In this presentation, I walk through the various aspects of coffee appreciation. Starting with what goes into high quality coffee beans, I move into coffee preparation, and then finish with tasting guidelines.

1. Coffee
Appreciation
An Introductory Presentation
Phil Anderson
2021
Source
http://bit.ly/2Y7QsaH

2. Agenda
• Co
ff
ee: The Beans
• Overview of where co
ff
ee comes from and what factors contribute to its
quality and taste
• Co
ff
ee: The Preparation
• Overview of the major steps in co
ff
ee preparation, from grinding to
extraction
• Co
ff
ee: The Tasting
• Overview of what to look for when tasting co
ff
ee

3. Coffee: The Beans

4. What is Coffee?
• Contrary to popular belief, the co
ff
ee “bean” is not a bean at all, but rather the seed of
multiple plant species within the genus Co
ff
ea
• While there are over 100 distinct species of co
ff
ee plants, the overwhelming majority of
co
ff
ee consumed only comes from two:
• Co
ff
ea arabica (Arabica)
• Co
ff
ea canephora (Robusta)
• Arabica beans generally possess superior
fl
avor pro
fi
les, higher acidity, and are what you
would be drinking at higher end shops in major cities
• Robusta beans come from hardier (robust) plants, contain more ca
ff
eine, and are relatively
bitter; you would
fi
nd these in low-quality pre-ground blends, or instant co
ff
ee
Sources
http://bit.ly/3qEaVQK
http://bit.ly/3peRXjc
http://bit.ly/2MjPaGO

5. Coffee Plant and Cherries
Source
http://bit.ly/399Imob

6. Producing the Beans: Elevation
• Like any agricultural product, the co
ff
ee plant has
a variety of inputs which, when varied, will
produce di
ff
erent output characteristics in the
resulting fruit; these include soil, fertilizer, water,
elevation, etc.
• The most attention is generally paid to elevation,
which, ceteris paribus, will have the greatest
e
ff
ect on the product. The reasons for this are:
• High elevation makes plant growth di
ffi
cult and
time-consuming - the long time horizon gives
the plants more time to impart sugars to the
fruit, resulting in more complex
fl
avors
• High elevation lots hold superior water
drainage - this results in less water retained in
the fruit, leading to more intense
fl
avor
Source
http://bit.ly/39Vrilf
Image from Scribbler’s Co
ff
ee Co.

7. Producing the Beans: Pulp Processing
• The process by which the exterior of the co
ff
ee cherry (skin, pulp, mucilage*, etc.) is separated from the
seed is important, and can impact the
fl
avor that you ultimately
fi
nd in your cup. There are three main
procedures:
• Washed/Wet Process
• The cherries are washed to remove most of the pulp, allowed to ferment in a tank to break down the
mucilage, washed again, and then left out to dry for several months. This is a very popular method
• Natural/Dry Process
• The fruit is allowed to rest in the sun on elevated platforms. When the fruit is dry, it will be
mechanically separated from the seed. This method tends to result in fruitier tastes
• Honey Process
• Hybrid of the Washed and Natural Processes; the skin and pulp are removed from the seed via
washing, but instead of being fermented, are left out to dry with pieces of the fruit still attached.
This tends to result in sweeter, smoother cups
Source
PT’s Co
ff
ee Roasting Co.
http://bit.ly/3okXEet
*Mucilage is the substance closest to the seed

8. Producing the Beans: Major Growing Regions
• Sellers of higher quality co
ff
ee beans will tell you the origin country, and
sometimes the speci
fi
c farm their product came from
• As we have seen, there are a variety of factors that can impact taste but at a
very high level, growing regions will share some characteristics:
• Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia): Bright, Floral, Fruity (my personal
favorite)
• Central and South America (Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica): Smooth, well-
balanced
• Southeast Asia (Indonesia): Full-Bodied, Robust
Source
https://bit.ly/2Nzyps9

9. Major Growing Regions Visualized
Source
http://bit.ly/39e5Rg9

10. Producing the Beans: Roasting
• Co
ff
ee roasting is the process of
taking a bean from a bland
greenish/yellow seed to the
image that we are all very
familiar with
• This is one of the more delicate
components of the co
ff
ee
production process, and the
point at which the beans can
reach their full potential, or be
ruined beyond repair
• In absolute terms, this is the
step that tends to contribute the
most expense to a bag of beans
Sources
http://bit.ly/2Y6ylBQ
http://bit.ly/3peA1VV

