Assessing Coffee

Coffee is produced in a few places in the world and these countries have coffee manufacturing factories, to produce and assess the coffee to make sure that only the best is being packed and sold to all over the world.

These coffee making companies have expert coffee tasters to grade and assess the coffee and its quality based on certain fixed requirements. The assessments are done concurrently with coffee cupping where the coffee experts test out the coffee.

To make a quality coffee brew from sensory aspect affective, the following requirements have to be met :

(A) The quality of the raw beans must be strictly maintained.

(B) The blend of different types of beans must be rigidly controlled

(C) The process conditions must be allowed to vary outside the prescribed units

(D) Nothing should be allowed to happen in the factory that would introduce any form of contamination

Other quality checks made on the soluble products are :

Moisture content

High moisture content reduces shelf life and contravenes legislation in most cases

Bulk density

Reduction in bulk density helps achieve optimum product level, in the final pack when filling to a prescribed net weight.

The Aroma Of Coffee

The aroma of coffee is one of its most important coffee atrributes. Coffee quality is assess largely on the basis of its aroma and flavour by expert coffee tasters.

Coffee volatiles are numerous and varied in their aroma quality potency and concentration and therefore contribution of each affects the overall aroma, most of the volatiles are derived from non volatile components of the raw bean which break down and react during roasting forming a complex moisture. Pyrolysis, other reactions and interactions of components such as sugars, amino acids organic acids and phenlic compounds resulting in the formation of the characteristic aroma an flavour of coffee

The three degrees of roast are light medium dark where medium roast is the most preferred The acidity of the coffee extracts depends upon the degree of roast of the coffee; the darker the roast the lower the acid content. The acids found in coffee and coffee infusions (or brews) are mainly aliphatic carboxylic. Other acids are alicyclic and heterocyclic acids

Taste Perception

The receptors of the taste are the taste buds most of which are located on the tongue. regions responsible for taste are found in the palate, pharnyx and larynx, on the tonsils and epiglottis and in some people on the mucosa of the lips and cheeks, the underside of the tongue and in the floor of the mouth

The areas of greatest responsiveness however are in the upper surface of the tongue at its tip sides and rear surfaces (deman 1976). On the tongue some areas are more sensitive to one taste than to another. Bitter solutions are better tasted at the back of the tongue and sweetness at the tip. Sensitivity to salt is about the same on most tongue areas and acids (sour) can best be detected along the sides of the tongue from midway to the back.