How does the ability to perceive coffee flavor change with age?

Usually, when people get old, they think about hearing and vision loss. However, research has shown that people can also experience impaired smell and taste. According to a 2006 study, the sense of smell and taste begin to decline around the age of 60. Furthermore, by the age of 70, both senses are severely lost, resulting in the ability to distinguish between flavors. reduce. The main reason for this is that as we age, the decrease in the number of olfactory receptors in the nasal cavity becomes greater. Meanwhile, this is the organ we use to recognize aroma as well as play an important role in sensing taste. Additionally, the rate of receptor cell regeneration also decreases as we age, so our sense of smell and taste becomes less sensitive. Depending on several factors, the degree of weakening of these organs will vary, such as health status and access to medical care.

On the contrary, children’s sense of smell and taste are very sensitive, especially to sweet and salty tastes. According to 2005 research from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, infants can quickly perceive sweet flavors and often prefer those flavors to non-sweet flavors. Additionally, research shows that between adolescence and adulthood, our palates begin to develop strongly. Cells sense and recognize more flavors. The reason is that around this stage, you can try different foods and cooking methods, exposing your sensory cells to a variety of flavors and textures. This causes people from adolescence to adulthood to become more familiar with the five taste elements such as sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami.

Gary Au – co-founder of Urban Coffee Roasters, said that cupping experience affects the perception and scoring of coffee. People new to specialty coffee tend to like new and exciting flavors, such as fermented coffee or special new varieties. At the same time they can often taste the flavor notes described in the flavor profile.

However, to achieve proficiency and accurate recognition, you need to try tasting many types of coffee from different origins, varieties and processing methods. Older coffee drinkers often appreciate the original, floral flavors and high sophistication. This difference can lead to differences in quality assessment results and coffee scores during cupping sessions. For example, at the 2022 BoP auction, there were differences of five or six points between certain coffee varieties.

Besides, according to Gary’s experience as a judge, cultural background also affects the evaluation of coffee scores. People from Southeast Asia or the Middle East often prefer fermented and wine flavors in their coffee. North Americans and Europeans tend to favor more traditional flavors.

With the different sensory abilities and experiences of each age group, differences in coffee flavor scores between tasters are inevitable. SCA describes this as “intersubjectivity”. Specifically, instead of scoring coffee objectively, professional coffee tasters evaluate coffee quality based on characteristics desired by a specific market. This leads to some bias, affecting the fairness and consistency of coffee quality in different markets. Therefore, SCA began developing a Coffee Value Assessment System. The new system will be enhanced to remove any intentional or unintentional bias in cupping, as well as move towards greater inclusion of different cultures and cuisines.

Although age may play some role in influencing coffee cupping scores. But experts say that the level of tasting experience is still the most important factor in evaluating flavor quality. Furthermore, there are an increasing number of experimental processing techniques as well as new varieties and species. So we need to appreciate each diversity of coffee flavors.

As a business providing sustainable specialty coffee, XLIII Coffee understands and cherishes the unique identity of each type of coffee and growing region. We source green bean specialty coffee lots from sustainable cooperative farms. We do everything to protect and cherish the original flavors and deliver those quintessential flavors to customers. If you want to explore the uniqueness of coffee flavors from different growing regions, come to XLIII Coffee to experience and feel.

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