salty flavor?

[lora]

does any one know why theres some times a salty flavor in coffee? and if its a good or bad thing?

[WSullivan]

Re: salty flavor?

i "personally" have only experienced "salty" flavours, when i overextract...........thats just me though.....

[Ronin]

Re: salty flavor?

Not sure about salty flavors but if Im trying to understand a what Im tasting I try to relate it to as much as I can until I can narrow it down.

eg. After smelling one of the Le Nez Du Cafe aroma kit bottles, all I could smell was flowers. Thinking about it I realised that bees and birds use pollen from flowers. The Smell was Honey.

To throw a spanner in the coffee tasting process, my brain has linked flowers with the smell of honey.

And just when I thought I was starting to understand too.

[Thundergod]

Re: salty flavor?

does any one know why theres some times a salty flavor in coffee? and if its a good or bad thing?

South Africans put salt in coffee so if the coffee in question wasnt made by a SA then I say its just what YOU are tasting (see Ronins comment below).

eg. After smelling one of the Le Nez Du Cafe aroma kit bottles, all I could smell was flowers. Thinking about it I realised that bees and birds use pollen from flowers. The Smell was Honey.

A similar thing happened to me when Hazel tried to educate me with the kit.
I wasnt having much luck guessing any of them until I got to one I was SURE of.
I guessed "dirt". The answer was "grass".
I immediately instructed my gardener to raise the mower a couple of notches. ;D

[Ronin]

Re: salty flavor?

I immediately instructed my gardener to raise the mower a couple of notches

LOL

[stuartgrant]

Re: salty flavor?

I keep a cupping spreadsheet where I plot all the beans Ive cupped against all the descriptors Ive used in cupping. Unfortunately it doesnt have salty, though Im certain Ive used that descriptor before. I guess I grouped it under another descriptor?

However, theres definitely a savoury (umami) flavour group which for me includes descriptors like earthy, musty, gamey, leathery as well as some spices like cumin and black pepper. I reckon salty would fit in the same group?

Its always amazing what you can find in a cup of coffee.

Cheers
Stuart.

[Martial_Monkey]

Re: salty flavor?

Was the taste of salt detected shortly after a chemical back flush because that stuff does have a distinctive salty flavour.

[Ronin]

Re: salty flavor?

Follow the link and scroll down to a post from KK who has kindly put up a coffee tasters flavour wheel and a tastes/aromas wheel.

See if this helps.

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1253365557

[lora]

Re: salty flavor?

these wheels etc. are AMAZING. thank you so much Ronin!

and thanks to everyone else for the info/feedback! its rad that theres help everywhere!

[frikanim]

Re: salty flavor?

Ive had a kind of salty espresso before at one of melbournes best cafes. It wasnt a particularly bad flavour, just unusual. I thought the barista might have done something wrong so I went on and ordered another espresso with the same beans, and it was just as salty.
So maybe there are some coffees that are actually meant to be salty?

[lora]

Re: salty flavor?

yeah its not necessarily a bad flavour, i was just curious if it was my tastebuds that were weird or if others had tasted it too. crazy coffee.

[martybean]

Re: salty flavor?

I too have found that saltyness can be from overextraction.

[Ronin]

Re: salty flavor?

thank you so much Ronin!

Thank KK not me, I just posted the link.

Oh, I found the cupping forms useful also. They have some flavours listed that I couldnt taste until I read through it.

[cksyd]

Re: salty flavor?

If an espresso is kept waiting, smoothness of taste is lost and perceived acidity increases with time regardless of cooling. Furthermore, if the cup cools down, an unbalanced saltiness becomes noticeable.

Espresso Coffee; The Chemistry of Quality - Illy and Viani

[Javaphile]

Re: salty flavor?

Ive had a salty taste show up when the wrong temperature water was being used for extraction.


Java "No salt please!" phile