapple.
Stinking: Is a classic fermented taste, caused when the coffee is not washed in time. The presence of pulp in fermentation causes firstly a cheesy flavor and in prolonged cases begins to stink.
Old harvest flavor: This is caused by the natural ageing process of the beans, even if they are well processed later.
Moldy: This is caused by warehousing coffee that is not properly dried i.e. having a moisture content of over 12%.
And then of course there is the case of contamination: processed coffee acquires scents and flavors very easily and special care has to be taken while warehousing and handling the beans. Among the most common faults are wood, sack flavor, fuels such as gasoline, diesel, kerosene as well as soap and paper.
Normally coffee with these kinds of faults do not reach the European or US markets but earthy, moldy and old harvest like tastes can be encountered in very cheap coffees.
RESOURCES
For the complete flavor and faults wheel
https://counterculturecoffee.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Tasters_Flavor_Wheel_Faults_11x17_2017_flat-1.pdf
How to use it
http://www.scanews.coffee/2016/02/05/how-to-use-the-coffee-tasters-flavor-wheel-in-8-steps/
You can buy a flavor wheel copy here
https://store.sca.coffee/products/the-coffee-tasters-flavor-wheel-poster?variant=18787771718
“Originally published in 1995, the Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel—one of the most iconic resources in the coffee industry—has been the industry standard for over two decades. In 2016, this valuable resource was updated in collaboration with World Coffee Research (WCR). The foundation of this work, the World Coffee Research Sensory Lexicon, is the product of dozens of professional sensory panelists, scientists, coffee buyers, and roasting companies collaborating via WCR and SCAA. This is the largest and most collaborative piece of research on coffee flavor ever completed, inspiring a new set of vocabulary for industry professionals.”
2017