Do People Actually Taste the Difference in Coffee?
Posted by appleplus_2845@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 79 comments
Guys, is it really that easy to tell the difference between coffees? I’m not a daily drinker, but I do have a cup every couple of days..and honestly, I can’t tell much difference. Is it something obvious, or do you need some magical palate to notice it? I always thought it just came down to the amount of coffee powder and milk used. Maybe I’m wrong
naynaeve@reddit
I also can’t taste the difference. I have family members who buys the coffee beans and roast them and have 100 different coffee appliances, and they continually stirring the coffee for an eternity. They swear that homemade coffees are the best. I just can’t tell the difference between that and instant coffee. But I did tasted some really bad coffee. When at Uni i used to work as student ambassador and we would get free tea/coffee. I am a tea person. But i tried coffee once. It was horrible.
BenefitFree1371@reddit
it's mostly hype. Like the difference between driving a Skoda or a Mercedes to work. They are the same, but one will cost you £100,000. That's what that's all about. Imagine coffee is similar, as are many things in this nonsense culture.
llynllydaw_999@reddit
Wine being another example.
coconutszz@reddit
You can add beer to that list as well. Anyone claiming they can tell the difference between carling and peroni is having you on.
TheoTheodor@reddit
Even saying coffee is too broad really. Do you mean the different roasts or beans? Espresso vs drip vs instant? Different methods of doing filter coffee?
But the answer is yes to all of the above.
PirateEducational168@reddit
Yes.
Yes.
Beartato4772@reddit
“Guys I’m drowning my coffee in milk and it tastes like milk.”
Beartato4772@reddit
The fact you say “coffee powder” tells me you’re using instant so you’re already in a narrow range of mostly shit coffee.
sennalvera@reddit
There's a perceptable difference between the cheapest instant coffee and fancy ground bean coffee. It's easier to taste if you drink it black, milk/sugar will blunt the difference obviously. (My unpopular opinion is that I prefer instant to the bean coffee most of the time.)
Appropriate_Trader@reddit
Although I can’t get on board with the instant coffee being better i do drink it at my mums. If I make it incredibly strong then it’s enjoyable and you can taste the difference between brands. At least 2 heaped teaspoons and max 2/3rds of a mug of water.
UberiorShanDoge@reddit
Upvoted for unpopular opinion. You’re a barbarian though, I’m going to need to spend 30 minutes crafting a single espresso shot to ease my tension after reading this
sennalvera@reddit
I'll dunk an extra digestive in my afternoon Kenco just for you ;)
Farscape_rocked@reddit
I've found it depends on what you're doing with the beans. I buy beans and grind them and use them in a filter machine, I find it nicer than instant. If you're doing an espresso then it's going to be significantly stronger than an instant and quite a different drink.
I get through a fair amount of coffee in a working day, I use the filter machine because I'm lazy and I switched to beans rather than buying grounds because it's cheaper and beans have a longer shelf life than grounds.
llynllydaw_999@reddit
I drink a lot of coffee; there's clearly a difference between cheap instant and "proper" ground coffee, but beyond that I don't taste any real difference at all. I certainly don't care which blend or roast it is, etc.
BG3restart@reddit
There's a huge difference in coffee flavours. If you're drinking instant, you won't appreciate that as none of it is good.
Thread-Hunter@reddit
Exactly this. Instant coffee is awful. Grind your own beans and it will open up a whole near world of different coffees. My favourite coffee can only be bought in Germany, roasted in coco oil which gives the coffee a really nice chocolate aroma.
MeUnique-01@reddit
I can tell them apart. I prefer proper ground coffee but for day to day drinking have settle on Douwe Egberts coffee, which seems to hit the particularly as the glass jars make great food storage containers afterwards
D0wnb0at@reddit
Yeah. Much like Whiskey or wine,
sleepyprojectionist@reddit
I’m a coffee nerd.
I don’t have the best palate, but I can certainly tell the difference between arabica and robusta or a light roast and a dark roast.
I could probably make an educated guess at growing regions based on flavour profiles and terroir.
vminnear@reddit
There is definitely a difference. It's like chocolate as well - very different flavours depending on where it is from, some mellow, some sharper or deeper in flavour.
Try coffees from different regions side by side and you will be able to tell the difference.
beefboxer84@reddit
I’m not a coffee drinker but a year ago we had a new lad start work at my place and all he talked about was different coffees and how much different they were if you spent a little more and got the premium ones like Belgium cat nip or Albania dust weed etc
Ok-Cost4089@reddit
Try drinking coffee without sugar in it helps you notice the real taste. The big difference is usually in the smell, not the flavor. Over time, you’ll start picking up more details.
tommygunner91@reddit
Yes. I drink short and long espresso (americanos).
