We love meeting you, and we love sitting down to a great cup of coffee. Every Saturday at the Utica Coffee Roasting Company, between 10am and 2pm, we open our doors to you and do both. We want you to share the fresh-roasted experience, to join us in learning more about how coffee is roasted and about coffee origins, so you can better appreciate the best-roasted coffee in the world.

You’ll see the roasting process, and taste the immediate results: the difference of fresh roasted coffee and the differences between coffee regions around the world. Learn about their subtle differences, like earthy undertones, smokiness, and a fruity aftertaste. You’ll also get tips on how to make a better cup of coffee at home.

The best way to identify which coffee characteristics appeal most to you is to taste the various coffees. Please join us any Saturday to sit down with our freshly roasted brews. We’ll learn more about each other, and about our mutual obsession.

Tasting the Roasts

While you’re tasting coffee, here are the major characteristics you should be paying attention to:

Acidity - The sensation of dryness in the back and under the edges of your mouth. This is a desirable quality and not to be confused with sourness (which is considered a bad quality of coffee). Acidity creates a lively, bright taste without which the coffee would taste flat.

Aroma – Without aroma, we could only taste sweet, sour, bitter and salty. This is where we get the subtle differences described as floral, nutty or fruity.

Body – The way the coffee feels in your mouth; its viscosity or heaviness. The best way to describe it is the comparison of how whole milk feels in your mouth compared to water. If you are unsure of the level of body in different coffees, add an equal amount of milk to each one; the one with the heavier body will retain more of its flavor.

Flavor – This is the overall perception of the three characteristics above. Flavor can be rich (full-bodied), complex (multi-flavored), or balanced (no one characteristic over powers the other).

Here are some terms used to describe DESIRABLE flavor qualities:

• Bright or dry – highly acidic, leaving a dry aftertaste
• Caramelly – caramel-like or syrupy
• Chocolatey – aftertaste similar to unsweetened chocolate or vanilla
• Earthy – a soil-like quality (can sometimes be unfavorable)
• Fragrant – an aroma ranging from floral to nutty to spicy, etc.
• Fruity – having a citrus or berry scent
• Mellow – a smooth taste lacking acidity but not flat
• Nutty – similar to roasted nuts
• Spicy – an exotic aroma of various spices
• Sweet – a lack of harshness
• Wild – a gamey flavor sometimes (though rarely) considered favorable
• Winey – aftertaste resembling a mature wine

Roasting

As coffee is roasted, it goes from a sharper, more acidic taste, to a smoother, more full-bodied taste, and finally to a full-bodied, almost charred taste. Here is a breakdown of the typical roasts, followed by their flavor characteristics:

• Cinnamon or Light Roast (light brown and dry surface): a bright, acidic, toasted grain taste
• Medium High or Regular Roast (milk chocolate brown with a dry surface): acidic and bright but lacks the grain taste
• Full City or High Roast (darker brown with a satin appearance): Slight bittersweet tang with less acidity
• French, Italian, or Espresso Roast (dark chocolate with patches of oil): Very little acidity and noticeably bittersweet
• Dark French or Heavy (almost black and very oily): Almost no acidity and very bittersweet