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Informative Articles

Enjoy Your Favorite Wine…But With Some Rules
The mere mention of etiquette brings to mind various images, mainly negative. Etiquette means observing set rules. It’s not about the quaint traditions but where wine is concerned etiquette matter. The primary connoisseurs of fine wine are...
How To Begin Wine Collecting
Some people collect wine for money… and some people collect wine because they have a passion for wine. Irregardless of whether you’re collecting wine for profit or for pleasure, collecting wine requires some investment. Enjoying wine is a completely...
Sherry - a wine of tradition
A fortified wine from Andalusia produced only in and around the town of Jerez in the Cadiz region. The Spanish producers have since registered the Sherry / Jerez / Xeres name and will prosecute anyone else in the world trying to use it. It...
The First Rule of Wine Drinking
Don’t listen to what all the self appointed wine buffs and wine snobs say – it’s what you like that counts. It’s not what Mr X, Mrs Y or Sommelier Z says but what you personally enjoy that matters when it comes to wine. Taste is individual to you...
Understanding the Basics of Wine Tasting
The wine taster's ritual of peering into a glass, swirling it around and sniffing suspiciously at it, before taking a mouthful only to spit it out again looks highly mysterious and technical. However, as you try more and more wines, your awareness...
 
Coffee Characteristics and How it Helps You Choose the Perfect Coffee for You!

Coffee characteristics are sometimes thought to be something only the coffee connoisseur would be concerned with. However, the following definitions of coffee characteristics will enable you to have a better understanding of what flavors, aromas and colors are beneficial and not so beneficial to your coffee drinking pleasure.

Acidity: is a pleasant quality that points out a coffees flavor and provides a liveliness, sparkle, or snap to the drink. The acidity of a coffee may be assessed as lively, moderate, flat, or dull.

Aged: is a coffee bean that's been stored for at least a year or more before roasting. The coffee bean has then lost it's acidic coffee characteristics, becoming richly sweet and heavily bodied.

Aftertaste: is the sensation of brewed coffee vapors, ranging from carbon to chocolate and spicy to turpentine as they are released from the residue remaining in the mouth after swallowing.

Alkaline: is a clawing sensation at the back of the tongue caused by alkaline and phenolic compounds that have bitter but not necessarily displeasing tastes; coffee characteristics of dark coffees roasts and some Indonesian coffees.

Aroma: is an odor or fragrance of brewed coffees.

Bouquet: is a frequently used term, often used when referring to the smell of coffee grounds. Aroma is often distinctive and complex. Some terms used to describe it include: caramel (candy or syrup-like), carbon (for a dark roast), chocolate, fruity, floral, malty (cereal-like), rich, round, and spicy.

Astringent: is a puckering, salty sensation felt on the front side of the tongue when a cup of coffee is first sipped.

Baked: is a taste and odor contaminant that gives coffee a flat distinct and uninteresting taste. The corruption is caused by not enough heat over too long of a period during roasting "specifically, when roasts take longer than approx. 18 min.."

Balance: is the term to describe the coffee flavor when one coffee characteristic doesn't intrude on another. Also when the coffees taste is not plain so that it's flavor is still playful.

Bitter: a coffee characteristic of over-extracted brews as well as over-roasted coffees, and those with various taste defects. It's a harsh, unpleasant taste detected towards the back of the tongue and normally found only in Dark Roast's.

Bland: the pale flavor often found in low grown robusta coffees. Also caused by under-extracted coffees.

Blend: is a mixture of two or more individual varieties of coffees.

Body: is an impression of the weight of the coffee in the mouth. May range from thin to medium to full, buttery, or syrupy.

Bright: is a tangy acidity, often described as bright.

Briny: is the salty sensation caused by excessive heat after brewing is complete.

Buttery: Is the rich and oily flavor and texture, qualities of some Indonesian varieties, for example: Sulawesi.

Caramelized: Is a sweet, almost-burnt, syrupy flavor not unlike the taste of caramelized sugar.

Creme: is the tan foam that forms when you brew espresso. The creme makes a "cap" which helps retain the smells and flavors of the espresso within the cup.

Earthy: Is the positive coffee characteristic when applied to dry processing; the herbal, musty, mushroom-like range of flavors, characteristics of Indonesian coffees. For washed coffees, tasting "earthy" is a defect.

