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How to Find Your Perfect Coffee Flavor (and I don’t mean pumpkin spice)

If you’ve ever stood in front of a display of coffee bags, squinted at tasting notes, and thought, “Okay, who actually drinks black tea, mango, and dark chocolate in the same cup?”, you’re not alone. Coffee can read like a menu for a perfumery, but the good news is that finding the style of coffee you actually enjoy is mostly a matter of knowing these sensible things: region, processing/roast profile, and how you brew it.

This guide will help you decode those three variables so you can stop guessing and start drinking coffee you actually love.

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Coffee has a native personality

“Origin” isn’t just marketing jargon. Where a coffee was grown (country, altitude, soil, microclimate) and how it was processed on the farm have real, measurable effects on what you taste and smell. That whole idea is sometimes called terroir and is well supported in recent scientific literature. Coffees from different regions show clear, repeatable sensory differences tied to environment and post-harvest practices. (Williams, 2022; Seninde, 2020).

Quick reference guide:

  • East African coffees (Ethiopia, Kenya) often show bright acidity and fruity or floral notes such as berries, jasmine, citrus. Higher altitude and heirloom varietals contribute to this clarity. (SCA; Williams, 2022)

  • Central American coffees (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras) typically land in the balanced, chocolatey, nutty range with clean sweetness and medium acidity — excellent if you want approachability with complexity. (USDA reports; SCA)

  • South American coffees (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico) can be chocolatey, nutty, and have mild acidity, often offering heavier body. This makes a great base for milk drinks. (Seninde, 2020)

  • Southeast Asian/Indonesia (Sumatra, Sulawesi) frequently deliver earthy, herbal, and spicy notes with a fuller body and less brightness — they’re classic choices if you love deep, savory cups. (Seninde, 2020)

Use the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel as your guide. The SCA flavor wheel is a practical map of the sensory language used across origin and roast profiles. If you see “black tea / floral / bergamot” on a bag, that’s your cue for brighter, floral origins. (SCA).


Roast profile: what it does (and what it doesn’t)

Roasting changes everything. It’s where chemistry meets art. But remember, roast accentuates and transforms origin character, it doesn’t erase it.

  • Light roasts keep more of the bean’s inherent origin character (fruitiness, floral notes, bright acidity). They often taste brighter, more acidic, and more complex if you like to pick out subtle fruit and floral notes. (Seninde, 2020)

  • Medium roasts round out acidity, bring forward sweetness and body, and are the go-to for drinkers who want both clarity and comfort.

  • Dark roasts lean toward toasted, slightly bittersweet cocoa notes, and often feel fuller or more familiar to those accustomed to stronger, darker coffee styles. They can mask some delicate origin notes but emphasize body and roast-derived flavors.

Here's a tasting plan: pick one bean from an origin you like and try it in two roast levels (light vs medium or medium vs dark). Comparing those two side-by-side will show you whether you prefer origin clarity (lighter roasts) or roast-forward richness (darker roasts). For instance, you can compare our medium and dark organic Honduran to see which you like best. We use the same Strictly High Grown organic bean and roast it to two different levels. This affects the overall flavor, aroma and body of the coffee in order to reveal two very unique flavor profiles.


Processing & terroir nuances you’ll actually taste

How the cherry is processed (washed vs natural vs honey) changes flavor dramatically:

  • Washed/washed-fermented: cleaner, brighter, clearer acidity.

  • Natural (dry) process: fruitier, often "jammy" or winey, with more body.

  • Honey/pulped natural: somewhere in between; sweet and balanced.

If you like berry, jam, or wine-like notes, try naturals from Ethiopia or Brazil. If you prefer clean citrus or tea-like notes, start with washed coffees from Kenya or Central America.


Extraction methods: the final flavor dial

Here’s where things get interesting! How you brew coffee can dramatically change the flavor. Brewing affects acidity, body and clarity. It also plays a huge role in which flavor compounds end up in your cup. Scientific reviews and sensory studies show that brewing method, grind size, water temperature, and contact time all materially affect aroma and taste (Cordoba, 2020; Genovese, 2025).

A barista making a pour over coffee.

Quick brewing guide:

  • Pour-over / V60 / Chemex- highlights clarity and acidity. Great for light roasts and single-origin coffees where you want to taste the flavor subtleties.

  • French press / full immersion- yields a fuller body and extracts more oils. It’s forgiving with darker roasts and offers a richer mouthfeel.

  • Espresso- highly concentrated and extracts quickly. The roast really matters here. In fact, many roasters adapt blends for espresso, and minor changes in grind and flow can affect flavor significantly. (Smrke et al., 2024)

  • Cold brew- low temperature extracts different compounds. The result tends to be smooth with low-acidity and often highlights chocolatey or nutty notes. This is my current favorite extraction method.


If you love clarity and fruit, brew using a filter. If you prefer big body and rich mouthfeel, try immersion methods. For milk-based espresso drinks, lighter single-origin espresso can be lost under milk, so blends or medium roasts often work best. Making a coffee cocktail like the famous Espresso Martini from 8 Reale? Choose a bold blend with a rich, intense flavor profile such as our Midnight Espresso to balance the flavors of the spirits.

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How to taste-test like a coffee nerd

  1. Choose one origin. Pick a single-origin bag you’re curious about.

  2. Pick two roast levels of the same bean (if available), such as our Organic Honduran Dark and Medium roasts.

  3. Brew it two different ways (pour-over vs French press) using the same dose and similar water temperature.

  4. Take notes on three things: sweetness (do you taste sugar or fruit?), acidity (bright vs dull?), and body (watery vs syrupy).

  5. Repeat. Swap origins and repeat the steps above. Over time, you’ll map the origins and roast profiles to the flavors you enjoy most.


The perfect coffee is a preference, not a ranking

Coffee isn’t a hierarchy. It’s a field of flavors. Your perfect cup may be a floral Ethiopian brewed V60 at dawn or a syrupy Sumatran French press after dinner. Use origin as a starting point, roast level as your mood dial, and brewing method as the final sculptor of flavor. When you know those three things, you’ll spend less time guessing and more time enjoying.


Selected References


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