Imagine you've been drinking the same coffee from the same roaster for a while and it's always good. The settings on your grinder or machine are the same, the water is at the same temperature, etc. And yet, the coffee suddenly tastes different! Maybe it even tastes burnt. What can you do? We'll look at the possible causes and tell you what you can do to solve the problem for yourself.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – coffee is a natural product
After many, many cups and packs of your favorite coffee, the new pack suddenly tastes different, bad, burnt - at least not like you are used to. A tragedy, because up until now there were no problems at all. And you haven't changed anything. So you keep using the same grind, the same water temperature, the same brew ratio, the same cups and so on.
The simplest and most common explanation for different tasting coffees of the same variety is that coffee is a natural product. And so every harvest tastes different. Sometimes just a little different, sometimes significantly different.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – the new harvest
Let's take our Rwanda Umusazi as an example. Every harvest is of top quality, but not every harvest tastes the same. Sometimes it rained more in one year, or there was more sun, or the nutrients in the soil changed because a herd of elephants set up camp nearby. There are many reasons why one harvest tastes different to the previous one. And the roaster you trust will buy this harvest anyway because the coffee is well received and the quality is very good per se. What you don't know at home, however, is when the new harvest will be roasted and go on sale. So your beloved coffee may suddenly taste different.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – texture
The climate and other environmental conditions not only have a direct effect on the taste of the coffee beans, but also on their consistency, for example. And this in turn affects the extraction ability of the bean during and after roasting. If beans are harder, it is more difficult to extract aromas. Like with lemons: there are those that are rock hard and very difficult to squeeze, and those that are juicy and soft and the juice just flows out.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – Single Origin vs Blend
The phenomenon of coffee suddenly tasting different occurs more often with single origin coffees than with blends. Blends consist of several types of coffee that have been optimally combined by the roasting master to produce a balanced and tasty coffee. This often happens with espresso roasts. Single origin coffees usually come from just one farm or even just one lot, i.e. one plot, one farm. Here, nothing can be balanced out by mixing in the other coffees.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – other factors
Unfortunately, there are many more reasons why coffee can suddenly taste different. These include how you store the beans and even the environmental conditions on site. It could be that today is such a hot and humid day that the beans have changed so much between unpacking and being ground that the previous grind level is no longer suitable. In addition, grinding discs also wear out over time and so the grind level changes slowly and unnoticed.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – is roasting to blame?
Yes, that can happen. It can actually happen that a roast goes wrong and the coffee is over- or underdeveloped. But that is extremely rare, because our roasting masters - and probably those of the other roasters too - have a lot of experience. We also monitor each roast with the computer program Cropster. This records the roasting curve and temperatures and other data and even warns if something could go wrong or has gone wrong. And then we would check the roast and, in the worst case, dispose of it and not sell it.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – regular cupping
We also regularly test all of our coffees through cuppings, i.e. through quality checks. And of course we drink a lot of our coffees ourselves at work - so if there was something wrong with a roast, we would find out pretty quickly through the cuppings. And we would take the coffee off the market or not put it on the market at all.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – beans taste burnt
Your coffee suddenly tastes different, maybe even burnt. Maybe your coffee water is too hot. Yes, it wasn't too hot before, but maybe it is now with the new batch. Maybe the previous grind no longer suits the new batch. If something like this happens, you should definitely do something with the variables in the preparation. Above all, the grind and the brewing temperature.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – equipment and more
If your coffee suddenly tastes different, it could be due to the preparation variables. These are the grind, water temperature, brew ratio, extraction time, but the equipment can also play a role. The new pack of filter paper - although it is the same as always - may be slightly different to the one before. This can lead to over- or under-extraction. Your fully automatic machine wears out, grinding discs wear out, temperature sensors can also become defective, metal, ceramic and plastics react to humidity and temperatures, etc. There are many reasons why your equipment is suddenly the reason why your previous coffee no longer tastes the way it should.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – change something
The first thing we would do is change the grind or the water temperature. This can have a massive impact on the taste of your cup of coffee. Here are a few examples:
- Coffee tastes burnt – temperature is too high
- Coffee tastes too sour – temperature is too low
- Coffee tastes too bitter – grind is too fine
- Coffee tastes bland – grind too coarse
Important: Only change one variable, grind or temperature, and then taste the coffee. This way you know exactly which variable caused the change.
Coffee suddenly tastes different – batch is bad
This case is probably very unlikely due to the constant quality control that we (and other roasters) carry out, but not impossible: the batch is actually over-roasted or the beans are defective in some other way and still go on sale. So you have tried to change the variables during preparation, but the coffee still tastes bad. Then just contact the roaster you got the coffee from and explain the problem. It is best to send the beans back so that the roaster can see for themselves. And then, if the case applies, you will certainly receive a tasty replacement delivery. But as already mentioned, this case is quite rare.
Coffee suddenly tastes different - Conclusion
As you can see, coffee can be very fickle. Every harvest tastes different, the preparation environment can change without you doing anything and in general you should check all the factors that lead to your cup of coffee from time to time. But at the latest when your coffee suddenly no longer tastes good. Then it's time to experiment: you can change the grind, water temperature, brew ratio and much more and thus influence the taste of your coffee. You can also find individual articles on this in our coffee knowledge . And of course (and the roastery you trust) will be happy to advise you by email or phone. So have fun brewing coffee and #staywild !
