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<Coffee for the Average Josh, Part 4 of 10>

Why does your coffee taste like it does, and how can you make it even better?

In approaching such a question, a more sophisticated coff-icionado than myself may start with the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel. Containing 110 attributes of flavor, scent and mouthfeel, this circle is used by professional tasters to describe our mutual friend, Joe — from fruity to floral, from smoky to skunky.

Two quick things to note before moving on to a more “square peg” approach to flavor wheeling:

1. Yes, I said “skunky.”

True story: At official coffee-tasting events — or “cuppings” —organizers prepare ahead of time to help attendees properly grade particular flavor profiles. If a coffee’s “skunkiness” is to be measured at the event, a pair of latex balloons will be stuffed in a 2-ounce glass jar and stored at room temperature days in advance. In order to properly grade potentially skunky coffee, tasters first unscrew the snifter and whiff the balloons. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Why not just trap Pepé Le Pew in the corner of the room and see what happens? Apparently, the tiny, resealable jars are better at preventing comingling scents and regulating aromatic intensities.

2. Yes, I said “professional taster.”

Before you check the want ads, understand this is not the type of job your mother will brag to her friends about. As a professional taster, you are expected to:

• Spit coffee back out: To keep from over-caffeinating — and probably to curtail bathroom breaks — professional tasters hoick brown liquid like outlaws in a Wild West saloon.
• Slurp loudly from spoons: In a bit of an Oliver Twist, professional coffee events sound a lot like soup night at the orphanage. (“Please, sir, I want some more.”) Why? Slurping heightens both taste and aroma. It’s why people with poor manners are more likely to enjoy Top Ramen.
• Become a certified “Q Grader”: Mom won’t be fooled. This is well below an F average.

Conclusion: Go ahead and explore a taste wheel if you like that kind of thing. Attend a cupping and read about flavor profiles if that’s fun for you. But unless you possess a once-in-a-generation palate, don’t deviate down the skunk-strewn track of professional coffee tasting.

Day in and day out, the most important thing for a coffee commoner like you and me is not to taste everything, but to taste our favorite thing.

Here are five flavor factors that — when understood — pave the pathway to consistently sipping coffee you love.

1. Begin with the bean

The starting point for flavor is in its origin. If the bean grew up in the Quindio region of Colombia, it may taste balanced with a hint of chocolate. Yirgacheffe coffee from Ethiopia is famously fruity with a floral aroma. The punchy, earthy taste of Indonesian Sumatran coffee enjoys a zealous following.

While many coffee brands feature blends from more than one region, if you experience a cup you particularly enjoy, it’s worth identifying where it came from. Chances are, other coffees from that region will similarly delight your palate.

Of course, the flavor of the bean is impacted by other factors as well that were covered in previous posts. People typically prefer the taste of an Arabica bean harvested by hand at peak ripeness then prepared for shipping through the “washed process.”

2. The roast-est with the most-est

As a former newspaper publisher, coffee roasters remind me of printing presses in an important way. I once switched from a vendor with state-of-the-art equipment to one with a rickety old machine on its last legs. Sound backwards? Maybe, but my newspaper never looked better.

What I learned can be applied to coffee roasting: A knowledgeable operator is more important than the quality of the tool in his hands. Roasting coffee is a skill earned through talent, study and experience. Great coffee can be produced at a light, medium or dark roast. As a general rule, if you like a sweeter, complex taste with a strong aroma, you will enjoy a lighter roast coffee. The darker the roast, the stronger — but typically less complicated — the flavor profile.

But these flavors can be ruined a dozen different ways. Roast too long or too short or at the wrong temperature, and you can destroy all of a bean’s flavor-packed potential. The operator matters — a lot!

But the opposite is also true: If I dropped off a file of chicken-scratched gobbledygook to my printer, the pressman won’t be able to turn it into the Sunday edition of the New York Times, no matter how good he is. What you are looking for is coffee beans you will love in the hands of a roaster who is dialed in to your tastes.

3. Fresh tastes best

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big proponent of limp lettuce. If I’m debating between a stalk of romaine and green leaf, I’m choosing the one that looks and feels freshest.

