Person dumping ground coffee in cup

Here's How To Properly Use The Flavor Notes On Bagged Coffee

NEWS

BY ALLI NEAL

Person brewing coffee
The flavor notes on a bag of coffee don't define flavored coffee, but rather flavors found in the coffee beans that help you anticipate what flavors and aromas are in the brew.
Person using tablet while drinking coffee
Some flavor notes can be abstract, such as "grassy" or "earthy," so pros define notes based on the Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel developed by the Specialty Coffee Association.
Coffee beans on flavor wheel
The flavor wheel lists 110 flavors. The center of the wheel has nine categories: fruity, sweet, floral, roasted, spices, nutty/cocoa, sour/fermented, green/vegetative, and other.
Cup of coffee in center of flavor wheel
The next layer outward breaks that down even further. The fruity category, for example, has sub-categories such as berry, dried fruit, other fruit, and citrus fruit.
Two hands cupping coffee beans
Another tool to use is the Not Bad Coffee project’s interactive wheel complete with flavor cards. For example, it notes that "earthy" means damp, black soil.
Coffee beans next to brewed cup
If you intentionally look for the flavor notes in coffee, you'll learn what flavors you do and don't like. If there are no flavor indicators, check the roast level and geography.