As a long time early-riser with a penchant for a hearty breakfast, one of my favourite things is waking up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. There is something about the richness of the aroma that gently lulls me out my cozy comforter and has me eagerly heading to the kitchen to pour myself a cup. The almost dreamy aroma of good coffee is unmistakeable as many coffee lovers will confirm. A well-balanced brew will have an equally pleasing scent, with a distinct top note that will be exclusive to the sort of coffee bean and roast and the inimitable earthiness as a base note.
The balance of flavours is important to all food and drink that we consume. Our sense of taste and smell are irrevocably linked and enable us to detect five main tastes: sweetness, saltiness, bitterness, acidity and umami. The trick to achieving the perfect balance is ensuring that none of the flavour profiles at hand overwhelm our taste buds.
Coffee can comprise different top notes from the seeming kaleidoscope of possibilities. It can be chocolatey, fruity, floral or even nutty. Sometimes it can have a dash of spice, depending not only on the type of bean, but also the roast level. In terms of main tastes, coffee flavour remains steady on the cusp of bitterness and acidity, sometimes brightened by a hit of sweetness.
The roast level is key to the balance of flavors. A dark roast has a deliciously charred taste with a far richer aroma than a lightly roasted coffee, which would boast a tangier and infinitely sweeter flavour and a far-reaching aroma that would fragrance the air of a modest house.
A lightly roasted Arabica bean is known to bring a healthy dose of sweetness to the taste that other beans wouldn’t match. If the bean were to be roasted a bit darker, to a leveled medium roast, the sweetness from the light roast would morph to a more chocolatey or caramelized flavour. An even darker roast would have the sweetness fade and be replaced with a smokier, richer flavour.
The different levels of roast not only have different tastes but also look quite different from one another, as their names would suggest. A dark roast will always have a far deeper hue than its light roast counterpart. This is obvious at the roasting stage. **
Regardless of the roast, all coffee has considerable bitterness in taste, albeit at different levels. This bitterness is the taste that our tongues are most sensitive to, which explains why most people claim to not have liked the taste of coffee the first time they tasted it. Unless you were drinking coffee from early childhood, the first taste of coffee as a child can come as quite a shock. The initial bitterness is strong enough to make a first-time coffee drinker wince, therefore it’s no surprise that coffee comes as an acquired taste.
However, going by its popularity comparing to other food and drink, it is safe to assume that coffee is perhaps one of the most easily acquired tastes on earth!
Once when our tongues have become acclimated to the strong tastes of coffee, the primordial question arises: How do you take your coffee?
Answer 1: Black like my soul!
A little disclaimer, first off. The way you take your coffee in no way determines the darkness of your soul. With that detail out of the way, let’s discuss the advantages of a cup of untouched, glossy black coffee. Without milk, sugar or any other flavoring agent, you can truly let yourself enjoy the flavour components of the coffee achieved through bean type and roasting. A good steaming cup should provide an equal balance of sweetness, bitterness and acidity, meaning that your taste buds won’t linger on just one component. While flavoured coffees may be all the rage, a study by Statistic Brain shows that a whooping 35% of the American population take their coffee black.
Answer 2: With a splash or two of milk (or cream for that matter)
While a surprising number of people revel in the bitterness of the humble black coffee, there are still many others who do not enjoy such a shock to the tongue, especially so early in the morning. The advantage of adding milk (whether it be cow’s milk or the vegan friendly almond milk) or cream is that the protein of these ingredients clamps to the bitter molecules. They tamp down the bitterness and make it far more palatable for more sensitive tastes. It only adds texture, thickening the coffee to something a bit more indulgent.
Answer 3: A spoonful of sugar.
Sugar is also used to mask the bitterness that many people prefer to subdue. Studies by Dr. Seishi Shimizy have shown that sugar does more than simply mask the bitterness; it actually changes its molecular structure altogether. The sugar binds to the water while the bitter molecules remain. This is why when we drink sweetened coffee, we get equals parts of coffee richness and sugary sweetness.
Answer 4: With pumpkin spice and whipped cream
Coffee aficionados all agree that coffee mixed with any flavour isn’t real coffee anymore. As a writer who enjoys a splash of milk in her brew, I must agree to disagree! However, I do believe that beverages such as pumpkin spiced lattés have so many additional flavours that at a certain point, they surpass the amount of actual coffee in the cup and instead become a coffee flavored drink!
Tastes depend, of course, on a variety of things but mainly on culture and availability. For some, a cup of coffee is a treat while for others, it’s a basic essential before getting down to work for the day. The same aspects affect whether or not a person would enjoy a mochaccino as opposed to a black coffee. With so many options available, it can certainly be difficult to pick a favorite sort. But if there is one thing that we can all agree on, is that regardless of how we flavor it, there is nothing in the world like a cup of coffee and a day without it truly feels like a day half-lived!
