1. Video Overview and Introduction

• Video title: How a Coffee Expert Describes the Aroma and Taste of Coffee (with CEO Song In-young)
• Key topics:
  • The difference between coffee quality evaluation and preference evaluation
  • Various terms and training methods for expressing coffee flavor (aroma and taste)
  • An introduction to tools used in the coffee industry, such as the Flavor Wheel and Sensory Lexicon
  • A guide to concrete expressions you can use in actual coffee tasting

2. What Is Preference Evaluation?

• Opening greeting
  • "Hello, Specialty Edu viewers. Today we're going to talk about preference evaluation."
• The difference between quality evaluation and preference evaluation
  • "What we call quality evaluation is often actually preference evaluation."
  • The key point:
    • When you taste a coffee and say "this is good" or "this is bad," that is fundamentally an evaluation based on your personal preference.
    • "I tasted this coffee and I either like it or I don't."
• Articulating the reasons behind your preference
  • "If you don't like the quality of a coffee, think about why."
  • Examples:
    • "Ah, there's something sour about this aroma. So what exactly is that sourness?"
    • "Which fruit does it resemble? Is it a green fruit, a yellow fruit, or a red fruit?"
    • "I love strawberries — so why do I dislike this aroma? Oh, it smells like a rotting strawberry."
  • Conclusion:
    • "Ah, because it smells like a rotting strawberry, I don't like it."
    • "I'm saying I consider this low quality because of that rotting strawberry smell."

3. Quality Evaluation and Preference in the Industry

• Industry standards
  • "When the industry says a coffee is good or bad quality, it ultimately uses the industry's collective preferences."
  • "Characteristics that most industry professionals or consumers dislike or don't prefer are rated as lower quality."
• The importance of objective vocabulary for communication
  • "When talking about preference, you need to be able to describe it objectively using the right words."
  • "You need to train yourself to express in words why you arrived at a particular evaluation, so that you can communicate it clearly."
  • Emphasis:
    • "For preference evaluation, this kind of vocabulary training is extremely important."

4. The Coffee Flavor Wheel and Sensory Lexicon

• The history and evolution of the Flavor Wheel
  • "When we were doing intensity evaluation earlier, we used what was called the Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel — the pre-revision version."
  • "The original Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel, created by chemist Ted Lingle, functioned as a structural diagram showing how coffee's aroma and taste are composed, from the perspective of a chemist."
• The 2016 revised Flavor Wheel
  • "After the revision, the Flavor Wheel was updated in 2016. It now serves as a vocabulary reference."
  • "What you see in the photo is the presentation of the revised Flavor Wheel research results, published in a journal called Food Science."
  • "At the time, this Flavor Wheel was published alongside a book called the Sensory Lexicon."
  • "Unlike Ted Lingle's original Flavor Wheel, the revised version places greater emphasis on facilitating communication between coffee industry professionals and general consumers interested in coffee."
• Research background
  • "It contains the results of research conducted jointly by SCA, WCR (World Coffee Research), and UC Davis."
  • "It is a vocabulary reference compiled from words people associate with coffee — 103 varieties from 13 coffee-producing regions, organized into 110 descriptors."
• How to use the Flavor Wheel
  • "The various aromas perceived in coffee are grouped into several categories."
  • "The revised Flavor Wheel is an excellent educational resource for discussing aroma."
• Limitations of the Sensory Lexicon
  • "The Sensory Lexicon was based on experiments conducted with American consumers."
  • "When someone says 'blackcurrant jelly,' we can't easily picture that aroma."
  • "Since many of the products used in the Lexicon are commonly available in the United States, if you'd like to experience them firsthand, you can try international purchasing services or attend the Sensory Summit that SCA hosts periodically."

5. Various Educational Resources for Describing Coffee Flavor

• Introduction to various materials
  • "Beyond the Lexicon, the coffee industry has a wide variety of educational resources."
  • "There are also free materials distributed by Counter Culture."
• Categories of expression
  • "When it comes to expression, terms for texture and acidity are particularly well developed."

