When customers say they need a “sturdy” espresso, they could be referring to any variety of qualities — bitterness, darkish colour, roasted aroma or caffeine-linked stimulation — inside a broader cultural context, in response to new analysis from a workforce in Brazil.
Revealed in Could within the Journal of Sensory Research, the qualitative examine drew on 35 in-depth interviews with Brazilian espresso customers in Campinas and Recife. It discovered that the phrase sturdy espresso, or “café forte,” carries layered and sometimes contradictory meanings.
The examine drew on “social representations concept,” a framework for analyzing how shared cultural concepts form particular person notion. Whereas well-known for its huge, world-leading espresso manufacturing, Brazil can also be the world’s second-largest coffee-consuming nation by quantity, behind the USA, with rising demand for specialty espresso.
“By means of its scale of manufacturing and long-standing traditions, Brazil has helped form a shared symbolic language round espresso that extends past its borders,” the examine states. “Throughout the nation, espresso is current in 98% of households and consumed in numerous settings, from morning meals to social gatherings.”
The “Robust” Espresso Sensory Cues
Along with the in-depth in-person interviews, the examine concerned tasting three filter-brewed coffees — a “specialty” 100% arabica, a “connoisseur” 100% arabica and a “conventional” arabica-robusta mix — ready to standardized recipes.
Bitterness, darkish colour, roasted aroma and physique had been the sensory cues customers most constantly related to power. In a sentence-completion process, sturdy espresso was most frequently described as darkish, bitter, full-bodied, smoky or astringent. Some folks additionally tied power to caffeine’s useful impact, describing it as a “pick-me-up” that helps them get up and focus.
But the broader sample was ambivalent. The identical qualities that made a espresso really feel sturdy to 1 particular person made it really feel harsh, burnt or low-quality to a different.
Weak point as a Energy?
When requested whether or not they favored sturdy espresso, 31.5% of individuals described it positively, usually citing power, alertness or stimulation. One other 34.2% mentioned they disliked sturdy espresso, associating it with extreme bitterness, poor roasting or lower-quality beans.
Within the guided tasting, specialty espresso was usually perceived as “weak” however nice, with stability and aroma carrying extra weight. Conventional espresso, against this, was most frequently described as overly sturdy, closely roasted and bitter, generally to the purpose that sugar was wanted to make it satisfying. Connoisseur espresso fell someplace within the center.
In specialty espresso circles, “power” is usually handled as a technical, manageable attribute, tied to brew ratios, extraction metrics or taste depth. This examine means that the time period carries emotional, symbolic and recurring meanings that don’t line up neatly with specialty business language.
“Understanding these interpretations is necessary for sensory science as a result of shopper vocabulary doesn’t all the time correspond to standardized sensory descriptors, creating potential gaps between technical analysis and on a regular basis notion,” the authors wrote. “Understanding how customers interpret expressions resembling ‘sturdy espresso’ can also be related for the espresso chain as an entire, together with producers, roasters, retailers, and foodservice operators, as these meanings affect expectations, preparation practices and product analysis.”
Funding got here from Brazil’s Nationwide Council for Scientific and Technological Improvement (CNPq) and from CAPES. The authors declared no conflicts of curiosity. All of the authors had been affiliated with the College of Campinas.
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