A chat about flavor notes and why they’re on our bags.
We didn’t sneak any flavorings into our coffees—pinky swear. Although...hazelnut creamer sometimes does have me in a chokehold.
The only real rule: drink what makes you happy
We love indulging in the nuance, but the point of coffee is pleasure, not passing a sensory exam.
If a cup hits your taste buds right and brings you joy, that’s the win.
Everything else is optional side-quest material. So trust your tongue—whether you’re vibing with our “juicy plum” note or just thinking, “yeah, that’s a really good cup of coffee.”
Entirely subjective, and that’s the fun
The notes are entirely subjective. Maybe this great coffee is a little tart, and that tartness reminds me of tangerines, or the sip feels very silky and doesn’t coat my mouth. They’re not a guarantee you’ll taste a fresh creamsicle. Think of them more like “reminiscent of this” or “this reminds me of....” For me, I don’t know what lingonberries taste like and I don't like blueberries, but I do love plums and chocolate—so that’s the comparison I reach for. I also love coffees that give me a bell curve of flavor instead of staggered, one-after-another hits; layered and blended, not a stark shift. (Read our other post on how we roast to highlight each coffee.)
How we break down our tasting notes
When we list tasting notes on a bag, we zero in on three big checkpoints:
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Sips 1-5 – What jumps out when the coffee is fresh? Maybe bright Meyer lemon or melted chocolate or a "very strong coffee" taste.
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Body / Mouthfeel – How the coffee sits on your tongue mid-sip: silky, creamy, syrupy, tea-like—whatever texture defines the experience.
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Finish & Aftertaste – The flavor that hangs around after the sip. That could be a lingering honey sweetness, a tea like dryness, or a clean, crisp fade-out.
Focusing on these three gives me a great platform for a great drinking experience.
Why we even bother writing those poetic little tasting lines
Coffee crops soak up their surroundings: soil minerals, mountain altitude, rainfall patterns, and neighboring crops. It’s a little like wine; different regions—and the way grapes, or in our case coffee cherries, get processed—create different results. Writing “stone-fruit sweetness” or “cocoa-nib finish” is our shorthand for saying someone farmed this with care, and the land gave back something unique. We recognize and highlight that.
I lean into doing this because I appreciate the nuances of good food and good coffee. Calling out flavor notes lets other coffee nerds know we sweat those details and landed the roast profile right where we wanted. It's also an invitation to explore existing language of the industry.
Coffee flavor is a moving target...which can be great
Flavor notes shift as the cup cools and as the beans age, so every brew lets you experience the same delicious coffee in new ways. Tag us @sleepymangocoffee and let us know what you tasted!
Take our newest release, a bag of Tanzanian Peaberry coffee... it smells like sugar candy when you open the bag, creamy dark chocolate when its hot, and the plummy juiciness really pops once the cup cools.
