Let’s look at the question with which baristas are tormented.
Any barista hears the same questions and requests from guests every day. Some of these phrases are silly and short-sighted, like asking people to spoil their latte by making it hot. But there is one question that is not discussed so often, but every coffee shop worker knows it by heart: “Why is coffee sour?” Is there a chance that the guest was given a terrible drink? There are. But usually the case is different.
Of course, coffee should be a little bitter, and those who are used to a bitter, flat drink are a little behind the times. And now we will explain how this works in reality and why many people think that coffee is more sour than it should be. Besides, there is nothing complicated about it.
Acidity in coffee is characteristic of Arabica
Globally, coffee is divided into two types: Arabica and Robusta. The first one is clear and different, but there is always a little sourness. And the second one is bitter-earthy, it is not very tasty, but increases the strength of the drink. Before that, coffee was often sold in a blend: for example, 70% Arabica and 30% Robusta. And even now you can easily find packages of such cereal in supermarkets.
With the development of the coffee industry, blends are everywhere reasonably changed to 100% Arabica, where, depending on the method of preparation, processing, region of growth and some other factors, you can feel several notes: from cookies to wild berries. Indeed, this is quality coffee. Robusta is added, as a rule, to reduce the cost of production, and because of that, many people are familiar with feeling the bitterness of chocolate.
To a large extent, some people are used to drinking bad, bitter coffee and adding sugar to remove the taste. When they come to a particular coffee shop and get a better drink, they start to feel that something is wrong with it, because they remember the coffee as something else. But acidity is common in Arabica, although one type of bean will be different from another.
Many people are used to dark roasting.
The second sin that keeps the public ignorant of bitterness in coffee is called Italian roasting. This is when the grain is fried almost to black. For a long time, this style was more or less widespread everywhere, and it even had a practical meaning. But now (especially in good coffee shops) they use lighter roasts just so you can taste different flavor descriptions.
Why was dark roasting necessary? It gave a persistent and even flavor with bitter caramel and nutty notes. Just don’t think this means “good taste.” Not at all. The truth is that dark roasting helped to hide flaws in raw materials, as if it would equalize the grain to one level. That is, this is a common practice for low quality coffee.
But many are used, again, because coffee is a dark black liquid with bitter, nutty notes. And so, a lightly roasted Arabica, which shows rather fruity and berry notes, naturally seems unusually bitter. It is a matter of practice to change it. As soon as you start drinking regularly and without using sugar, you will be able to experience taste on a deeper level.
Sometimes bitter coffee is still a problem
If you have a good knowledge of everything we have explained above and if you have been used to light arabica for a long time, but the drink still seems too sour, it is this is a very bad sign. Most likely, you should change the coffee shop and go somewhere else, because something about this one is definitely not working.
There can be many reasons – for example, bad raw materials. But more often than not, coffee is too sour, prepared on good equipment from high quality beans, meaning that the human factor has intervened. If the barista doesn’t know how to work with grain and change the grind, you may actually get a deficient drink with too much acidity. But you can only judge this for sure if you are not a fan of sarcasm and blackness.
