ACCOUNTING FOR TASTE

How we experience the flavor of coffee

PICTURE THIS: I’m sitting at the cupping table on a dark and rainy spring morning, trying to hold my eyes open as I begin writing down notes on the aroma of the coffee I’m tasting. Halfway through writing what could almost be a complete thought, a colleague sends me a text message. Almost at the same time, our roasting guru starts the cooling fan and the room is suddenly about as quiet as the inside of a jet engine.
     I hurry through the samples of coffee, trying to give them my complete attention. I write down fleeting descriptions of what I might be smelling—nothing too in-depth since it really is noisy in here and I want to get this over with before my ears blow out. My head is starting to hurt from the nasty yellow fluorescent lighting over the cupping table that lights up the roast samples like a B-grade movie from the ’80s. After writing down the score for the aroma of the samples, I hurry to respond to the text message from my colleague and to start the rest of my day in the roastery.
     Now, if any of this sounds familiar to you, then you know what a difficult thing it is that we ask of our taste buds and the other parts of our body when it comes to tasting coffee. How, in the midst of noise, fatigue, external stimuli and stress, is it possible for our bodies to properly taste and smell the coffee that is before us?
     Not surprisingly, our bodies are incredibly capable and adaptable when it comes to our senses of sight, smell and taste. From our taste buds to our olfactory nodes to the neurons in our brain, every part of the body works together to give us the perception of coffee’s flavor.

Taste Test

To talk about tasting, of course, we have to start with the mouth. Have you ever looked closely at your tongue? If so, then you’ve probably already seen your taste buds. Small structures on the upper surface of the tongue, soft palate and epiglottis (the back flap that is attached to the root of your tongue that restricts objects from going down your throat), called taste buds, provide information about the taste of food being eaten or, in our case, coffee being swallowed. The majority of taste buds on the tongue sit on raised protrusions of the tongue surface called papillae. There are four types of papillae present in the human tongue:

The Short, Happy Life of Our Senses

The average person has approximately 10,000 taste buds, and they are replaced with new taste buds every few weeks. At a young age, our taste buds are at their strongest point; this is why children are often finicky eaters. What is sweet to them is extremely sweet and something like broccoli or grapefruit may taste unbearably bitter to them. Maybe there really is something behind why almost all children dread eating broccoli or why older people tend to acquire a taste for grapefruit.
As people age, their taste buds are not able to replace themselves as fast or at all in some cases. We often lose the bitter perception first, which increases our preference for savory. For this reason, the use of salt as a flavor modifier is greatly increased as we age.
And it isn’t only our ability to taste that we lose—our sense of smell declines as well; by the time the average person has reached 80 years of age, they have lost up to half of their sense of smell and many cannot distinguish smells or tastes as well as they originally could. Some older people become anosmic, which is a severe loss of smell, thus creating issues with their ability to taste. They will be able to pick up sweetness long after the other primary three tastes have begun to falter. Many older people enjoy sweets and rich desserts just as anyone else would, maybe even more so since often a dark chocolate can carry a certain degree of bitterness along with it.

Super Tasters

Everyone is different when it comes to taste and smell comparison. Some may even fall into the category of being a “super taster,” which allows one to pick up far more flavor attributes than the common person can. This is due to a higher level of active taste buds and taste receptors. Super tasters can detect bitter and sour notes at much lower thresholds than regular tasters. Thus, they often find foods such as broccoli, tomato, grapefruit and eggplant unpalatable.
     Our senses have also turned another stone in the battle of the sexes. Studies have shown that women naturally have a more accurate sense of smell than most men do. This is mostly based on genetic structure and hormonal influences. Some say that this is because women are nurturers and men are hunters. Because woman traditionally raised children, they needed greater acuity in taste and aroma to protect the young from poisoned and spoiled food.
     In women, the sense of smell is strongest during the reproductive age and increases during ovulation and pregnancy. This could also explain why most pregnant women complain of extreme sensitivity to certain smells and are drawn to others more often than non-pregnant women. It is said that a type of estrogen increases the ability to distinguish smells. Some men may also experience a superior level of olfactory perception during parts of their lives, although it is not as common.
     It is becoming increasingly frequent to find a woman behind the quality control in a roasting plant or café. Their sense of smell is not only often more attuned to subtle fragrances, it also allows them to linger long enough to make a full sensory perception and mental imprint of it. Something that may smell like a hint of woodiness to a man may start as a hint of woodiness to a woman and lead to a lingering cedar after-effect, which can therefore be categorized in a more detailed manner.

