5th Taste

[Javaphile]

Re: 5th Taste

in his book Espresso Coffee Andrea Illy describes

"umami as the sensation elicited by monosodium glutamate"

what he also states is that the different taste sensations are spread over your tongue, not to specific areas

the Coffee tasters Flavour Wheel lists

Tastes
Sour - winey, soury
Sweet - acidy, mellow
Salt - bland, sharp
Bitter - pungent, harsh

That was kinda my point. Perhaps its time to add a 5th taste to the Flavor Wheel.


Java "The Odd Wheel" phile

Re: 5th Taste

Lifes key ingredient, MSG!!

[foul-up]

Re: 5th Taste

in his book Espresso Coffee Andrea Illy describes

"umami as the sensation elicited by monosodium glutamate"

what he also states is that the different taste sensations are spread over your tongue, not to specific areas

the Coffee tasters Flavour Wheel lists

Tastes
Sour - winey, soury
Sweet - acidy, mellow
Salt - bland, sharp
Bitter - pungent, harsh

Aromas
Enzymatic - flowery, fruity, herby
Sugar browning - nutty,carmelly, chocolaty
Dry Distilation - carbony, spicy, resinous

graham

Re: 5th Taste

If you want umami in coffee, just toss in a bit of seaweed. Now thats a signature drink.

[GrindOnDemand]

Re: 5th Taste

supposedly the fifth hidden taste-bud, after sweet/sour/bitter/salty ...

oishi as a direct translation from Japanese means delicious, but umami, like a lot of French food terms, loses its depth in basic English conversion ...

In terms of coffee?

Dunno :-?

Still exploring the sweet, sour, bitter, salty parts of my SOs! ;D

Let alone that elusive 5th taste-bud, bud

[luca]

Re: 5th Taste

Hey Java,

Good pick-up. The word "brothy," is sometimes used interchangeably with "umami" in cupping. Many of the high umami coffees that I have cupped have been great with milk.

Hey Ian,

Great job with this years sig drink! I look forward to seeing your performance at the finals.

Cheers,

Luca

Re: 5th Taste

Wikipedia has an excellent section dedicated to umami, just do a quick search for it.  Last comp i was hooked on the idea and based my whole sig drink around it (veal jus and mushroom air, both packed with umami).  However when i nearly set the comp area on fire while frying off the veal i think the judges attention turned away from the umami and towards "000" ;D

[Javaphile]

OK, so while its not directly coffee related I can see this having an impact on the coffee world. Specifically Cuppings/taste descriptions.

Ever try to describe a taste or flavor that doesnt seem to quite fit into the sweet, sour, salty, or bitter categories? Perhaps that because it wasnt any of those but rather was umami.

Some snippets:

"Its the m-m-m in meat. Its part of the pizazz in a pepperoni pizza. Its what makes people cheer for cheese.

Its umami, and if your reaction is "u-what-ee?" youve got plenty of company."

"Umami — pronounced "oo-MA-mee" — comes from a Japanese word meaning "deliciousness." This somewhat elusive flavor shows up in a wide variety of protein-rich foods."

"Although the concept has been around for a century, the fifth taste has been slow to catch on in America and other Western countries. For starters, theres the name, a strange-sounding foreign word.

Also, many food experts and scientists long assumed umami was merely a combination of some of the four established tastes."

"Chaudhari and her colleagues put to rest any lingering doubts about umamis status as a separate taste in 2000, when they isolated a receptor on taste buds that responds to the amino acids that impart umami flavor."

Full article: http://www.twincities.com/ci_8781566


Java "Your mommy what?!?" phile