I cant really stomach any instant no matter how expensive I can tell. I have an espresso machine that grinds the beans everytime and some beans are worse than others although Id say its less about cost and more about preference. I like Colombian beans, Aldi do a good one for about £3. I've been gifted expensive bags before (£10+) but found little correlation between price and my enjoyment.
Trace6x@reddit
How recently the coffee was roasted has a big impact on flavor. Most supermarket coffee has been sitting on the shelf for ages and just doesn't have much taste to it
PityPartySommelier@reddit
A little bit?
Coffee is either nice or not nice. Blonde is bland, dark is too much so some kind of medium roast is good for me.
Acidic, fruit forward coffees are too much I'm more of a nutty slightly chocolatey coffee drinker but I could not sit there and tell you what flavours are in it if you made me blind taste them.
Same with red wine, my taste boils down to nice or not nice and I narrow it down to a brand/type I like from there.
DrWkk@reddit
Yes, absolutely. Don’t know how anyone cannot.
Ok_Resident3556@reddit
Yes. I’m not even really a fan of coffee but can taste the difference between different brands.
djwillis1121@reddit
I can absolutely tell the difference between instant coffee and fresh coffee. I can also tell the difference between different beans, although this is much more noticeable with lighter roasts. I mostly drink black coffee, I think milk can hide quite a lot of the subtleties.
A black coffee from Starbucks tastes very different to one I would make at home though, Starbucks is borderline undrinkable for me tbh
BloodyRedBarbara@reddit
Oh yeah there's a massive difference between most coffees but I can understand how someone who doesn't drink it much wouldn't be able to tell.
Like anything, if someone's a big fan of something they'll be able to know the differences.
bmbmwmfm@reddit
Nah. All decent coffees taste pretty much the same to me. But get a BAD cup and you know it and can't get rid of the taste
ItsIllak@reddit
My opinion is that there's a variety of differences within a pretty narrow band of "coffee", but views on good/bad are very much acquired tastes rather than objective (as some people express them).
I'd also say that instant coffee sits entirely outside that band in its own one, equally with a set of differences from each other.
For both, if you don't take time and conscious thought to appreciate them, they probably all taste roughly the same.
starsandbribes@reddit
Light roasted coffee, fancy hipster blends tend to taste like acidic raisins to me, so i’m maybe the other way around in hating most independent places. I want it to taste like a dark chocolate blend that pairs with chocolate itself. I find the light roasted stuff is perhaps more of a Middle Eastern flavour to pair with dates?
Chimpy20@reddit
I can. I drink quite a few cups of filter or machine coffee each day. Instant tastes bitter and awful to me, I avoid instant coffee.
Broadly speaking, coffee from African beans tends to have a floral and fruity taste. South American is often more chocolatey and caramel notes, and Asian is likely to be earthy and smoky. This isn't always the case but these are the taste notes I get from the these origins of the beans.
dbxp@reddit
Yes however only in the higher end single origin beans. The lower end stuff is massive produced and blended to remove distinctive qualities
terryjuicelawson@reddit
If it is instant then probably not. Maybe some are more bitter or smoother but the background taste seems to be "powdered coffee". With beans though, it can be huge. Like fine wines. Some fruity, some dense and nutty, spicy, all sorts going on.
broken-runner-26@reddit
Even instant has different variations on the flavour.
DoubleXFemale@reddit
I remember the time my old supermarket manager was bitching about a fussy customer who brought back an open jar of (our cheapest) instant coffee for a refund, as they didn’t like it.
So manager proceeded to take the jar to the staff canteen to be used, made himself a coffee with it, took a swig and poured the rest of the cup down the sink and binned the jar of coffee.😂
Fudge_is_1337@reddit
A good comparison for high end coffee is with wine. People who are into it learn more and have more ability to distinguish between types. There's a lot of variables in the preparation and storage methods
The more into it they get, the less likely they are to be using milk.
elethiomel_was_kind@reddit
Yeah - I stopped adding milk to my sauvignons when I was still a teenager.... just ruins the taste.
Bitter-Crazy4119@reddit
Yes. I’m pretty frugal in other areas but I’m a complete coffee snob!
HiFiRoMan@reddit
Yes. Big time
Agitated_Ad_361@reddit
Yes. I’ve spent a long time finding my favourite roast/beans and way to brew. I’m glad I did because coffee is an absolute pleasure.
G_UK@reddit
Yes, there is a difference, but I just know what I like, and don’t like. Anything other than that seems to be beyond my palate
grafeisen203@reddit
Yeah, absolutely.
I'll preface by saying that I could be considered a coffee snob. I prefer roasted ground coffee and have preferences for roast darkness, origin and process.
But I am also happy to drink a cup of Nescafé or whatever. I can readily taste the difference between different brands of instant and have preferences there too.