Why not take similar care when selecting a sister plant, your coffee beans? I know, I know — coffee freshness is harder to spot. But it has a major impact on flavor, so consider the following tips:

• Look for roast dates: Coffee is a fickle beast. It tastes best with rest — but not too much. Experts debate the exact timeframe, so let’s keep it general. Wait a couple-four days after roasting to enjoy it, and consume it as long as you don’t notice a drop-off in taste — ideally within a month but longer if stored properly.
• Wait to grind the beans: Coffee loses flavor more quickly after it’s ground, so buy whole bean coffee when brewing at home. Burr grinders are best for achieving a uniform grind size — another factor to dial in that greatly influences coffee’s taste.
• Don’t freeze, nuke or abandon: It’s best to buy the coffee you need and prepare it when you’re ready to enjoy it. There’s a reason coffee that is microwaved or sampled after a day sitting on the warmer at the office doesn’t taste fresh. It’s not.  

4. Pay attention to the main ingredient

Did you know at-home coffee brewed through a filter is more than 98 percent water? Why would we expect to achieve great-tasting coffee without first-class water?

True, some parts of the planet are blessed with excellent tap water. In other places, filtered or bottled water is imperative to achieving great-tasting coffee.

When you think about it, the impact water quality has on coffee quality makes perfect sense. After all, I bet you could identify a latte made using nonfat milk versus one made with whole, oat or almond milk.

Finally, pay attention to the temperature of the main ingredient. If you are really trying to dial in taste, the temperature of your water (or milk) influences the taste and should differ depending on your brewing method.

5. Brew for you

I keep a long-emptied bag of Caribou Coffee in my office. Whenever I spot it, I smile. One of my favorite coffee memories was a Turtle Mocha Kim and I shared in the Minneapolis airport on our honeymoon.

More than two decades letter, the Turtle Mocha is still on the menu at the ‘Bou. I don’t really prefer it any longer, but I still order it sometimes. Its flavor profile includes strong notes of reminiscence.

Another “Coffee Josh,” my friend Josh Jensen, calls this the “experiential factor — the epic trip to the coast watching the fog burn off while sipping a cup of the local café’s house sludge with your arm around your bride.”

There is a complexity to flavor preferences that runs far deeper than one’s sense of taste. Far from something to be ashamed of, it may well be the most important flavor factor to embrace.

“Oddly enough, I like Folgers from a percolator every now and then,” Josh added. “It brings back wonderful, nostalgic memories about my uncle and grandpa.”

For the love of coffee, I’m grateful some undertones can’t be defined by the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel.

Next week: 10 ways to take your coffee

This is the fourth in a 10-part series, “Coffee for the Average Josh,” releasing Fridays this fall. Get your fix of Coffee 101 by signing up to receive an email when the next post drops.

Previous:

1. Where do coffee babies come from? (Oct. 2, 2020)
2. Growing up on the coffee farm (Oct. 9, 2020)
3. 3 reasons to pay more for your coffee (Oct. 16, 2020)

And other questions of coffee shop etiquette

<Coffee for the Average Josh, Part 8 of 10>

A 2019 survey by creditcards.com found that 24 percent of Americans always tip their coffee shop baristas, while 27 percent never do.

That leaves roughly half of us stuck in the land of “it depends.”

Looking for clarity when you step up to the counter?  Let’s explore:

• Reasons you should consider leaving a tip
• Reasons you may feel compelled to leave a tip, but really shouldn’t
• Best practices for how much to tip
• And a few other shots of coffee shop etiquette

8 good reasons to tip for your coffee

1. Service: Sometimes you receive incredible service, but sometimes … not. Do you leave the shop feeling well taken care of? Tipping is a way to say thanks.
2. Craftsmanship: More often than not, the best cups of coffee are directly tied to a barista’s experience, skill and knowledge. When you receive beautiful latte art. When you learn something new. When you find the barista who always wows you with that cappuccino. Coffee craftsmanship adds value.
3. Quantity: Sometimes you order a small cup of drip coffee, but sometimes you’re picking up for the whole office. It takes a lot of skill to make multiple drinks at once, particularly if a line starts piling up behind you.
4. Customization: Do you order straight off the menu, or do you have special requests for your drink? It’s kind to make it worth the barista’s extra time and understanding when they go out of their way to meet the specs of a special request.
5. Duration of stay: Do you love to park at a table for a couple hours and get some work done? That’s great, but you’re also using space that could turn away additional customers if a shop is full, not to mention the wi-fi and other utilities owners pay to keep you comfortable. Show that you appreciate this access to a “second office.”
6. Vibe: Some shops just feel comfortable. Some invest heavily not just in your coffee but in your experience. If the place has a magnetic effect on your soul, a tip is one good way to express gratitude.
7. Regularity: If you’re a regular, chances are you’re not only investing in a favorite shop, but they’re investing in you. They know your name, your order and the vehicle you drive. Try getting that level of relational service anywhere else.
8. Support: I am grateful for baristas. It’s a line of work where excellence can clearly be tasted. But the average wages aren’t typically enough of a carrot for baristas to invest in the job as a career. These are also human beings who work a busy job and have bad days like everyone else. A tip doesn’t have to only be a statement of gratitude, it can also be a statement of support.

