Most important of all - take your time.
Take a deep breath This is your first clue.
Even as a kid, you probably liked the smell of fresh ground beans.
It is a seductive eye-closing experience that causes one to take gulps of pure aroma.
These are the whiffs of essential oils and provide your first hint as to the coffee's flavor.
If you smell chocolate or nutmeg in the aroma, think of chocolate or nutmeg as you take your first sips.
Your taste will either confirm that sensation or defy it.
Likely, it will do neither in an absolute way, as there are hundreds of aromatic compounds that constitute a coffee's smell.
Coffee ranges in strength from light to heavy.
This strength is known as body and is the actual feel of the coffee in the mouth.
Coffee thickness The thickness or viscosity of coffee will determine whether the coffee has a light or heavy body.
Water has a light viscosity and most oils have a thick viscosity.
You can usually distinguish a weak coffee from a strong one just with your eye, but there are other factors to consider.
In the mouth Sip a small amount and allow it to stay on your tongue.
If when you push your tongue up to the roof of your mouth, coffee with a heavy body will feel somewhat thick, whereas light bodied coffee will spill away like water.
Now, the Tasting With the coffee in your mouth, breathe in and out to smell and taste the brew.
This is where the difference between lighter and heavier bodied coffees is most noticeable, and the terms, nutty or spicy come into play.
Since the tongue's bitter sensors are in the back of the mouth, the trick to tasting coffee is to swirl it throughout your mouth, activating the sweet, sour, salty as well as those bitter buds.
Determining which sensations are stimulated will provide you with a taste profile of the blend.
All coffees are bitter, but not all to the same extent, and all coffees have different levels of sweetness, sourness and saltiness.
Try to figure out which tastes are stimulated and otherwise positively impacted by the coffee in the front and center parts of your tongue.
It may be subtle, but it is well worth the effort to find the perfect beverage for your unique taste.
There are two types of coffee saltiness: neutral and soft.
Coffee has a salty taste when the middle part of your tongue is excited.
When you discover a coffee that makes your salty taste buds tingle, try a second sip.
If the tingle diminishes relatively quickly, it is deemed neutral.
If it lingers for a minute, the saltiness is described as soft.
Finally, coffee is both mellow and sour and this sourness will give your mouth a bold or dry taste.
There are variances that play into all four of the tastes, and different beans, different roastings, different grindings and different preparations will challenge you, so experiment with all of them until you nail the perfect taste for you.
Try keeping notes on the different factors that you are sensing when you taste coffee.
You should be able to identify build up a good knowledge of the many varieties available.
You will certainly please yourself and make tasting coffee an experience that other people don't realize they are missing.
The more often you taste coffee, the better you will become at identifying the flavors.
Before long, you may even have a favorite - that perfect, ideal coffee.
A final note if you add milk More heavily bodied coffees will remain in your sinus area longer even after being diluted with milk.
Some people prefer the taste of coffee with milk, and we have no prejudice concerning that.