Exotic: is a characteristic of the coffees from East Africal Exotic refers to unusual flavor notes, such as floral and berry-like (containing black currant or blueberry notes, for example). Contrary to Latin American coffees, whose coffee bean characteristic is clean, acidic flavors provide the standard, and are generally not exotic.

Ferment: is a taste fault in the coffee beans that produces a highly objectionable spoiled-fruit taste. Ferment is the result of enzymatic activity


that occurs during the frying process, changing sugars to acids in the green coffee bean. Unlike dirtiness and mustiness, which can be disguised by dark roasting, ferment becomes worse the longer it cooks.

Flat: is an odor taint that occurs as a result of aromatic compounds departing from beans during the staling process in both whole-bean and ground coffees, or during the holding process in brewed coffees.

Fruit-Like: is a description that refers to the natural aroma of berries and that also correlates with the perception of high acidity. It shouldn't be confused with fruity, which is the first stage of the taste defect ferment.

Grassy: is a taste and odor defect that gives coffee the characteristic of newly mown alfalfa or green grass.

Green: is a herbal, grassy characteristic caused by incomplete development of flavor due to improper roasting. It may also be present in the early pickings of a new bean harvest.

Groundly: is a musty, earthy taste associated with coffees that have been damaged in drying or storage.

Harsh: is an unpleasant taste. Reminiscent of raw weeds, and typical of "robusta coffees and Brazils" that have been allowed to dry on the tree. It should be noted that a few coffee drinkers prefer harshness in the cup (see Rioy).

Hidy: is a coffee that has absorbed the aroma of leather or animal hides as a result of being stored or shipped in close proximity to these such items.

Heavy Roast: is very dark-roasted coffee with a bittersweet tang.

Mellow: is the middle of the road, a balanced flavor that's not too acidic and not too syrupy.

Musty: is a term usually applied to coffee flavors that result from improper heating or drying during processing. However, there also is a mustiness in vintage coffees that is a preferred quality. Connoisseur's, for example, love the naturally sweet mustiness of vintage Colombian coffees.

Rioy: is a harsh, medicine-like flavor present in some coffees produced in the Rio district of Brazil. The term is sometimes applied to any harsh-flavored coffees. The heavy, somewhat pungent, taste is preferred by a few coffee drinkers in the southern United States and France.

Soft: is a low acidic green coffee that is of good drinking quality, without any unpleasant taste characteristics. Like the flavor aspect of mellow.

Sour: is a particular taste linked to bacterial fermentation of green coffee beans, that produces a lactic acid from the lactose and acetic acid from alcohol.

Spicy: is the aroma of coffee versus it's taste.

Sweet: is the trade term to describe coffees that taste un harsh or undamaged in any way as opposed to harshness of a (Rioy).

Tangy: is the taste that would indicate a wine taste or acidic fruitiness that is quite pleasantly sharp, most evident in high-grown Costa Rican coffees.

Tannin: is a puckery flavor typically caused by the presence of chemicals that are related to tannic acid. A similar property is found in tea's and certain red wines.

Wild: describes coffees with extreme aroma or flavor that could be called defects or attributes to some.

Winey: are coffees with a fruity acid and smooth body, not unlike a fine red wine. A good example of a winey coffee is the Kenyan AA coffee.

So to finish, you now should be able to determine which coffees you would enjoy more than others, and possibly use this knowledge to entertain your friends at the same time.
Enjoy!

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

About the Author

Randy works with his son on Ultimate Coffees Info and daughter on Making Homemade Soap. Randy owned and operated a very successful storefront/mailorder business from 1988 to 2003. Currently full time owner/operator of several online businesses.

 

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Content Menu
  • 10 great wine tasting tips