Battle of the Senses

Each of our taste buds has 50 to 100 taste receptors. These receptors fire off signals to your brain to tell you that what you are eating is too sour, not salty enough, or just right. When you find a desired or undesired taste, your brain will imprint that image into your memory so that you will be able to make the connection later on when the same taste is reintroduced. It is classic to be able to recognize a chocolaty taste in Guatemalan coffee from different regions. Much of the perception of coffee is based on something you have already experienced or maybe even different variations of sweet, salty, bitter and sour that you have found in a desirable or undesirable food.
     The five tastes are mixed with the thousands of aromas to create the perception of chocolate. It is how the five tastes overlap to create a profile with the aroma, and the texture that allows one to differentiate between light chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and bitter chocolate. This reoccurring sensory image allows you to relate a new taste to something previously experienced. If your previous experience with that taste was positive, chances are, even if it is not necessarily a normal characteristic of what you now taste, you will still find it enjoyable based on your emotions and perception at the time you first tasted the flavor.
     Ever feel relaxed when enjoying a cup of coffee on your front porch? This could be linked to the aroma found in that particular cup of coffee. By maintaining a smell association, linking desirable smells with a particularly positive moment will train your mind to always associate that aroma with happy or calming thoughts. Because the scent of lavender is said to help induce feelings of serenity and calmness, people use it in candles, shampoo and incense to relieve stress.
     This euphoric feeling of the senses can apply to virtually anything as long as you have personally perceived it in a positive light. When a person smells rotted food, for example, it is automatically characterized as unpleasant in their sensory memory due to a previous perception. This “scent memory” acts as a reminder of what is desirable and what is undesirable. When going through your refrigerator, we often smell the food before deciding whether it has gone bad or may still be considered good to eat. Without our ability to smell and link the perception to memories, we would end up eating bad food a lot.

Go to Your Happy Place

Say you’re having a rotten day—everything that could go wrong has gone wrong, and you need to cup one final batch of samples before you can leave for the day. Well, you might think twice about cupping those samples, because there’s a good chance your mood will alter the way you perceive the coffee. Your senses are all linked together with your brain, which also controls your thoughts and emotions. With all this going on at the same time, it is possible to allow mood to overlap with sensory evaluation, causing a misinterpretation of what you are really experiencing in that cup of coffee.
     In order to get a true idea of what you’re tasting, your mind needs to be clear of clutter and stress. It is necessary to be able to take your time when olfactory judgment is critical. Hurrying our senses is just like hurrying to complete a difficult task. Often when we are rushed or not completely focused, our minds will wander or jump from the sensory focus to whatever task is next at hand, thus leading to poor judgment and a sloppy sensory association.
     In my opinion, it is best to do important sensory judging in the early morning, while your senses are sharp and unaltered by the day’s activities. Be careful though, as too much concentration or repetitive sampling will cause great confusion with sensory testing—always go with your first instinct, and be sure to test each sample the exact same way, for the exact same amount of time, and in the same manner.

Ooh, Ooh, That Smell

What exactly is aroma? Aroma is the vaporized molecule found in an item generally also carrying a degree of taste as well. The aroma is what gives you the idea that what you smell will fulfill a certain flavor complexity. Without being able to smell our food, we would certainly not be able to tell whether something should be expected to be desirable or not. When passing a restaurant serving pizza, it is generally the smell that intrigues our senses. Our mouths may even water in recognition of the imprint that food has left in our memory.
     All animals use their sense of smell in order to seek out food that will enable them to get the proteins and vitamins they need in their diet. If an animal smells a potential threat, such as poison, it will know that what it smells is not good to eat. This same generalized idea also applies to humans. Generally medicines taste bad and most people hold their breath when taking them. Mary Poppins had the right idea about a spoonful of sugar. When something is overly bitter and unpleasant, we can soothe the foulness of it and make it bearable by adding sweetness and tricking our senses into focusing on the sweetness instead of the outstanding bitterness. This does not work for animals, since their ability to taste sweetness is very mild compared to a human’s ability. Spencer Turer, coffee specialist for Kerry Foods, comments, “Many super tasters add salt to coffee grounds to make the brew more palatable, as their acute senses will perceive a very bitter character, and the salt counteracts the bitter and allows a sweeter taste sensation.”
     Do you generally sit down or remain standing when cupping coffee? By standing up when doing any sensory evaluation, you may be increasing your ability to taste and smell. It is questioned whether gravity has play in this. Astronauts tend to lose their sense of smell and taste after being in space. It is possible that this is caused by a restriction of air creating congestion in the nasal passageway. This then creates increased capillary pressure, as the heart no longer has to operate against gravity. As a consequence, the sinus cavities fill with fluid creating a head cold type of ailment.
     Your ability to decipher smell depends on your body position. If you are laying down, your sense of smell and taste weaken slightly. I find that when gathering information on the aroma of a coffee, it is best to lean at a 90-degree angle in order to allow the odor to drift upward into your nose. By bending over at a 120-degree angle, you restrict your oxygen intake. During the flavor categorization, I believe it is best to stand straight while slurping your coffee in a fine spray over your palette to allow all four primary taste reactions to occur simultaneously.
     Another tip in excellent taste perception is to allow air to mingle with the coffee over your palate. You know you’ve chewed with your mouth open before. It seems that with added oxygen, the aroma and full taste is better recognized and quickly placed in the correct association in your brain. The longer you expose your taste receptors to the coffee, the more the molecules will vaporize and taste cells will be exposed. Try it out; it might work for you, too.
     Have you ever heard that you should not eat spicy foods before tasting coffee? This could not be more true. Although hot is not a taste descriptor, it causes a certain chemical reaction in pain receptors on our tongues. This creates a “spicy” or burning sensation, which many people enjoy. If you are someone who eats spicy food often, perhaps you are not getting the full flavor of the other foods you ingest or the coffee you taste. If the pain receptors are subjected to many chemical reactions, they will wear down, thus hurting your sense of smell and taste. Your taste buds do heal and regenerate, but with lots of indulging in fine Mexican food, your taste buds may not be able to keep up, so go easy on the chili peppers! Also, eating fatty food, dairy, oils and other thick viscous items will coat your taste buds and restrict your ability to taste.

