I've also been roasting coffee from Sweet Maria's for many years, and the thing that's useful is that I learned how Tom will describe flavors that I like. So, whether he calls it "hazelnut" or "almond" doesn't matter, but when he says "hazelnut" there is a flavor I enjoy that isn't there when he writes "almond"... and some other things like when he writes 'crowd pleasing" there is likely to be a lot of balance... over time the descriptions have become more and more useful to me!

> I swear (even though I know I'm wrong) that he just makes this stuff up.

I don't know if this in particular is made up or not. But tasting notes, especially of the marketing kind, can be a collection of notes from different preparation methods, consumption temperatures, and, most likely, from being drank next to other coffees that taste different and might bring out each other's individual accents.

I don’t think I could ever tell two different coffee varieties apart, but I can definitely tell good coffee from bad coffee. Though that’s probably mostly about the roast and freshness more than anything. So there’s probably something to it but I imagine most of it is unintentional bullshit.

I got gifted a coffee subscription recently, and I was actually surprised how different each coffee was.

I think almost anyone could tell the difference between different coffees side by side. I just don't think people are super focused on the coffee flavor when they drink their regular brew.

I've also heard that if the coffee is too hot, the flavours don't come out completely (heard it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-iNAyu-ejo), so maybe that plays into it too?

Yes, you definitely have to brew your coffee correctly. Honestly, I've found regular cheap coffee makers are acceptably good and consistent. They are designed to drip water that is the right temp.

Where you have to be careful is when boiling the water yourself for a chemex or aeropress brew. Done right, those are better. But I can't be bothered most days.

I’ve found that brewing my coffee in 190 F water in an infuser type pot to give the taste I prefer best. Just good coffee flavor with no bitterness and is also conveniently a temperature that is immediately drinkable by the time I pour it.

I'm probably pretty accurate differentiating African from South American coffees, the flavours are pretty different. I'm not that great at this sort of stuff either, certainly not a food critic. But hey, some people can't tell the diff between pepsi and coke.

Assumes they're roasted nicely, otherwise it's comparing ashtrays with pencil shavings.

you need to try them next to each other.

here's james hoffmann's guide to cupping coffee at home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSEgP4VNynQ

+1 for Sweet Marias

At the very least I can easily distinguish the notes (in roasted coffee) that are the sugar/mellow flavors vs the sour/bright flavors.

Cocoa, chocolate, brown sugar, Graham cracker... These are all notes that I want my morning latte to taste like.

Berries, lemon, floral, citrus, melon... These are all flavors I can do in a cold afternoon coffee, but otherwise taste really sour to be.

But it's just two categories for me. I couldn't distinguish any of those flavors individually.

Also self-roasting, also beans from SM. These days I just order the 20lb bag of Espresso Monkey and call it good. In the past I've got their sampler sets with a range of different regions but once roasted they pretty much taste the same to me (all good). I suspect the roasting is what makes the most difference (often coffee seems to have been over-roasted).