Over the past 2 decades the coffee tasting wheel has become the global standard for coffee profiling and cupping. Created in partnership between the Speciality Coffee association of America (SCAA) and World Coffee Research (WCR), the wheel is one of the most iconic professional coffee graphs to date as a means to describe coffee in either a casual or professional manner. Anyone who’s anyone in the coffee industry would’ve come across this wheel. For those who love coffee as much as me can appreciate the wealth of flavours coffee can taste like.
Due to the complexities of coffee flavour it bears similar depths of taste to wine as an artisanal commodity. Tthe Coffee tasting wheel provides a comprehensive guide to analyse and detail all types of coffee. Its colourful kaleidoscopic design (pictured below) can describe the most complex of coffees. This makes makes it perfect with the use of Speciality coffees that are multiplex in taste.
Here at the Long & Short roastery the wheel plays an important and regular role to review, profile and select new coffee based on the countless samples that come through our doors. Professionally its used during the Cupping process but for the everyday drinker a simplified method of use requires you to taste coffee and start from the inside of the tasting wheel for general flavours and work your way to the edge of the wheel for more descriptive.