Better Health, Better Senses

Disease and illness also take a toll on your sense of smell and taste as they would with any other part of your body. The causes range from neurodegenerative illness to allergies. People who have a neurodegenerative disease are affected greatly when it comes to their senses. The delicate receptors that tell your brain what you taste and smell are generally among the first to be affected during nerve damage and overall neurological breakdown. There is little that one can do in these stages of nerve damage.
     Rooms with little to no humidity can also affect your senses. If the inside of your nose becomes too dry, it cannot pick up smells as well. Before a gourmet meal or intense cupping session, wet a cloth with warm water, cover your nose and breathe deeply to hydrate your nasal passages—this will allow you greater acuity in taste and aroma perception and you may enjoy the delicate flavors and aromatics of your meal more. It is said that exercise will help increase your ability to smell by increasing moisture in the nasal cavity. Using a humidifier when you sleep at night will also keep your senses sharp for that morning cupping session. Staying hydrated throughout the day will also help your chances of having better olfactory judgment.
     Many medicines also affect your sense of smell and taste. Some of these include high-blood-pressure medicine, antidepressants and arthritis medication. You should ask your doctor if any of your medication could affect your sense of taste or smell. You would hate to purchase a bad lot of coffee, wouldn’t you? That could certainly lead to higher doses of antidepressants and high-blood-pressure medicine!
     Head injuries, such as those caused by car accidents, are linked to loss of smell and taste. When your brain shifts or your cranium is damaged in even the smallest of crashes, this damages nerves that send recognized tastes and smells to your brain.
     Last, but definitely not least, smoking is one of the worst things a person can do to their sense of taste or smell. Smoking mutes the ability to pick up variations of single or multiple scents. Long-term smoking can permanently damage your olfactory senses, leading to very little enjoyment when drinking a cup of coffee. Smoking also severely damages the nerves in the back of your nose and masks your ability to taste salt; this is why smokers usually tend to over-salt their foods.
     Having said that, I must say that within the industry there are a number of mixed opinions on this topic. In my opinion, it is possible that an excellent cupper who has always been a smoker may still rank above-average in the cupping world, although a poor cupper who is also a smoker just hurts their chances of ever truly fine-tuning their olfactory skills by muting flavor subtleties with nicotine. Like I said, it’s all in the eyes of the smoker (or nonsmoker).
     “I think [smoking] is very subjective,” says David Kastle, co-founder of Zephyr Green Coffee. “Anyone who rarely smokes definitely shouldn’t smoke before cupping. A good, experienced cupper who is a smoker probably wouldn’t be affected—I think it would be just part of the background.”
     It is said that our senses are strongest when we are hungriest. So eat breakfast or lunch AFTER cupping that coffee! I have personally also found it to be in my best interest to grade my samples in the early morning before breakfast while having a glass of room temperature water to cleanse my palate. Noise, florescent lighting, foreign smells, bright colors, room temperature, and alertness all have an effect on my palate and negatively affect my ability to concentrate on the exact flavor of a coffee.
     It seems that there are endless possibilities for what could and does affect our everyday senses. It may always be in speculation. “I try to avoid daytime television, confrontations with the law, any kind of decongestant, especially Sudafed, anything minty, cold liquids, touching sponges (nasty sponge smell is hard to ignore), people wearing perfume or cologne,” says Kastle.
     Always do what works best for you and your senses. Everyone is different, and what may work for the best cupping experts and olfactory geniuses may not work at all for you. Find out what works best by experimenting when grading your samples or drinking that cup of coffee. You may even stumble onto something that will change the way you perceive what it is that your senses are telling you. Even if it is first thing on a dark and rainy morning.

KATIE DOWNEY has worked in the coffee industry for more than six years, from being a barista to an importer. She is currently employed by Port City Java in N.C.