The word bitter sounds wrong to me abut coffee

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The word bitter sounds wrong to me abut coffee

Postby Terje » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:01 pm

Cause in swedish I'd use another word to describe the taste of good coffee. I'd say a good coffee needs to have a certain "beska". To call something "beskt" in swedish is something quite different than calling it "bittert". A bitter tasting coffee, to me at least, is one that's been made in a stupoid drip filter machine at work and that's been standing on the heat for several hours. That's bitter. The moka I drink at home is not bitter, in the swedish sense of the word, but "beskt".
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Postby Joey » Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:01 am

I like to use "harsh", because "bitter" for me would be reserved for burnt coffee ;-)
Or I explain the bitterness, like "bitter like a cumquat fruit, or a grapefruit - that's a good bitterness. Some people think dark chocolate is bitter - bittersweet chocolate.
So if I use the word, I compare it with other foods....

just my 2 cents
Joey

PS.: I hate it it when people in my shop who usually don't drink espresso have a coffee-testing, and after drinking the espressos which are totally different, someone says "to me they are all bitter" ... AAARRRGHHH
People often don't know the right words for taste. They only know salty, sweet, sour and bitter.
Therefore I let them smell my aroma bottles first to try to differ between flavors, and let them think about fruits, and vegetables and plants and spices before testing the espressos.....

rant over :lol:
"Latte" is french for "you've paid too much for your coffee"
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Postby Terje » Sun Jul 31, 2005 6:17 am

Harsh is perhaps an option... as I said, the problem is only in englsih for me, in Swedish I do know another word (beska) that says the same thing but is used for good tastes, like when you describe a wine or a good beer.
Different beans and a frying pan, Zassenhaus grinder and a couple of moka pots...
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Postby HughF » Sun Jul 31, 2005 7:52 am

"Bitter" can also be used as a compliment where that type of taste is expected, e.g. something like "XYZ beer has a lovely bitter hoppy taste".

Cheers,

hugh
Grinders : Macap MXK conical for espresso, Mahlkoenig Vario for Chemex, Macap MC6 (spare when our office was closed) for cafetiere, Zassenhaus Knee Mill for cafetiere when working away from home.
La Spaziale Vivaldi S1 espresso machine. HotTop KN8828P roaster. Chemex manual drip for most brewed coffee plus cafetieres and eSantos.
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