  • 16 quick tips for eating at restaurants or work

  • 4000 year old secrets of green tea

  • aging gracefully

  • all about entertaining with food and wine

  • american fast food restaurants

  • and you thought coffee was bad for you

  • an idiots guide to wine tasting

  • an introduction to wine

  • australian bbq recipes

  • australian wines

  • australia is more than jacobs creek

  • autumn cooking great fall recipes and tips

  • a beginners guide to chinese cookery

  • a guide to gourmet coffee

  • a guide to wine racks

  • a perfect cup of coffee

  • bakers racks add flair and style to your kitchen

  • barbeque grilling has reached a whole new dimension

  • barbequing a fun and convenient way to make dinner

  • basque cuisine

  • beer and food pairings

  • blended and varietal wines

  • blue cheese omnivorous

  • braised fish in soy sauce hong shao yu

  • braised garlic short ribs with a red wine tomato sauce

  • build your own wine rack in an afternoon

  • buying wine how to read a wine label

  • buy fine wine at great prices a strategy

  • champagne wine

  • change your diet and eat the mediterranean way

  • cheese explore a new taste

  • chicken breasts with spicy rub

  • chicken with white wine pasta

  • chilean wine history and style

  • chinese dumplings on chinese new year

  • chocolate is good for you

  • choosing a wine gift basket

  • choosing wine on a first date

  • choosing wine to match food

  • christmas recipes main dishes no 9 of 12 duck with cardamom sauce

  • class on glass

  • coffee characteristics and how it helps you choose the perfect coffee for you

  • coffee everything you need to know from arabica to zanzibar

  • coffee is it getting too complicated

  • coffee with class

  • come home to comfort food

  • corks for wine

  • creating the perfect foam

  • cuban thanksgiving from our latin table

  • cucumber pork soup

  • delicoious swordfish

  • determining if a wine is spoiled

  • do you know these little known facts about tuscany wines

  • easy summer salads lighter foods for a brighter summer

  • ediths cake that thrilled the french

  • emu the natural alternativee for the backyard grill

  • enjoy colorado wines

  • enjoy your favorite winebut with some rules

  • experience the joy of eating at a restaurant

  • fall for outdoor entertaining this autumn

  • family life or wine for christmas dy

  • fantastic fruit

  • fine dining at the ark of las vegas lutece and tsunami asian grill

  • fondue 101 how to make cheese fondue

  • foods to avoid that cause bad breath

  • food and drink what to expect in costa rica

  • food and wine choice advice from an expert wine taster

  • formula for successful wedding party

  • french wine

  • french wine laws

  • fresh fare from the food isle ireland

  • from prix fixe to cold tea a glossary of popular and obscure restaurant terms

  • german wine the new commodity on the american market

  • get to grips with your wines

  • gift of the month clubs the lazy mans guide to gift giving

  • give a fondue party

  • gourmet a defining moment

  • gourmet centerpieces

  • gourmet coffee beans a brief overview

  • gourmet goodies

  • gourmet sauces rubs and marinades give your bbq a gourmet kick

  • grigio or gris this is a great white wine

  • grilled scallops with ginger lime sauce

  • guide to buying wine glasses

  • guide to tasting wine

  • hans is author of steaks seafood and

  • have a wine and cheese shower or party

  • have you bought your first case of wine yet

  • healthy fondue a guide to making broth and hot oil fondues

  • healthy seafood recipe

  • health benefits of tea

  • helens homemade fishcakes recipe

  • helens pan fried seabass

  • history of hawaiian coffee

  • history of the mendocino county wine industry

  • holiday cookie exchange

  • homemade christmas gifts from the kitchen make your own holiday gift baskets

  • honey dijon glazed ribs

  • hosting a wine party

  • hosting a wine tasting party

  • hot fun in the summertime

  • how sparkling wine is made

  • how to begin wine collecting

  • how to be creative when you are cooking

  • how to brew your own beer

  • how to grow grapes for excellent wine

  • how to host a memorable july 4th barbecue and have fun too

  • how to host a wine party

  • how to make beer

  • how to order wine in a restaurant

  • how to store wine

  • how wine is made

  • index

  • introduction to italian wine

  • in grandmas kitchen part i

  • in praise of the humble salad

  • in time for summer blue danube wine company introduces refreshing new varietals from hungary the craftsmane series from hilltop neszmely winery

