I took a sip and was immediately surprised.

There was not a single trace of bitterness. It tasted like tea… maybe jasmine? Not quite though… it was richer, and the texture felt more bodied.

Intrigued, I picked up the coffee bag, on which descriptors like “peach”, “jasmine”, “lemon peel” filled the front.

It seemed to me that the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel, an infographic developed by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) used to assess flavors, with words like “herb-like” and “raspberry”,  was more capable of spiraling me through confusion, at least on firsthand.

The Flavor Wheel poster can often be found hanging on the walls of coffee shops and was first released in 1995. In recent years, efforts have been devoted to adopting more inclusive vocabulary such that people from different places who are accustomed to and exposed to other aromas or flavors can better relate to the descriptors on the flavor wheel. This certainly signals the global influence that coffee has but also returns focus to the roots of where coffee production originated.

But behind all these wonderful flavors are even more stories.

Coffee is consumed globally and embodies a multibillion-dollar industry. Farming takes place across continents, including Africa, South and Central America, and Asia, with local terrain and weather patterns yielding unique flavors. In many places, coffee export is a substantial portion of a country or region’s economic productivity, and millions of small producers rely on it for income.

The majority of coffee production comes from small farms in developing countries. When the price of coffee dropped below US$1 per pound in 2018, most farmers could not sustainably produce coffee at this price point. Upon coming across this news, I wondered if the specialty coffee that I regularly enjoyed was the product of unjust trading. Fairtrade certified coffee then caught my attention because they promised a higher price relative to market price for coffee producers.

Approaching climate and environmental challenges also mean producers must embrace new methods and solutions. Fortunately, new scientific advances have made it possible to sequence the genes of many organisms, including coffee plants. Identification of genes via sequencing allow scientists and producers to better understand coffee plants’ traits and making selection decisions accordingly (e.g., drought tolerance) before devoting resources to growing or breeding these plants.

I’m now more eager to dive into more stories surrounding coffee that are as rich as the wide-ranging flavors they feature now.