11. • Specialty co
ff
ee roasters have a variety of highly
intricate terms for roast pro
fi
les, nicely presented on the
right by the National Co
ff
ee Association USA
• Generally, however, you will only see three categories
advertised: Light, Medium, and Dark
• If you are pursuing single-origin beans (beans that come
from one farm and are not blended with any others), you
will typically want to purchase Light or Medium Roasts -
these will highlight the
fl
avors of the beans and not the
roasting process
• With some exceptions, darker roasts are often used to
cover up low-quality beans, or achieve uniformity of
fl
avor across massive scale
• Perhaps counterintuitively, lighter roasts = more ca
ff
eine
Producing the Beans: Roasting
Source
http://bit.ly/3sTRtkI

12. Coffee: The Preparation

13. What to Look For
• A quality sourcer/roaster will be highly
transparent about the origin and roast date of
their product
• Look for the details we have discussed in this
presentation
• Origin country (bonus points for speci
fi
c farm)
• Elevation of crop
• De-pulping process
• Roast Date (avoid beans that are more than
7-10 days old)
• Roaster Tasting Notes (more on that later)
Purchasing Coffee
Beans from a Roaster in Houston, TX

14. Bean Storage
• When stored properly, roasted beans will remain desirable for
around 1-2 months following their roast date. In some cases,
the beans will actually develop new tastes as they age beyond
a few weeks
• While there are a variety of storage solutions available across
a spectrum of price points and levels of sophistication, there
are only two criteria you need to satisfy for successful storage
• Airtight vessel
• Ability to block sunlight
• If you are a dedicated co
ff
ee drinker, you could purchase a
sealable, darkened container. If you are more casual in this
pursuit, you can achieve many of the gains of a specialized
container by simply placing a mason jar full of co
ff
ee (see
right) into a kitchen cabinet
Source
http://bit.ly/2Mk1nva

15. Grinding
• In home preparation, migrating from pre-ground co
ff
ee to beans that are ground at the time
of extraction (brewing) is the single biggest step change in taste that most could hope to
achieve. Behind purchasing quality beans in the
fi
rst place, grinding is the most important
step in co
ff
ee preparation
• There are two primary types of grinders available:
• Blade grinders
• Miniature food processors, these cut the beans into non-uniform shards that collectively
resemble a powder. The co
ff
ee these produce is inconsistent and at times, bad. Avoid
• Burr grinders
• Consist of conical or
fl
at burrs, which are ridged pieces of metal or ceramic. These
machines force the beans through the burrs, which pulverizes them into a uniform
powder. If you are going to acquire a grinder, get this style, even if it means purchasing
one that is manually-powered.

16. Grider Styles
Blade
Sources
http://bit.ly/3oeFw5L
http://bit.ly/3c4Lp2Y
Burr (conical)

17. Extraction Techniques
• The process of brewing co
ff
ee is also called extraction; this term is used to refer to the procedure of
extracting a drinkable liquid from the combination of hot water and pulverized co
ff
ee beans
• There are three* principal methods of extraction which most co
ff
ee devices will use:
• Drip - runs water through ground co
ff
ee vertically, letting gravity move the process along. This is
the technique used by conventional automatic co
ff
ee makers, as well as the manual “pour-over”
technique
• Immersion - allows the ground co
ff
ee to sit with the water in a completely saturated fashion,
producing a liquid that must be
fi
ltered to become drinkable. This is the technique used in the
classical French Press, and its modern successor, the Aeropress
• Pressurized - runs hot water vertically through a disc of co
ff
ee at a high pressure; this produces a
concentrated liquid with dramatic
fl
avors. Espresso machines leverage this approach
• In all cases, it is best to use
fi
ltered water. A recently developed option is specialty water treatment
kits, which contain minerals to be added to distilled water
*I am ignoring vacuum
fi
ltration because I believe it holds more value in novelty than results, and upward percolation (or reboiling), because I have never had genuinely good
co
ff
ee produced by this method

18. Extraction Techniques in Pictures
Sources
http://bit.ly/2MjPFka
http://bit.ly/3a4uTO2
http://bit.ly/39bStsU
Drip Immersion Pressurized

