Coffee Flavor vs. Coffee Notes
Coffee Taste and Coffee Flavor – Not the Same Thing!
A lot of people think coffee taste and coffee flavor are the same thing. Spoiler alert: they're not! That's why I'm here to explain the difference.
What Are Tasting Notes?
Tasting or flavor notes in coffee are not added flavors but are inherent to the coffee bean itself. So, where do these flavors come from if they aren’t added to the beans?
Coffee flavor comes from its incredibly vast and diverse arrangement of chemical compounds. Believe it or not, coffee is one of the most chemically complex things we consume—even more so than wine! Coffee has around 1,200 volatile compounds that contribute to its flavor, aroma, and body. Many of these molecules are also present in the foods we eat and the things we smell, which is why coffee can remind us of fruits, chocolates, nuts, or even flowers.
For example, when you drink our limited-release Ethiopian Super Natural, you might come across ethyl-3-methylbutanoate—a compound also found in blueberries. This molecule triggers the same response in your brain as eating a blueberry, evoking a blueberry flavor in a coffee that has never been anywhere near an actual blueberry!
The Coffee Lifecycle – How Flavor Develops
Every stage of a coffee’s life contributes to its unique flavors:
- Growing Conditions – The altitude, soil minerals, and climate all influence the chemical compounds in coffee beans.
- Processing Methods – Whether the coffee is washed, natural, or honey-processed changes the bean’s flavor complexity.
- Roasting – This is a huge factor in unlocking hidden flavor molecules. The heat bursts open the cellular structure of the bean, increasing its complexity and creating sweetness, acidity, and depth.
- Brewing – Different brewing methods extract different compounds, bringing out unique tasting notes. The same coffee, roasted or brewed in varying ways, can taste completely different!
The Human Brain: A Better Coffee Analyzer than Any Machine
Your brain is better than any machine at picking up coffee flavors. This is why we still rely on specialized tasters to assess coffee quality and develop flavor profiles. But with coffee being a global industry, how do we all agree on what’s good?
To keep everyone on the same page, Peet’s Coffee helped found World Coffee Research (WCR) in 2012—a nonprofit organization focused on coffee quality and sustainability. WCR’s Sensory Lexicon helped create the Specialty Coffee Association’s Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel, now widely used across the industry as a reference for describing coffee flavors.
Taste Is Personal
Of course, taste is subjective! If you’ve never eaten marzipan or lychee, those tasting notes won’t mean much to you. Our personal experiences shape how we perceive coffee flavors.
Coffee Flavor vs. Flavored Coffee
Here’s the biggest difference:
- Coffee flavor is naturally occurring in the beans due to their growing conditions, processing, roasting, and brewing.
- Flavored coffee is when roasters artificially add flavors using absorption methods or flavoring oils.
A key takeaway: flavored coffee is not often described using tasting notes because the added flavors overpower the natural flavors of the coffee itself.
Final Sip
Next time someone tells you their coffee "tastes like blueberries," you’ll know it’s not because someone threw blueberries into their cup—it’s the magic of coffee chemistry at work! Coffee is a fascinating and complex drink, and understanding its flavors makes every sip even more enjoyable. ☕