Are we too fussed about the notes in the coffee?

LMSC We probably lost track some where down the line in our coffee quest, focussing too much on the notes.

Not dissimilar to wine… which can be a lot more expensive (and often the notes are just a label/brand/year… trust it at your own peril).

I can only echo what has already been said. For me I tend to avoid the citricy flavours just because I’m not into the to more acidic taste. Chocolate, nuts, caramel, fudgy tend to get my attention. I’ll admit though, the only real stand out flavour that my un-educated tastebuds seem to recognise reglarly is…smokey; and no I don’t and never have. The only time I actually could taste a fruit mentioned in the tasting notes (Peach) was when I had a cold brew at a meeting of members of the forum that shall not be named. That had a very intense Peach flavour.

At the end of the day though, I have stopped trying to get the flavours the tasting notes hint at, if one come through then that’s a bonus, but as long as it’s got a good coffee taste, then I’m happy with that.

LMSC my family thinks that I have gone nuts!

I can relate 😂😂

It does not seem that long ago that fruity / acidic coffee’s were the ‘thing’. I personally have never liked fruity / or acidic coffee, I am more for the’ old fashioned coffee flavour’, full flavour with rich full mouth feel.

As for notes, spicy, tobacco, chocolate are more to my taste hence a liking for OBJ, mahogany roast malabar or monsooned M/ bar. Also fond of full flavoured Brazilian. No I am not a smoker.

DavecUK Not to be confused with

CoyoteOldMan They might well taste similar.

LMSC I can best describe OBJ as having tobacco and spice notes, with a touch of old moroccan leather sandals. A real man’s drink….

DavecUK I do remember having some coffee in red bags which many on another forum praised to the rafters, I personally found them bloody awful, reminiscent of dilute lemon juice without any body, was the roaster trying to convert everyone to what he thought coffee should taste like.

In order to wean me off OBJ , what would you recommend for a rich full mouthfeel with low acidity ?

I would agree some OBJ is very unpleasant but it does depend on the roaster.

LMSC The taste notes have been something beyond my early machines’ capabilities so it really (almost) became “obsession” (this is a joke, Captain Obvious) once I crossed a threshold.

Sometimes with the right beans I have been able to drink literally sweet shots with lots of caramel, chocolaty flavours. Recently I had some mid-roasted beans, that were very citrussy in flavour. I had someone to check on our insulation and the guy had a couple of double ristrettos in the framework of 30 minutes. He kept on saying how citrussy the shots were. My wife found the coffee acidic. Go figure 😆.

I believe that if the notes were something you sense and enjoy it is definitely worthy looking for it. If, however, this is the primary goal, I will definitely not join. As long as you enjoy your shots, notes or not, this is what matters (at least to me).

Cheers!
PS BTW my wife and I are currently in Sardinia (Sardegna) and I have to admit that the person in MIlan who told me not to hope for great coffee here was right. I only had 2 or 3 out of more than 10 good shots. Fortunately Sardinia is not all about coffee and we are having great time.

DavecUK especially those where you can faintly hear the sound of nose flutes from the bag

This sounds like something Lovecraft could have drunk… or written… or written while drunk.

Some I get the tasting notes others not.

I had a Honduras that had bags of strawberry. One of mybfavourite to date.

I don’t like dark roast either.

I do like a bright drink sometime but the. I love lemon cheesecake 😂

I also like ones with a sweet aftertaste.

How ever, with milk that’s where the butty, chocolate, caramel stuff comes into its own for me

I have to admit I do not have a “go to” coffee and have run for years on various different subscriptions (hasbean, square mile, blue coffee box, dog and hat, etc.) and I really enjoy that. Sometimes I get the tasting notes incredibly clearly and other times I don’t, but it doesn’t worry me and I don’t particularly go chasing them. How I drink my coffee (pourover, aeropress, coffee pot, cortado, americano, flat white, latte and only occasionally straight espresso) is driven by the beans but I’ll usually know from my first cortado how I’m going to end up liking them and will end up sticking to one brew method at home for that bag.

I am very much in the light/medium roast camp and do not enjoy the “burnt” taste I find with a lot of dark roasts. I do have a soft spot for more “acidic” coffees, but will mostly drink them as a cortado. I absolutely love the change between coffee bags when there is such a stark difference it makes you sit up and go “wow” at the fact they are both coffee… made the same way! When I make coffee for friends, or on the rare occasion I drink straight espresso, I will usually choose a coffee with more chocolatey/sweet tastingnotes because they seem to be what people mostly enjoy and I find the notes incredibly useful to guide me.

A little rambling, I guess in conclusion I use the notes for guidance but don’t chase them, particularly as I’m using (don’t hate me) hard tap water run through a peak water filter… but that’s another topic entirely!