19. Common Coffee Drinks
• The
fi
rst few experiences entering a cafe can be overwhelming, owing to the
large number of beverages available for purchase. This e
ff
ect is compounded by
the practice of some retail outlets of inventing their own beverages and marketing
them under names that sound similar to other drinks of the co
ff
ee canon
• Don’t worry though, all of these beverages in their basest form come down to
three ingredients: co
ff
ee, water, and milk. The general categories are:
• American-style drip co
ff
ee
• Water-based espresso drinks
• Milk-based espresso drinks
• With some investment in equipment, all of these drinks can also be produced in a
home kitchen setting

20. Drip Coffee
• Drip co
ff
ee is what most
Americans will think of when
someone says “co
ff
ee” or “cup of
co
ff
ee”
• Produced via the drip or
immersion methods, this is
usually one of the higher-volume
beverages available
Source
http://bit.ly/3qMMP6l

21. Water-Based Espresso Drinks
• Espresso is the highly-concentrated and
versatile result of the pressurized method
• It can be consumed as-is, for an intense,
albeit short-lived culinary experience, or
weakened through mixing with near-boiling
water, to produce the Americano
• The Americano is similar in volume to
American-style drip co
ff
ee (hence the name),
but tends to carry reminders of the intense
fl
avors of the espresso it is based on
• Ristretto is a more concentrated form of
espresso, in which less water is used
Sources
http://bit.ly/3qIpKSn
http://bit.ly/2Y6yO74
Espresso
Americano

22. Milk-Based Espresso Drinks
• These drinks involve mixing espresso with varying quantities of (typically warmed and
frothed) milk. The
fl
avor of the milk tends to dominate these beverages, so I do not
recommend them if you are using single-origin beans, or hoping to gain insights into
the
fl
avors of the beans you are working with
• The Macchiato consists of mostly espresso with a dash of milk foam
• The Cappuccino consists of espresso as well as steamed milk / milk foam, in the
ratio of 3 parts milk : 1 part espresso
• The Flat White is similar to the Cappuccino, but leaves out the milk foam
• The Latte is similar to the Flat White, using only espresso and steamed milk, but in a
ratio of 7 parts milk : 1 part espresso

23. Milk-Based Espresso Drinks
Cappuccino Latte
Macchiato
Sources
http://bit.ly/3pcIQj9
http://bit.ly/39bSKMs
http://bit.ly/3c7jT58

24. Coffee: The Tasting

25. Quick Guide to Coffee Tasting
• When drinking your co
ff
ee, you can enjoy it as-is, or spend some time contemplating the deeper
aspects of what you are tasting
• A prominent roaster, Blue Bottle, has done a good job of highlighting what you could look for; I have
paraphrased their notes below:
• Sweetness - does the co
ff
ee remind you of any sweeteners you have experience with, and if so,
which ones? Honey, sugar, molasses, etc.
• Body - does the co
ff
ee feel thick (full) or thin (small) as you drink it? Darker co
ff
ees tend to be fuller-
bodied, meaning that you will know you had co
ff
ee for an hour after you drank it, whereas lighter
co
ff
ees tend to be smaller-bodied
• Acidity - also known as brightness, refers to the co
ff
ee “bursting” as it hits your tongue. Associated
with fruitier notes
• Flavor - does your co
ff
ee remind you of literally any edible (or inedible) substance you have had
before? That is
fl
avor. Ranges from “citrusy” (good) to “cardboard-esque” (bad)
• Finish - as you swallow your particular sip of co
ff
ee, what
fl
avor notes do you get? Chocolate is
common
http://bit.ly/2MmFTOc

26. Flavor Wheel
• To assist with the articulation of
di
ff
erent
fl
avor notes, another
prominent roaster, Counter
Culture, has provided this
fl
avor
wheel on their website
• Co
ff
ee
fl
avors can run the gamut
of this wheel, with some being
more prized than others
Coffee Tasting
Source
https://bit.ly/39Z995V

27. Thank You for Reading
For more from me, please visit: https://panders225.github.io

28. Additional Resources
• There are many sources of information about co
ff
ee available to you via the Internet,
many of which are too cursory to be of substantial value. Here are the handful of
resources which produced meaningful changes in my understanding of the co
ff
ee
landscape, in order of recommendation:
• The World Atlas of Co
ff
ee, by James Ho
ff
man
• Home Co
ff
ee Roasting: Romance and Revival, by Kenneth Davids
• Sweet Maria’s Guide to Home Co
ff
ee Roasting
• James Ho
ff
man’s Youtube Channel
• Seattle Co
ff
ee Gear’s Youtube Channel