As Alfred E Neuman so rightly pointed out, context is essential to fully understanding anything in life. Saying, “He has his father’s eyes” is really cute when you’re talking about a newborn baby… Not so much when referring to a serial killer. The difference? Context.

Allow me the liberty of a visual illustration:

This law not only applies to the untethered utterings of a passing stranger, but to the sorts of food flavours and aromas you’d experience in a cup of coffee. The key to getting maximum enjoyment out of these flavours is identifying them, and then determining whether their context makes them positive or bloodcurdling.

The Key Players

Now, this is not the forum to go into heavy organic chemistry, but, in any given cup of coffee, there are some broad-strokes flavour and aromatic groupings that combine to form the overall flavour profile of a cup of coffee (click here for a more detailed look at coffee flavour and aroma notes).

Sweetness is pretty much always seen as a positive attribute in a cup of coffee, whether it presents as caramel-sweetness, fruity elements, or a simple cane sugar note.

Acidity can be seen as either positive or negative, depending on both the root chemicals causing the acidity (I said no organic chemistry, so this is as far as I can go) and whether or not the acidity presents itself in balance with the other elements in the cup. If the acidity is overwhelming to the point of presenting as outright sourness, this is a major downer. But in the right proportions, it can add marvellous complexity to the cup. Kinda like when James Spader hit Boston Legal.

Saltiness (or savoury) is also included in the list, but doesn’t really add to the debate, so I’ll move right along.

Last on the list is bitterness. Now, in the mind of the average coffee drinker, bitterness seems to only ever be viewed as a negative attribute. As far as popular public opinion goes, Bitterness is a little like Harrison Ford in The Fugitive; hung out to dry, on the run from the law, publicly disgraced…all while sitting quietly in your cup. Hectic. Except, as is the case with Harrison, we at Rosetta Roastery feel that the one-armed man should be taking the hit, and Bitterness should be vindicated…in the right context.

SO…what is the right context?

Sometimes, in order to view something in a new light, one needs to experience it in a different setting. Below I’ve listed a few culinary neighbourhoods where Bitterness is a flavour celebrity, rather than persona non grata.

Beer: “Somewhat dry, somewhat bitter, never sweet” is the catch phrase for SAB’s Castle Lager. Proclaimed as a veritable beacon of hope in the quest for a great beer, bitterness certainly has no public image problems in one’s post work pint.

Angostura Aromatic Bitters: These guys love bitterness so much, they made it into a brand name. Not unlike KFC, this stuff is blended from a secret recipe of herbs and spices. Unlike KFC, however, Agostura bitters can be added to anything from cocktails to seafood and still be considered a positive addition.

Dark Chocolate: If Lindt & Sprungli are anything to go by, the darker a chocolate is, the better it is (with cocoa percentages tending towards infinity). But with all this cocoa comes an unavoidable hint of bitterness. In the context of dark chocolate however, this flavour note is viewed as one of the defining characteristics of that particular genre of dessertic delight.

Fruit: There are some melons and citrus fruits that would be nothing without a touch of bitterness to their vibe. A grapefruit would be nothing more than an overweight orange with pigmentation issues, had it not distinguished itself with a delightfully tart finish that an orange can never provide. Once again bitterness has formed an essential element to the unique experience its host offers to the human palate.

As in life so in coffee…

The endless flavour combinations that can be formed in a cup of coffee would be a poorer crowd were bitterness removed from the group. A juicy grapefruit finish can be the difference between a good cup and a great cup. The rich dark chocolate notes on a Brazilian espresso, or even the hint of bitter herbs in a full and earthy Blue Batak are both sensations to be celebrated, not apologised for. For this reason, we seek to laud and praise tastefully balanced bitterness wherever we happen upon it.

A final disclaimer:

There are plenty of instances of downright pure and simple hideous bitter flavours that comprehensively ruin a cup of coffee – even by the most liberal critic’s standards. This can arise out of poor brewing methods, poor grinding methods, over-roasting, or simply drinking bad coffee. Needless to say, we’d love to see perpetrators of such soul destroying gastronomy behind bars alongside the one-armed man, and the spotlight stealing Mr Lindt. But until that happens, our hope is simply that, as a coffee lover, you’ll be able to engage with any bitterness you may find in your cup with a little more discernment and a little less disdain.