[Coffee] Sensory Skills 1) Earth

Coffee Sensory Skills

1. Earth
Aroma group: Earthy

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Aromatic features of the sample
• Characteristic smell of freshly dug earth, similar to the scent of soil after a storm.
• Resembles the smell of beetroot.
• Contains Geosmine (from Greek ge = earth and osme = smell), an omnipresent atmospheric note.
• Its strength is comparable to the size of an ant in relation to the Earth-Moon distance.

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The smell of “earth” in coffee
• Associated with the dry processing method, where coffee cherries absorb geosmine from the soil.
• Common in Robusta, as it is often dry-processed, resulting in an earthy taste.
• The parchment casing of Madagascar and Central African Republic Robustas is sometimes removed to reduce the effect.
• This aroma can also be absorbed during green bean storage.
• Ethiopian coffees display three types of earthiness in descending order:
1. Black (best for coffee)
2. Red
3. Gray
• Arabicas from Harrar (Ethiopia), Indonesia, and Haiti are intentionally crushed on the ground, dampened, then re-dried to enhance this earthy flavor.

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Coffee tasting
• Best Robustas from Vietnam and India have a damp earth aroma.
• Notable in Ethiopian Harrar and Sidamo coffees.
• Less noticeable in Maragogype (El Salvador) and Sigri (Papua New Guinea).