Coffee flavours
Some of the unpleasant flavours
Bitter flavours are usually connected with a higher temperature of brewing water. Also, if the coffee tastes bitter, it’s recommended to let the drink cool down a little bit.
Combination of sour and bitter flavours is oftentimes the result of over-extracted coffee. The problem can be caused by the wrong grinding size. If the coffee grinds are too fine, the brewing process will take too long.
Acidity with some sourness is often created if the brewing water’s temperature is too low.
Acidity without viscosity or body is generally the result of under-extracted coffee. Many times, the problem is caused by wrong grinding. The problem can be solved by grinding the coffee finer.
Lack of taste and flavours can be connected with the quality of water. The water can either be too hard or too soft. Many coffee shops make the mistake of using distilled water from the commercial espresso machine also for brewing other coffee drinks. The distilled water is plain, very soft and without minerals. If we brew coffee drinks manually, water with a mineral content is recommended. Magnesium, Calcium and Sodium can help to boost coffee flavours.
Lack of Body – We can create body, if we pour the water more often and consistently. A lack of body can also be connected to the kind and quality of coffee beans that we are using. The roasting level and water quality may also affect the body of the final drink. To solve the problem, we can experiment with different brewing processes.
Salty or unnatural sweetness is a problem that is related to the mineral content of the water. In this case, there are many minerals in the water, which should not be there. For example, an excess of magnesium can create an unpleasant, unnatural sweetness.
Burned, bitter, smoky taste is caused by over-roasted coffee beans. We can address the problem by lowering the brewing water temperature. If we are buying coffee beans with a lower quality, it’s also a good advice to search over-roasted coffee beans and single them out before grinding the beans. In some cases, coffee bags may contain a few over-roasted beans while the majority of beans are fine.
Sources:
https://www.coffeescience.org/how-to-choose-best-water-for-coffee/
http://www.purewaterproducts.com/articles/water-and-coffee
