The Flavor Profile of a Coffee

As product oriented coffee specialists, one of the major services offered by Songer and Associates is codification of flavor profiles of coffee products. The flavor profile is how the coffee should be perceived by consumers. It is not the only determinant of the buying decision, but it is perhaps the most important. It includes the individual flavor attributes a sample should have, the order in which they occur, their intensity, and how they work together.

Flavor profiles vary in level of detail. For less expensive coffees, the most important aspects may be absence of flavor faults, presence and intensity of primary attributes such as acidity and body, and level of roast. More specialized products, such as single origin coffees, must usually have more specific flavor attributes that the consumer of such products should perceive to recognize that particular product.

Along with the ideal flavor profile, a range of acceptable intensities should be specified. As a natural product, coffee samples vary considerably, depending on origin, method of processing, and the climactic factors that also vary from year to year. To present the consumer with a reasonably consistent coffee, components of the product must be chosen in terms of its flavor profile.

An example of a flavor profile with the range is shown below. The ideal flavor profile is represented as a solid line and the range is represented as dotted lines.

In this profile, the manufacturer is allowing a higher range for some of the more positive attributes (such as body and sweetness) while specifying a lower range for less attractive aspects, such as astringency. The “black pepper” quality is controlled rather tightly (over a small range), while more latitude is allowed in caramel flavor.

A flavor profile is developed in detail by means of descriptive analysis rather than the standard cupping procedure. This process is explained in detail in the paper on descriptive analysis and more efficient methods can also be performed. The goal of obtaining or updating a flavor profile is to provide sufficient detail so that meaningful and measurable standards can be written for the specified product.