2 bad reasons to tip for your coffee

1. Prompt pressure: These days, if you swipe a card, you can expect the screen to swivel and tip options to be presented — typically $1, $2, $3 or 10%, 15%, 20%. There are also typically buttons for “no tip” and “custom tip.” For me, prompts take part of the joy out of tipping because I’m being asked to do something I already wanted to do — but without being asked. They also usually suggest preset amounts, making it potentially clunky or awkward to change the amount that was preset — even if you wanted to tip more. If you are feeling bullied by a screen prompt, pause and take the time to leave the tip you want to leave. There’s no harm in it.  
2. Peer pressure: Things get trickier when people are watching. And they often are, whether standing in line behind you or making your coffee. In fact, because of COVID restrictions, baristas are often put in the awkward position of asking for their own tip and inputting the amount for you. Anymore, when I want to leave a tip I often mention it when I’m taking out my credit card, something like, “How may I add a $1 tip on this?” To me, it relieves the tension. But what do you do if you are just grabbing a drip coffee to go and don’t want to be prompted about a $1 tip on a $2 drink? Press, “no tip,” and don’t feel bad about it. If you’re asked about tip options, just say, “no, thank you.” There are plenty of great reasons you may want to leave a tip, but peer pressure isn’t one of them.

How much should you tip for your coffee?

From a straight etiquette standpoint, the Emily Post Institute groups coffee shops in the “no obligation” category. Like carryout, tipping is discretionary but warranted if a “barista provides a little something extra or if you are a regular customer.”

In an informal poll of people I know who love coffee, a common rule of thumb is it’s generous to tip $1 per drink, but perfectly acceptable to tip change from a small transaction or calculate out a percentage you’re comfortable with.

If you use percentages, the ranges can swing much more wildly than they might at a dine-in restaurant. For instance, $1 on a $3 small latte is a whopping 33 percent tip, while dropping a couple quarters’ change in a tip jar on a $10 order is only 5 percent. But neither is an unusual occurrence.

Hence the word “discretionary.” Consider the good reasons to tip. Consider your own financial situation. And remember: Generosity is good for the soul.  

Other coffee shop etiquette

I asked a few coffee friends for other pieces of etiquette people should keep in mind when visiting their shops, and here are three final things worth noting.

1. Don’t talk on your cell phone while ordering. That one feels like it should be a common courtesy, but we humans tend to have a way of self-justifying behavior in a moment that we may have criticized if we saw it elsewhere.
2. Don’t set up an oblivious office. Working out of a coffee shop is great, but be self-aware. As a friend who owns a coffee shop told me, “one person spreading out work on a four-top table is pretty rough for us — especially now that we’re in a pandemic and at half occupancy.”
3. Don’t ask a shop to bend to your own tastes. No, I don’t mean you can’t order what you want. What I mean is that the person who owns the shop invested a lot of their own passions and personality in picking out the décor, choosing the setlist, and selecting the recipes. As a friend put it, “I would love if people would allow the business to thrive as it is and not as they wish it was. So many businesses do the same thing as everyone else because they felt they could not succeed if they didn’t compromise their original vision to appease people.” Local coffee shops offer a uniqueness worth celebrating.

Next week: “Black Friday: Give the gift of a local coffee roast”

This is the eighth in a 10-part series, “Coffee for the Average Josh,” releasing Fridays this fall. Get your fix of Coffee 101 by signing up to receive an email when the next post drops.

Previous:

1. Where do coffee babies come from? (Oct. 2, 2020)
2. Growing up on the coffee farm (Oct. 9, 2020)
3. 3 reasons to pay more for your coffee (Oct. 16, 2020)
4. 5 factors of great-tasting coffee (Oct. 23, 2020)
5. How do you take your coffee? (Oct. 30, 2020)
6. What is espresso? (Nov. 6, 2020)
7. What’s the difference: cappuccino, latte, mocha, americano? (Nov. 13, 2020)