  • is your italian olive oil really italian

  • italian cuisine in the heart of tuscany

  • italian cuisine more than pasta

  • kitchen pantry

  • knowledge and creativity

  • la minita coffee its in the green beans

  • learn about chardonnay wine

  • learn about the benefits of green tea

  • learn to deal with the wine steward in restaurants

  • left over wine

  • love wine join a wine club

  • low fat salmon recipes

  • make your own gourmet gift baskets

  • making red wine

  • making wine like a pro

  • maple flavored smoked turkey

  • marketing wine on the internet

  • more mead mlord irelands medieval banquets

  • murder by heat

  • not your orthodox way of learning about wine

  • oakville wine country

  • olive varieties

  • paella recipe secret

  • paella the most famous spanish dish

  • parmesan crusted sole with lemon beurre blanc

  • pinot gris or grigio this grape makes great wine

  • planning a fondue party

  • planning wine for your party

  • provence a wine lovers dream come true

  • quick reference buying and storage guide for cheese

  • raise a glass to the best wine of the month gifts

  • rare varietals cure wine boredom

  • reading an italian wine label

  • recipes from around the world right in your kitchen

  • reductions proving less is more

  • regional cuisine new england clam chowder

  • roasted vegetable and goat cheese salad

  • roast rack of pork with grain mustard sauce

  • rotator

  • rowan jelly mountain ash pyrus aucuparia

  • rubs to cook with

  • rutherford wine country

  • sangria blanca

  • sangria recipe

  • satisfy your wine desires join a wine club

  • sauces for quick gourmet cooking

  • sauces used in asian cooking

  • sauted family bean curd

  • seafood and corn beach barbecue

  • seafood fettuccine alfredo

  • selection of seafood recipes compliments of cafe hobson

  • serving wine

  • share a gourmet food basket with your lover

  • sherry a wine of tradition

  • sicilys great eggplant tomato stew

  • smell nothing taste nothing

  • southern mama

  • spanish food how to prepare boquerones

  • spanish food the tasty tortilla

  • specialty gourmet coffee

  • special ingredients shark fins birds nest

  • start your wine cellar the right way

  • storing your fine wine

  • substitutions for commonly used ingredients

  • sweet sour fish

  • sweet sour pork gu lao rou

  • sweet surprises

  • take a california wine country tour

  • tasteful gift giving

  • tasting wine

  • tasting wine the basics for beginners

  • tayberry jam

  • tayberry raspberry and strawberry jam

  • tea at sea

  • tempranillos role as a new varietal wine in australia

  • tempranillo a new red wine star in australia

  • ten foods with special powers

  • the 1976 paris wine tasting

  • the best of the boutiques

  • the curious history of wine consumption in america

  • the excellent french wine

  • the first rule of wine drinking

  • the french paradox

  • the fundamentals

  • the gentle art of poaching

  • the habanero chile

  • the harmony between food and wine

  • the harmony between wine and food

  • the history of italian coffee

  • the history of the acai berry

  • the history of wine country in the sierra foothills and the delta

  • the ideal temperature to store your wine

  • the latest craze on gourmet coffee

  • the major flavor components in wine

  • the mystery of decanting

  • the mystery of sparkling wine

  • the next shiraz varietal wines for australia

  • the perfect complement

  • the rise of rioja wines

  • the stuff of poetry mead

  • the sucessful dinner party

  • the true hystory of tiramisu

  • the wine and green mushroom caper

  • three rules for choosing the right dinner wine

  • tips to buying food online

  • to air is divine

  • twelve wines of christmas

  • understanding the basics of wine tasting

  • understanding wine grapes

  • understand wine and your health

  • unique gifts send food gifts for something delicious and different

  • using bargain wines to your advantage

  • vegan chocolate feeds the sweet tooth

  • water into wine

  • weight loss recipe veal mango

  • what is corked wine

  • what puts the sparkle in sparkling wine

  • what wine really is just in case you thought you knew

  • what wise guys eat

  • what you need in a gourmet kitchen

  • when punt is about packaging not football

  • which is for you blended or varietal wines

  • who made the first wine anyway

  • who needs a cookie jar

  • why red wine is red and other isnt

  • winezap launches new website to help wine consumers find price and compare wines subscribers to winezaps free newsletter offered 10 off any wine regardless of quantity purchased

  • wine accessories the things you need

  • wine and beer are good for us yes second in a series

  • wine and dine them

  • wine and onion bisque spring mix salad with worcestershire parsley dressing

  • wine a worthy teammate for football

  • wine etiquette with ease

  • wine e learning campus in malta

  • wine grapes white varieties

  • wine is in the moment

  • wine making and home brewing whats the deal

  • wine making for beginners

  • wine openers 6 styles reviewed

  • wine racks are great for all your bottle storage needs

  • wine rack storage simple guides on choosing

  • wine rack storage simple guides on choosing the right rack for your wines

  • wine storage hints and tips

  • wine storage is the key to preserving and aging your wine

  • wine tasting

  • wine tasting four easy steps to hosting a great wine tasting party

  • wine tasting in carneros

  • wine tasting in yountville

  • wine tasting the taditional way

  • wine tasting the traditional way

  • wooden wine rack vs metal wine rack