The difference between instant and roasted ground coffee is even more pronounced. And I can tell how light or dark the roast is, and whether it's robusta or arabica or a blend, and whether it's natural process or washed.
The difference between preground and freshly ground coffee is there... But is much less pronounced than a lot of coffee snobs would have you believe.
bogyoofficial@reddit
If you're using instant coffee then I think you're going to have a fairly consistent taste every time. But when going to coffee shops, I can certainly taste it when the coffee is burnt or too acidic.
KingGeedo91@reddit
Nah try a Tesco Gold vs Nescafe Azera Americano. Worlds apart.
wildOldcheesecake@reddit
Difference in roasting strength and bean. I love Ethiopian blends
LeonardoW9@reddit
Without being pretentious, you need to get high-quality, freshly ground beans. Most coffee you see in the supermarket is roasted to a consistent (very dark) colour rather than for a specific flavour. This makes sense for the largest coffee brands that buy beans from many farmers and want to maintain a familiar taste. Speciality coffee (I'm not kidding, that's what it is called) tends to be seasonal (as coffee is seasonal) and roasted lighter (light to medium is common, but dark roasts are available).
If you want to taste the difference, either go to a high-quality coffee shop that offers several beans or buy three coffees at different roast levels. James Hoffman has a video on tasting coffee (and another video with Tom Scott), which is probably worth watching since you only need a mug or a cup to do the most basic of tastings.
With all that being said, I can't actually pick out the finer tasting notes of coffee, mainly the roast level and the acidity. As long as you find a cup of coffee that you enjoy, that is the main thing, but I'd recommend that you still try new coffees in case you find something that you like more.
Ok_Chipmunk_7066@reddit
I'm a dude with almost zero taste, but there is huge variety in any coffee. If you only drink a mocha-choca-latte-frappe-double syrup you might not notice the difference, and nothing wrong with those that do that drink those drinks*.
Even i can tell between different instore brands of instant. But I drink it strong and black.
Jerico_Hill@reddit
If it's instant, I can tell. I prefer certain brands but it's not essential. Not having instant, is however, essential.
namtabmai@reddit
Yes, of course.
No different that people who can tell the difference in taste between other things. Tea/wine/cola/beer/chocolate/etc
Obviously if you don't taste these things regularly they are all going to taste largely the same to you.
marti_23@reddit
100% yes, but it took me some time to develop a taste for it. I spent a while trying coffees from different regions.
YouSayWotNow@reddit
Yes!
Same as most people who love chocolate can tell the difference between very cheap mass-produced chocolate and good quality small-batch chocolate.
mostly_kittens@reddit
If you don’t have a refined palate you may not be able to tell the difference one cup at a time but I would wager you would be able to tell if you compared them side by side - even if you couldn’t explain what the difference was.
This also goes for other stuff such as wine, chocolate, and other foods
Spiritual-Bison-2545@reddit
I never gave it a second thought when I was drinking instant now and then.
But we have filter coffee every morning in the house now and you definitely taste a difference between different types, and the difference in taste is much more apparent with freshly ground stuff made properly.
If you only drink instant you can likely taste the difference between something like the nescafe original red tin stuff (bitter shit) and nescafe azera (not so bitter)
Zak_Rahman@reddit
I am a fairly big coffee drinker. I would say yes.
I noticed today's coffee was different. Turns out we ran out of normal coffee and the pot was made with decaf.
I do think granulated coffees tend to taste similar (Nescafé and all those), and I don't have a problem with these at all. I can drink them quite happily
I tend to use coffee grounds in a moka made on the hob, Italian style. I think the taste is quite dramatic especially between robusta and arabica beans.
The worst coffee I had was an americano from Starbucks. It tasted like dish water mildly haunted by the ghost of coffee. I will never go there again.
But yes, I can say I can taste the difference on coffee and I am not once of those people who can recognize if a bean came from Kenya or wherever.
That said, there is variation within humanity so you are very likely perfectly normal too.
24877943@reddit
No, its just one of those things people like to pretend they are cultured and enjoy coffee beans that have been shit out by an elephant. Its a similar thing to the wine snobs and modern art lovers.
flamingmonkey93@reddit
Do I taste minute differences between similar styles? Not really. Can I taste the difference between instant coffee and porper ground coffee? Absolutely?
Used to always drink black instant coffee, but now I drink ground coffee I can't stand the taste of having my instant coffee black anymore
Owlstorm@reddit
Like most things, there's a noticeable difference between instant coffee tins at £3 and £6, but the diminishing returns make it pointless to spend £20 because freshness matters more than brand/source.
soberto@reddit
Take a look at the Speciality Coffee Associations (SCA) flavour wheel to see what kind of flavour notes people find in various coffees. It’s quite a huge variety
Yachting-Mishaps@reddit
Yes. I notice it most easily with black coffees prepared with a Chemex, V60 or Aeropress if they're decent quality beans. My local café used to do V60s and get various guest coffees in from week to week. The tastes were markedly different, especially between Ethiopian and Costa Rican or Colombian, even if they were all Arabica beans. You don't need to have an especially refined palate, unless you're trying to write the tasting notes yourself. You'll normally find you can pick out the flavour profiles mentioned on the packet though.
