Exploring the Rich Tapestry of Coffee Attributes: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Delights

The Tasting Lair, Reverie’s cupping lab, is a place where we do much of the discovery for each coffee we create. Our team sources samples, sample roasts, cups and evaluates coffees for purchase. This room acts as our lab for quality assurance and quality analysis of our roasts every week. And it serves our staff and community as our education center for all-things-coffee. Pictured above is a typical setup for our weekly coffee cupping, which is used to evaluate coffees for intrinsic descriptors, such as tasting notes, body, acidity and more.

As passionate coffee enthusiasts, we are thrilled to embark on a journey with you to uncover the diverse and captivating world of coffee attributes. In this first installment of our series, we will dive into the mesmerizing intrinsic and extrinsic qualities that make each cup of coffee a unique and delightful experience. Join us as we explore the physical appearance, taste, smell, tasting notes, body, acidity, roast color, place of origin, and the story behind organic, fair trade and direct trade.

In this piece, we’ll just dive right in to a broad list of attributes you will commonly find on bags of coffee, buried in websites and all over the internet. When it comes to choosing the right cup of coffee for you, what is it you look for? Is it flavor (that’s us!), or is it roast color? Fair trade or Organic? What does that even mean? Over the next few blog entries we will explore each topic a little deeper.

Fresh roasted coffee straight from the coffee roaster smells amazing. The energy and noise from the coffee roastery is about as addicting as the taste of each coffee we roast. The beans exit the roaster at over 400 degrees and can cool to room temperature in less than 2 minutes.

Intrinsic Descriptive Attributes:

Intrinsic attributes of coffee encompass its physical appearance, taste, and smell, taking you on a sensory adventure with each cup.

1. Tasting Notes: Like a symphony of flavors, coffee offers a wide spectrum of tasting notes. From bright citrusy hints to rich chocolate undertones, each coffee bean possesses its distinct characteristics. At Reverie Coffee Roasters, we take pride in meticulously selecting beans that offer a diverse range of tasting notes, allowing you to savor delightful nuances with every sip.

2. Body: The body of coffee refers to its texture and weight on the palate. It can range from light and tea-like to full-bodied and creamy. A coffee's body contributes to the overall mouthfeel and adds another layer of complexity to the drinking experience. Our skilled roasters at Reverie masterfully roast beans to accentuate the desired body, ensuring a well-rounded and satisfying cup of coffee.

3. Acidity: Often mistaken for sourness, acidity in coffee refers to the vibrant and lively flavors that dance on the tongue. It can range from bright and tangy to mellow and smooth. Acidity adds a refreshing quality and brightness to the coffee, making it a dynamic and invigorating beverage. Our roasting techniques highlight the acidity in each bean, creating a harmonious balance in every cup.

4. Roast Color: Roast color plays a vital role in shaping the flavors and aromas of coffee. From light roasts with crisp acidity and delicate flavors to dark roasts with bold, caramelized notes, each roast level offers a distinct experience. At Reverie, we carefully roast our beans to highlight their unique attributes, ensuring a memorable and delightful cup every time.

Don Pedro, a Guatemalan coffee farmer from the region of Yepocapa, is seen standing proudly in his farm. In 2018 Reverie visited Don Pedro with our importing partner (then Yepocapa Coffee). We were able to give Don Pedro a bag of coffee he grew back to him as we sell it in our cafe. At that time, his coffee was used 100% in The Pope’s Choice, one of our most popular coffees tod date. Photo Courtesy of Collaborative Origins.

Extrinsic Attributes:

Extrinsic attributes of coffee provide additional information about the coffee, including its place of origin and certifications, offering a glimpse into its story and journey.

1. Organic: As champions of sustainability, we source organic coffee beans that are grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. This promotes environmentally friendly practices and results in a cleaner, more natural cup of coffee that reflects the true essence of the beans and the land they come from.

2. Fair Trade: We strongly believe in fostering fair and ethical trade practices. By sourcing Fair Trade certified coffee, we ensure that the farmers receive fair compensation for their hard work and dedication. This empowers the communities and promotes social and economic sustainability in the coffee-growing regions. While buying Fair Trade coffees is merely a step in the process for fixing issues that go beyond coffee pricing, it is a worthy endeavor and we will continue to source as many as possible.

3. Direct Trade: With direct trade, coffee buyers are establishing direct relationships with coffee farmers, bypassing intermediaries. This approach allows us to have a deeper understanding of the coffee's origin and ensures that the farmers receive equitable payment for their exceptional crops. Direct trade enables us to maintain quality control from farm to cup, resulting in an extraordinary coffee experience for our customers. We are still a small buyer of green coffee. And it is always our vision to buy directly from our sources so we may invest more of our the money we spend into the farms and not the middlemen.

4. Elevation: The elevation at which coffee is grown greatly impacts its flavor profile. Higher altitudes often yield beans with enhanced acidity, complexity, and desirable flavors. At Reverie, we carefully select beans from high-altitude farms, which produce exceptional coffees with a depth of character that delights the senses.

5. Origin: The place from which the coffee is grown is its origin. An origin can be a country, or more specifically a region within a country. Coffee origin can also be identified all the way down to the farm level, creating an even more traceable product. Single-Origin refers to the coffee being from one origin, contrasted with a blend, which would indicate two or more coffee origins blended together. Reverie sources at least six or more coffees from different origins at any given time. From this, we create several single-origin roasts and our flagship blends, such as Boneshaker Espresso, The Pope’s Choice, 24K Goat and Moonless Midnight.

As you embark on your coffee journey, we hope this introduction to the intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of coffee has left you inspired and eager to explore further. At Reverie Coffee Roasters, we are passionate about sharing the diverse flavors, stories, and experiences that coffee has to offer. Join us for our upcoming blog posts as we delve deeper into the various details of this product we love so much to create and share with you.