flavour fascination

Zest Specialty Coffee flavour design

Zest Specialty Coffee on the design of flavour

Zest’s Mandy DelVecchio on how to explain the intricacies of specialty coffee flavour notes to an untrained palate. At Zest, we’ve been exploring the specialty coffee lexicon for years. Our mission as roasters has been to properly translate what exactly flavour means to the people who still don’t get it. For most of us in the coffee industry, the third wave has granted us the well-developed skill (and obsession) of tasting coffee. Cupping sessions for us are purpose-driven. We are savvy to the flavour wheel. We can pick tropical fruit notes and delicate floral, chocolate, and sticky pineapple-jam flavours with a single sip. But, for the everyday drinker, understanding flavour comes with a very different learning curve.
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roasting curve

How to ride the roasting curve

For a barista, finding out all the things that can massively influence the end flavour of coffee, such as origin, processing, and brewing, is game changing. As a coffee roaster, I’ve had a similar moment.  Although we know coffee flavour is developed further during the roasting process, we’re not seeing enough transparent discussions about roasting in the coffee community, not the way we do about brewing and equipment. 
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Zest Specialty Coffee

Zest Specialty Coffee experiences a paradigm shift in Peru

There were moments in Peru I didn’t lift my camera. I needed to remember the beauty and vividness of the austere peaks and earnest valleys without social construct. Peru is genuine, friendly, and unspoilt, a magnificent land where the nationality and culture is as vibrant as the colours woven into the traditional clothing. 
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Zest Specialty Coffee

Zest Specialty Coffee on how each step in the chain contributes to flavour

In my early days as a barista, supply chain blame always came to the fore whenever there was a complaint from a customer about the coffee. An unskilled barista would blame the roaster, the roaster would blame the green beans. Having trust in the production chain, however, is crucial. The end flavour of a coffee relies on the strong journey of skill and transparency throughout the chain. Each link has to trust every link before them. Trust that the green beans were bought with good faith on quality, trust that the roaster has the right profiles to get the best out of the coffee, and trust that the barista has the skills and equipment to extract the most flavour.
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