As others have said, high street chains used awful beans that are over-roasted and simply taste burnt. Independents or making your own at home and experimenting is the way to go.
AceOfGargoyes17@reddit
Yes, but it's something that you learn rather than being an innate skill. Some coffees have more distinctive tastes than others, and how the coffee is made will also affect how obvious the different flavour notes are, so you won't necessarily be able to taste the difference between two very dark roasted coffee blends that have been over-extracted or whatever.
Throwing_Daze@reddit
I think that to an extent there is a 'what I'm used to' bias, there is always a strangeness when you switch.
I do find there is a certain flavour in all instant coffee, which I only really started to 'notice' when I switched to filter.
If you buy beans the price usually defines the quality and how they are processed. For example, a cheaper coffee wouldn't go through all the hassle of making sure all the beans are a similar size, which results in the smaller beans being burnt in order to make sure the bigger beans are properly roasted.
There is probably something about a trainned palate (nothing magical about it) to tell the difference. And even proper coffee tasters, if you lined up some coffee would drink water between tastings of different coffee to refresh the palete.
Overall, I think to develop that kind of palate you would have to be switching the coffee you drink regularly to appreciate the difference.
yogurtmanfriend@reddit
If it’s instant coffee then the general flavour is probably going to be the same.
But if you’re drinking filter, for example, then you’re going to notice differences really easily as long as it’s brewed correctly.
You can try this at a coffee shop - see if they have multiple ‘batch brews’ and ask to try them. You can have acidic, fruity flavours, or dark, chocolate flavours etc (there are way more, this is just two examples).
I think it’s also similar to wine, in that once you start trying different ones, you can work out the different flavours much more easily.
To_a_Mouse@reddit
Instant coffee varies massively in taste too. A Douwe egberts Gold instant is a million miles from that bitter Nescafe stuff
misterjonesUK@reddit
Yes, big difference.
SnuplinD@reddit
Yes, unless they put milk in it like a child.
gogybo@reddit
Sort of, yeah. I'm not a big coffee drinker but I can tell that some are fruitier or richer or whatever than others.
I don't really care about the taste though, I just want the caffeine. If it wasn't for the fact that going for a coffee gets me away from the desk for 5 mins I'd be popping caffeine pills like the degenerate drug addict I am.
Fizl99@reddit
yes, some are more bitter than others if you are talking about instant. For beans/ground, as well as the bitterness level some will have a fruity taste, some kind of floral, and some chocolately/caramelly
Prestigious_Can_4391@reddit
Most definitely 😄
But-ThenThatMeans@reddit
There are people who can tell very minute differences.
I would imagine the majority of coffee drinkers could very easily tell that there is a significant difference between some Kenco, a Nero coffee and a speciality coffee shop drink. I'm not saying they will be able to describe them too easily, or even suggest their preference, but the taste is pretty stark imo.
deathtoallbutbed@reddit
Yes. There’s a substantial difference between freshly ground espresso and instant coffee, as an example. It’s largely based on what kind of bean you use, country of origin and also what level it’s roasted to, and it’s also affected by how you process it.
I’ve found an espresso machine is the best way to get the most nuanced flavour from a cup of coffee, but the beans you choose are the driving force behind the flavour.
Get a French press or an aero press, and get ground beans from a small producer like Dark Woods or North Star, then the most expensive and least expensive supermarket ground coffee, make three cups and try each one side by side. You’ll definitely taste a difference.
PepsiMaxSumo@reddit
Yes. I’ve had coffee beans that tastes like lavender (weird) and coffee that tastes like hazelnuts before as well as pretty much everything in between.
And then on instant coffee, Nescafé original tastes like compost where Nescafé Azera is the only instant coffee that tastes like actual coffee
xDroneytea@reddit
Given the fact that coffee nerds have all sorts of rocket science equipment just to get a better pull, I'd say yes.
Anxious-Molasses9456@reddit
Yes, although if youre having chain coffee like Costa and Starbucks they usually burn the coffee so badly you lose all depth, on top of using dark roasted coffee which has less flavour depth
Morazma@reddit
I don't have a particularly refined palate but I can definitely taste the difference. I get my beans delivered within a few days of being roasted, it makes a big difference.
Monster213213@reddit
No, but it gives me purpose to think I can and a good way to waste money.
LordDethBeard@reddit
Yes.
I like South American beans much more than African
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