Coffee and espresso should be a perfectly balanced combination of sweetness, bitterness and acidity. However, everyone’s taste buds are unique, so creating this balance will inevitably vary from person to person. Did you know you can tweak the flavor profile and body of your coffee and espresso drinks with a few changes in your preparation? Want to bring out the sweet molasses, caramel and dark chocolate notes in your espresso, or lower the acidity of your morning pour over? Are you sensitive to over-bitterness and want a smoother brew? We’ve got you. It's time for a little food science from the Afficionado Coffee Roasters test kitchen!

Acidity 

Good acidity in coffee makes the flavor pop. Acidity notes often read as fruity when properly extracted- the citrus jam note in Calico, roasted pineapple in Cruz Grande, or lemon zest in Burundi Karambo are a few examples from our coffee portfolio. Acidity in coffee comes from natural acids in the coffee plant including citric acid (also found in citrus fruits), tartaric acid (common in grapes, cherries and tamarind), and malic acid (think green apples and pears). These are some of the first components to extract when brewing and extract more with heat. This means to highlight acidity, use a hotter temperature (205°F/ 96°C) but if you prefer lower acidity knock the temperature down as much as 10°F or 5°C and notice the difference. Making your grind size slightly finer can also lower acidity. 

Sweetness 

Coffee beans grow as the seeds of the coffee cherry– a fruit which has small amounts of sucrose, fructose and glucose. Those trace natural sugars roast out, but leave remaining caramelized, mallard aromas without a sugar content. Since our sense of smell affects taste, we perceive sweet notes of chocolate, whiskey, and maple in our Peru Punku Rumi when we are actually smelling them.

Enhancing the perceived sweetness in coffee is a crowd pleaser! This is part of why Afficionado favors high-ratio brew methods. If you are making espresso, check the size of your baskets (pop the basket out of the handle and check under the rim or in your machine manual)-- the most common size is 17 grams, although 20 is popular too. We suggest a dose of 18.5 grams of espresso for a standard basket. Adding a touch more beans enhances sweet aromas and perceived sweetness. The same is true for other brew methods, slightly increase your dose and you’ll notice a delightful sweetness. Our go-to pour over 1-5-3 Method has a 1:8 ratio of coffee to water, almost double that of other brands. 

Bitterness 

Across the board, people tend to want a tamed bitterness. That’s especially true for supertasters who are more sensitive to bitterness since their tongues have more tastebuds. Bitterness extracts throughout brewing so the best thing you can do to lower bitterness is to stop your extraction on time. For pourovers we suggest 3 minutes and for espresso, 24-25 seconds for decaf or 29-30 seconds for Liberator or Benchmark. We also recommend brewing with bypass– making a timed concentration with the coffee beans and then adding pure brewing water, after the spent coffee is removed, to get up to volume without over-extracting the beans, causing over bitterness. Over-bitterness can also occur from over-extraction, when water isn’t flowing through the coffee bed adequately, which causes pooling. Adjusting your grind size to a slightly coarser grind can help. Additionally, grinders aren’t perfect, especially over time and when grinding coffee from certain origins which have a unique break pattern such as Ethiopia. So you are aiming for a certain grind size, but some fines get in which are smaller than you intended. Our baristas combat this by sifting the ground coffee before every pourover to ensure the intended grind, leading to proper flow and the best extraction. Lastly, your palate naturally perceives bitterness more as your drink cools. It’s best to enjoy fresh and not go back to that forgotten cup from this morning.

Body 

Mouthfeel and body have to do with the sensations you feel on the tongue and palate. These are most affected by the amount and minerality of your water. After all, from espresso to drip coffee, your beverage is mainly water. Compare what you brew with your local tap water, to filtered or bottled water and you’ll probably notice a slight difference. Low amounts of calcium in water can create a creaminess, for example. For a richer, syrupy espresso, stop the shot on the low end of parameters– 24 seconds for decaf or 29 for caffeinated. In a pour over, adjust the amount of bypass water to change the body. Don’t overdo it though; no one likes watery coffee! Of course your beans and brew method matter too. French press and Turkish-style preparations harness steeping, leaving the natural coffee oils which will create a fuller mouthfeel. For a lighter sensation, choose preparations which use a paper filter; this absorbs the coffee oils for a thinner mouthfeel. 

Finally, consider the process of the coffee you buy. Natural-process means the coffee beans are dried intact, still within the “coffee cherry.” In contrast, washed-process removes the fruit and mucilage early-on, before drying the beans.  The result is that natural-process coffees, like Ethiopia West Arsi, tend towards bigger body and fuller mouthfeel, whereas their washed-process sister– Ethiopia Hamma Collective, feels more delicate on the palate. 

Caffeine 

Let’s face it, for some folks this is the reason they reach for coffee in the first place. If you are looking for higher caffeine content, here are a few tricks to get you there, or reverse these if you are enjoying your beloved brew closer to bedtime. Caffeine extracts throughout the brewing process, and it extracts more with higher temperature. Use water at 205°F/ 96°C in the morning and go cooler if you’re looking for less of a perk (keep in mind, this will also affect acidity). A finer grind size creates more surface area and thus more caffeine-extractability as well. For high caffeine and low acidity, choose cold brew. Our organic Magical Cold Brew is extracted for 14 hours, giving ample time to extract high caffeine content, even at low temperature. 

It's important to experiment with preparation techniques to dial in the flavor profile that's right for you. We hope you've enjoyed this breakdown of acidity, sweetness, bitterness, body, and caffeine. Drop us a line with any questions- we look forward to hearing how these tips affected your next brew session. Saludos!