A Guide to Coffee Flavor Wheel

Taste can feel personal—two people may describe the same cup with very different words. Without a shared vocabulary, conversations about flavor quickly turn vague or talk past one another. The Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel gives us that shared language. It helps beginners and professionals alike name what they smell and taste, and make those impressions specific, comparable, and useful.

What Is the Coffee Flavor Wheel?

It’s a circular map of coffee descriptors—organized in concentric rings from broad categories at the center to specific notes at the edge. When you taste a coffee, you use the wheel to locate the words that best match your sensory impression. That structure turns abstract impressions into precise language and supports clearer discussion. It’s also a core tool in professional cupping.

From the center outward, the 2016 wheel groups perception into nine families: 

Roasted, Spices, Nutty/Cocoa, Sweet, Floral, Fruity, Sour/Fermented, Green/Vegetative, and Other. 

Each family then expands into more precise descriptors, helping you narrow from a general impression to a specific note.

A Brief History of the Coffee Flavor Wheel: From 1995 to the 2016 Update

The first widely adopted wheel was designed in 1995 by Ted Lingle at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). For more than two decades, it shaped how professionals talked about flavor, pairing field experience with cupping-room consensus. This wheel split attributes into two circles—faults on one side, positive notes on the other.

In 2016, the wheel was rebuilt through a collaboration between the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and World Coffee Research (WCR). The following year, SCAA and the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) merged to form today’s Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). This new version adopted a sensory-led approach and was grounded in the WCR Sensory Lexicon, a scientific reference of defined flavor attributes. Its development incorporated input from sensory scientists, trained panelists, and coffee professionals, making the system more rigorous and practical.

The new edition dropped the “defect vs. positive” split to avoid black-and-white judgments. The focus is description—not value labels.

What does “sensory-led” look like in practice? If everyone perceives flavor differently, how do we describe a cup in the same terms? Let’s walk through how to use the wheel step by step.

How to Use the Coffee Flavor Wheel

Coffee flavor unfolds across two key dimensions: the aromas we smell and the tastes we perceive on the palate. As we slowly savor a cup, we pass through several stages of sensory experience.

Grinding the beans releases dry fragrance; when hot water meets the grounds, wet aromas begin to bloom. As we taste the coffee, the tongue picks up basic notes like acidity, sweetness, and bitterness. After swallowing, additional layers emerge in the aftertaste and mouthfeel.

Each of these sensory cues can be mapped more precisely using the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel—a tool that offers a shared, structured language for describing what a coffee delivers. But how exactly do you use the wheel?

** The following steps are adapted from the Specialty Coffee Association’s official guide: How to Use the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel in Eight Steps.

Step 1: Scan the Flavor Wheel

Before tasting, take a moment to visually scan the entire wheel. Get a feel for the broad categories and how they branch into more specific descriptors. Familiarizing yourself with the layout makes it easier to pinpoint what you're sensing once you start tasting.

Step 2: Taste the Coffee

Now it’s time to experience the coffee for yourself. Smell the aroma, take a sip, and allow both your nose and palate to fully engage.

Pay attention to your first impressions and jot down any distinct sensations—these will serve as the foundation for identifying flavors in the next steps.

Step 3: Start from the Center

The Flavor Wheel is organized from the inside out—starting with broad categories at the center and branching into more specific descriptors toward the edges.

If your strongest impression of the coffee is acidity, begin with the central category labeled “Sour/Fermented.” Then ask yourself: is it a bright, clean acidity—or something more fermented, like winey or overripe notes?

If it’s acidity, what kind is it? Does it remind you of lemon, green apple, or perhaps something else?

By working outward, step by step, you’ll land on the terms that most closely match what you’re tasting—and describe the coffee with greater clarity.

Step 4: Refer to the Sensory Lexicon

While the Flavor Wheel offers a structured way to describe coffee, some of the terms may still feel abstract—especially if you’re new to sensory evaluation. That’s where the World Coffee Research Sensory Lexicon comes in.

This scientific reference defines over 110 specific flavor attributes, each linked to familiar food and beverage items that serve as sensory anchors. These examples help translate abstract descriptors into tangible, real-world sensations.

For instance, if a coffee reminds you of a 1:1 blend of kiwi and strawberry juice, you could reasonably classify that impression under “Fruity.”

The Sensory Lexicon is publicly available on the WCR website, along with Japanese and Simplified Chinese translations of its introduction.

Step 5: Look Closer at the Wheel

Beyond the words themselves, the layout and colors of the Flavor Wheel are full of sensory clues. Categories are grouped visually, and the spacing between them tells you something too: flavors placed close together tend to be more closely related, while those spaced farther apart are less so.

Color also plays a role. We often describe bright, citrusy acidity in coffee as “vibrant” or “lively,” terms that align naturally with certain hues like yellow or red. Likewise, green areas on the wheel might suggest vegetal notes or fresh herbs.

So if a coffee reminds you of red berries, you can start your search in the red zones of the wheel to find the most fitting descriptor.

Localized Coffee Flavor Wheels Around the World

The Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel provides a shared language—but language is always shaped by culture.
Because the wheel was originally developed in a Western context, some flavor references may not fully resonate with people from different regions.

To bridge this gap, localized versions of the flavor wheel have been created. These adapt certain terms to reflect the foods, spices, and sensory references that are more familiar in a specific cultural context—helping coffee tasters around the world describe flavors in ways that feel more intuitive and grounded in daily life.

Taiwan’s Local Coffee Flavor Wheel

In Taiwan, the Coffee Laboratory—an SCA-certified training center—found that many of the terms on the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel didn’t align well with the flavor memories or vocabulary commonly used by Taiwanese coffee drinkers.

In response, the lab developed its own version of the Flavor Wheel in 2018, featuring 95 descriptors drawn from everyday Taiwanese ingredients, dishes, and botanicals. Examples include star anise, minced pork sauce, and licorice—flavors that are more deeply rooted in local culinary culture.

Beyond the Coffee Laboratory, Taiwan’s Tea and Beverage Research Station under the Ministry of Agriculture has also developed a localized flavor wheel tailored to the sensory references of Taiwanese drinkers, helping both consumers and professionals articulate coffee flavors more effectively.

Indonesia’s Coffee Flavor Wheel

Indonesia is not only the world’s fourth-largest coffee producer, but also home to a vibrant and deeply rooted coffee culture.

During their work with local coffee farmers, the Gayo Cuppers Team—based in the Aceh region—found that the standard Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel lacked the vocabulary to capture the unique characteristics of Indonesian coffees. In response, they created their own Indonesian Coffee Flavor Wheel.

This version features 36 locally common aromas and 82 sensory descriptors tailored to regional flavor profiles. It gives farmers and cuppers a more precise way to evaluate and communicate the qualities of Indonesian coffee.

Femobook Electric Coffee Grinders

Whether you're using the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel to explore nuances, sharing tasting notes with fellow enthusiasts, or simply enjoying a quiet moment with your brew, one thing remains essential: freshly ground coffee.

Femobook’s line of electric grinders offers a range of models suitable for everything from pour-over to espresso. With over 300 grind settings and precision as fine as 0.008 mm, these grinders deliver highly consistent particle sizes for better extraction.

A magnetic assembly system makes cleaning and reassembly fast and tool-free—no need to recalibrate the burrs after reassembly. The short grind path helps minimize retention, ensuring every dose is fresh.

The Femobook A68 is even the grinder of choice at two of the world’s top coffee competitions. With its large burr set, high-torque motor, and low-RPM design, it prevents overheating during grinding, preserving the full flavor of your coffee.