COFFEE PASSPORT - and tasting guide - THE FOUR STEPS OF TASTING COFFEE

Oct 14, 2026

Upload by DoDO

Coffee Passport and tasting guide explains how to develop tasting skills and distinguish coffees through structured practice. It outlines four tasting steps—smell, slurp, locate, and describe—then defines key characteristics: aroma, acidity, body, and flavor. It also introduces the brewing fundamentals for achieving consistent results, including proper proportion, accurate grind, quality water, and freshness, with guidance for different brewing methods and coffee storage.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages50

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

THE FOUR STEPS OF TASTING COFFEE

01 SMELL

02 SLURP

03 LOCATE

04 DESCRIBE

TASTING

AROMA

ACIDITY

BODY

FLAVOR

BREWING PERFECT COFFEE

THE FOUR FUNDAMENTALS OF BREWING

COFFEE PASSPORT and tasting guide NAME OUR COFFEE It has always been, and will always be, about quality. We’re passionate about ethically sourcing the ﬁnest coffee beans, roasting them with great care, and improving the lives of people who grow them. We care deeply about all of this; our work is never done. 6 ~~CO FFEE PASS PO RT & TASTING GU ID E~~ 7 THE FOUR STEPS OF TASTING C OFFEE To develop your tasting skills, follow these steps. 01 SMELL | Always smell a coffee before you taste it. Your mouth distinguishes only four tastes: salty, sweet, bitter and sour—but your nose can detect thousands of smells. Cup your hand over the coffee, hold the cup close to your nose and inhale.
02 SLURP | | --- | | When tasting a coffee, it’s important to slurp it. This sprays the coffee across your entire palate and lets the subtle ﬂavors and aromas reach all the tasting zones of your mouth.
03 LOCATE | Consider the coffee’s weight and feel in your mouth. Where are you experiencing the ﬂavors? On your tongue? When tasting more than one coffee, taste light-bodied coffeesﬁrst and then full-bodied coffees. 04 DESCRIBE Finally, think about how you would describe your coffeetasting experience. What words would you use to characterize the aroma, ﬂavor and how the coffee feels in your mouth? What other food ﬂavors or aromas can you compare the coffees to? The key to tasting is to compare and contrast coffees. Tasting only one coffee at a time doesn’t create any context. If you taste two or three coffees, you can distinguish your favorites by comparing aroma, acidity, body, ﬂavor and growing regions. TASTING All our coffees can be differentiated, with practice, by identifying the four tasting characteristics for each one: aroma, acidity, body and ﬂavor. 01 AROMA 02 The way a coffee smells. Sometimes subtle, aromas can be earthy, spicy,ﬂoral, nutty, etc., and are directly ~~related to the coffee’s ﬂavor~~. The tanginess or tartness of a coffee, not the pH level, described as low, medium or high. Acidity is a lively, palate-cleansing characteristic you’ll taste and feel on the sides and tip of your tongue, and sometimes the back of your jawbone, like when you taste citrus fruits. Coffees with high acidity are described as bright, tangy and crisp with a clean ﬁnish. Low-acidity coffees feel smooth in your mouth. 03 The weight of a coffee on your tongue, described as light, medium or full. Like comparing nonfat milk with whole milk, light-bodied coffees feel light on the tongue and have a clean ﬁnish. ~~Full-bodied coffees feel heavier and ~~have lingering ﬂavors. 04 As you learn to taste and compare coffees, begin by focusing on one tasting characteristic. What stands out most—aroma, acidity, body or ﬂavor? How are the ﬂavors enhanced when you pair the coffee with food? 10 ~~CO FFEE PASS PO RT & TASTING GU ID E~~ 11 BREWING PERFECT C OFFEE Every cup we make in our stores (and at home) begins with one simple approach based on The Four Fundamentals of Brewing: proper proportion, accurate grind, quality water and fresh coffee. The Four Fundamentals of Brewing 01 PROPORTION The recipe for great coffee is 2 Tbsp (10 g) of ground coffee for every 6 ﬂ oz (180 mL) of water. Proportion, which is the ratio of coffee to water, allows the proper extraction of the coffee’s full ﬂavors, resulting in a rich, aromatic cup. Using too little coffee makes a bitter cup because too much water passes through the grounds pulling out undesirable components. Using too much coffee createsan underextracted cup with off ﬂavors. To reduce the strength, simply add hot water after you brew. 02 GRIND Proper grind is determined by the brewing method: coarse for a press; medium for ﬂat-bottom drip; ﬁne for cone and extra-ﬁne for espresso. The grind determines how long the coffee and water are in contact and how much ﬂavor is extracted. Too ﬁne a grind will produce bitter-tasting coffee. Too coar

FAQs

What are the four steps for tasting coffee in Coffee Passport?

Follow four steps: smell, slurp, locate where flavors are experienced, and describe the aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel.

Which four tasting characteristics are used to differentiate coffees?

Coffees are differentiated by aroma, acidity, body, and flavor, using practice to compare and contrast.

What are the four fundamentals of brewing mentioned for perfect coffee?

The guide emphasizes proper proportion, accurate grind, quality water, and fresh coffee as the foundation for every cup.

Oct 14, 2026

Upload by DoDO