Perhaps my sole purpose in life is to create reluctant collisions between the worlds of coffee and spirits. I guess it comes down to greed; wanting both of my passions to live in perfect harmony. But I do think that there are certain things that can be learnt from both industries, and in certain cases I think tools and techniques can be applied from one to the other for the greater good.
Single Malt Whisky in recent years has become a much more approachable beast. Not so long ago novices were required to pick a whisky producing region (Lowland, Highland, Speyside, Island or Islay), with little indication of the distinction, then pick a brand, with only a recommendation or gut feeling to go on. This meant that first time Scotch drinkers could be easily put off by a dram that did not fit their comfort zone due to its particular characteristics. In short: Single Malt Whisky for the uninitiated could be a bit of a lottery and therefor a bit off-putting.
Then came the flavour map…
Developed by renowned whisky writer Dave Broom with Diageo Scotland, the flavour map instantly made whisky more accessible. Just as someone who knows a little about cheese can pick something soft/mild/strong/hard, it then became possible for anybody to take a look and then select a whisky that ticked all of the boxes.
Of course whisky is more complex than just being light/rich/delicate/smoky, but the flavour map certainly assists in refining your search down to the specific region of the map that suits you at any given time. For the whisky aficionado it gives the opportunity to try something new that sits on the map near a whisky that you already love, broadening your enjoyment.
Now we get to it… Can the flavour map be re-written and applied for coffee?
Before I get on to the hurdles that might need to be jumped, let’s talk about how it could benefit us:
For cafe owners the flavour map could give them a great overhead view of their coffee offering and whether they are covering all bases. It could also be used to demonstrate how blends work, drawing from coffees across the flavour map to create a balanced article.
For customers it could be a great buying tool when presented with a selection of coffees. We use descriptors like sweet, fruity, bright and full-bodied all of the time, displaying it on a map with other coffees as a comparison could improve the customers decision making process and help create awareness of the diversity of coffee.
For roasters a more complex model could be used as a blenders tool. Need something sweet and full-bodied to bulk up a blend? Check the flavour map.
I can personally see a huge amount of potential in a coffee flavour map, the greatest opportunity being the clarification of coffee origin to the customer, perhaps the single most important facet in building the world of speciality coffee.
I would love to read your thoughts on this. I guess it could be argued that the flavour map cannot be applied to coffee because there are too many variables, but I believe that the same can be said of whisky, however the map can provide a wonderful starting point. At the very least, a nudge in the right direction. Better than nothing.
550 post views
![[MxMo] Money Drinks – GT Turbo](http://www.tristanstephenson.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/magazeen/timthumb.php?src=http://www.tristanstephenson.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/IMGP7536.jpg&w=109&h=60&zc=1)
Love the whisky map – interesting to see where some of my favourites place and how close and far apart they are!!!
Just wondering how you would organize coffee names to make this standard and accessible to the un-initiated- by country, area, farm, varietal, method? complicated process leads to the cup profile (without inc. brewing) where do you put the emphasis?
Hi Dale,
I think that for people unfamiliar with coffee it would need to be done regionally. For example, Sumatran coffee usually fits a specific dry, earthy, dark profile. Coffee from Kenya is usually creamy and bright with plenty of fruit intensity. Sure, there are exceptions, but in general we expect coffee from those regions sit in those realms. If a coffee doesn’t fit that profile then it can be considered uncharacteristic and therefore still a talking point with the consumer.
How to mark the borders in order to get the best info to the person reading is the tricky bit… sweet/bright, full-bodied/light, rich/mellow???
Vey cool idea. It’s the first time I’ve seen the whiskey map and it points nicely to my favourites, Springbank & Lagavulin, as standouts in one direction or another…
I’d love to see a similar coffee map, as I wouldn’t be surprised if my favourite coffees were in similar extremes…
Do you know of any cheese maps? I expect you could not include the full spectrum of cheeses, but it would work best as a set of maps with blues, hards, semi-softs, washed rinds etc. separated out but overlayable that would again allow the construction of a fantastic, balanced cheese board… I’ll get Sez on it straight away!
Design a good coffee map and you’ll become a legend! What are you waiting for?
I was waiting for someone to tell me that I’m not crazy and that it might work. So thanks for that.
A colleague of mine has done a cheese one that he used for matching cheese to whisky. Sez could probably do a better one though. He used Hard/Soft and Strong/Mild as his axis, which seems to make sense. You can display a 3rd variable indicated by the text colour, with cheese this could be blue for fruity and red for dry, bad example but you get the idea.
I’m working on a coffee one, which will obviously need some input from lots of clever people who have drunk more coffee from me. Should be done at the end of the week.
This is a great idea. I’ve seen tasting wheels work for wine, honey and cognac. And have wanted to create a tasting map with 2 axis for cognac.
Have a look at the way Nespresso divide up their coffees. That might help.
And at this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98627764@N00/152061142/
And at this: http://www.coffeeparts.com/accessories/roastingtools.html The Nez du Cafe kit is very good fun.
There need not be just one map.
A commenter above mentioned one for regions, which I think is cool. It could be the general guide you describe for all of coffeedum.
Of course at any given café/roaster, at any given time, there may be a coffee or two (…or three…or four…) that defy those regional categorizations. In this case, a more specific and personalized map may be in order.
So, in general, a coffee flavor map can be nothing but instructional in my view. There can be a general and industry-wide version as well as many personalized versions giving a flavor overview of any one shop’s current stock.
[...] A Coffee Flavour Map [...]
A coffee map would be a great idea! Good post.
[...] common in, individual countries. I am reminded of Tristan Stephenson’s effort at proposing a coffee flavour map, which, while a nice idea, was too easy to pick enormous holes in. Here, perhaps, we can make some [...]