Are the coffees flavoured? Why can’t I taste the “flavours”?

Coffee is an immensely complex and unique fruit. There's a myriad of natural tasting notes and characteristics in each coffee, influenced by their terroir, harvest, and processing methods at farm level.

We don't add anything to the coffees, before, during or after the roasting process, so we can showcase the natural qualities of these coffees.

The tasting notes and aroma can be intense and wild, in the case of a Natural Processed Ethiopian Coffee, or subtle and nuanced, perhaps like a Natural processed Brazilian. Not all coffees are the same,  which is why there's so much to explore in coffee.

Unlike additives or artificial flavourings, sometimes these tasting notes won't immediately hit you. We'll recommend taking time to evaluate the aroma, and tasting your coffee in stages. Our taste receptors are able to pick up more delicate notes easier at lower temperatures.

This also depends on whether you've optimally brewed your cup of coffee. Under-extracted and Over-extracted coffees will affect how your cup tastes:

Under-extracted coffees are usually more sour, lacking sweetness, harsh, weak

Over-extracted coffees are usually overly bitter, astringent, harsh, powdery

To improve your extraction, you can follow these tips:

• Use hotter temperature water - it is okay to use off-the-boil water. It's not going to burn your coffee as your water will lose a few degrees once it is exposed to ambient air and gets in contact with your bed of coffee.
• Check your brew parameters - analyse your recipe to see if there's off. From your recipe, to your dose (amount of coffee used), brew water amount, and grind size.

Otherwise, get in touch with us and we'll be happy to assist you further.

Happy Brewing!