6. Describing Texture (Body)

• What is body?
  • "How much solid matter you perceive in your mouth — simply put, whether the liquid feels heavy or light."
  • "It can be divided into positive texture and negative texture."
• Neutral expressions
  • "For weight, the broad categories are heavy body, medium body, and light body."
  • "Tea-like means a texture like brewed tea, and the term itself is neither particularly positive nor negative."
• Positive texture expressions
  • "Juicy: a fruit-juice-like feeling — light but smooth"
  • "Smooth: how smoothly the coffee goes down after you swallow"
  • "Roundy: a sensation of gently spreading out while still in the mouth"
  • "Soft: a fluffy, gentle texture"
  • "Silky: smooth but with a slightly oily sleekness"
  • "Syrupy: a smooth texture like concentrated sugar"
  • "Full body: a feeling of full, rich body"
  • "Rich: deep and full-flavored"
  • "Velvety: a heavy, velvety-soft texture"
  • "Creamy: a slippery, smooth sensation reminiscent of dairy fat"
• Negative texture expressions
  • "Thin body: the body is so thin there's barely anything to perceive"
  • "Watery: almost no perceptible solids — like water"
  • "Sharp: a scratchy, harsh sensation in the mouth"
  • "Chalky: a dry, chalky-powder thickness in the mouth"
  • "Powdery: a rough, grainy sensation like flour"
  • "Rough: a coarse texture"
  • "Astringent: a puckering, tongue-contracting sensation"
  • "Dry: a drying sensation in the mouth"
  • "Oily: a slick, negative texture reminiscent of rancid oil"
  • "Sticky: an unpleasant, clinging sensation in the mouth"

7. Describing Acidity

• Positive acidity expressions
  • "Delicate: when multiple acids are intricately blended without any single one dominating — refined"
  • "Bright / Vibrant: a fresh, lively sensation"
  • "Mild: when the acidity is present but not intense"
  • "Balanced: when the acidity harmonizes well with the other flavors"
• Neutral acidity expressions
  • "High acidity: high level of acidity"
  • "Low acidity: low level of acidity"
  • "Strong acidity: strong acidity"
  • "Medium acidity: moderate acidity"
• Negative acidity expressions
  • "Sharp: a harsh, scratchy acidity"
  • "Weak: when acidity is barely perceptible or too faint"
  • "Sour: when sourness is felt without any sweetness"
  • "Muted: when acidity is hard to detect"
  • "Acrid: a biting acidity"
  • "Rancid: acidity reminiscent of rancid oil"
  • "Acetic acid: the flavor of acetic acid, generally evaluated negatively"
  • "Harsh: overly intense, excessive acidity"
  • "Unbalanced: acidity that is not well integrated"
  • "Overpowering / Dominant: when acidity overwhelms the other flavors"
  • "Tart: a harsh, rough acidity like biting into unripe grape skin"

8. In Practice: Flavor Description Training Tips

• Using concrete examples
  • "When you want to say something is good but don't know how to put it into words, you might say something like: 'This is like the acidity of a perfectly ripe strawberry.'"
  • "Or if you really dislike something: 'This is like the acidity you'd get from an underripe lemon.'"
• Training methods
  • "When doing this kind of training, it's better to do it with other people than alone — exchanging terms with each other is very helpful."
  • "Experiencing a wide variety of foods beyond coffee, and talking about them in detail, will be excellent training."
• Closing
  • "Thank you for your hard work."

9. Key Vocabulary Summary

• Preference evaluation
• Quality evaluation
• Flavor Wheel
• Sensory Lexicon
• Texture (body)
• Acidity
• Positive / negative expressions
• Vocabulary training for communication
• Practical tasting training

10. Memorable Quotes

"I tasted this coffee and I either like it or I don't."

"Ah, there's something sour about this aroma. So what exactly is that sourness?"

"I love strawberries — so why do I dislike this aroma? Oh, it smells like a rotting strawberry."

"For preference evaluation, this kind of vocabulary training is extremely important."

"The revised Flavor Wheel is an excellent educational resource for discussing aroma."

"When someone says 'blackcurrant jelly,' we can't easily picture that aroma."

"How much solid matter you perceive in your mouth — simply put, whether the liquid feels heavy or light."

"Juicy — it's that fruit-juice-like feeling."

"Thin body means the body is so thin there's barely anything to perceive."

"Sharp refers to a scratchy, harsh sensation in the mouth — something aggressive."

"We use the term 'delicate.'"

"You'd describe it as well-balanced acidity."

"When the acidity overwhelms the other flavors, we use the term 'overpowering' or 'dominant.'"

"When doing this kind of training, it's better to do it with other people than alone — exchanging terms with each other is very helpful."

11. Closing

This video offers an extremely practical and systematic guide to how to describe the aroma and taste of coffee concretely and objectively. Using tools like the Flavor Wheel and the Sensory Lexicon, you can categorize a wide range of flavors — and master the vocabulary for texture and acidity that you can actually apply in real tasting sessions! Remember: experiencing a wide variety of foods together with others and exchanging descriptors is the best way to build your flavor articulation skills. Starting today, when you pick up a cup of coffee, try putting your preferences and impressions into more specific words! ☕️✨