Should standard coffee wheels be updated to reflect a more culturally diverse workforce and consumer base? Today, we explore the issue.
BY TWIGGY YEUNG
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Featured image courtesy of the Specialty Coffee Association
Budding specialty-coffee origins, new international production units, and emerging markets are reshaping the industry. One of the next big questions may be how standard coffee wheels could adapt to a culturally diverse workforce and consumer base.
“When I started introducing specialty beans to friends and relatives at home, I needed to ‘translate’ tasting descriptions into more generally recognized terms,” says Mimi Nguyen, founder of Cafely, a Vietnamese coffee wholesaler based in the United States. “Instead of ‘citrus brightness,’ I’d say ‘the sourness of green mango,’ and instead of ‘nutty,’ I’d compare it to roasted peanuts, which everyone is familiar with.”
Experiences like these are not uncommon.
In central London, Yun Dian Coffee—a Chinese green coffee importer that sources Yunnan-grown coffee to Europe—illustrates the emergence of Chinese coffee in the specialty scene. Having launched its U.K. business just a year ago, the company is led by director Yufan Wu. “There’s a flavor note called ‘Buddha hand,’ or bergamot, and it’s a fruit in China,” Yufan says. “The majority of the customers here cannot taste it, so we have to ‘translate’ it.”
“Buddha hand tastes more like a citrus fruit, like an orange, but also it has some ginger flavor,” he adds. “We divide this flavor note into ginger lily and blood orange, and when these flavors are added up, it may translate into the actual flavor.”
While Europe continues to hold the largest market share, there has been significant growth in premium coffee consumption in developing regions, particularly across Asia-Pacific. Traditional origins such as Brazil have faced difficulties communicating the values of their exported coffee to Western counterparts. Meanwhile, global supply chains have become increasingly interconnected, with countries that historically supplied commercial-grade beans—such as China and Indonesia—now moving into specialty markets. These shifts highlight the need for a more culturally inclusive coffee flavor wheel.
The Role of the SCA Wheel
When it comes to sensory language, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) coffee flavor wheel has long been the most widely used tool in the industry. It has maintained its purpose of standardizing language across a global industry. Its latest update in 2016 was a major attempt at scientific rigor and inclusivity, drawing from the real-world experience of roasting companies and coffee buyers, covering 110 flavor descriptors. Still, critics argue that its U.S. origins limit its cultural scope.
The Limitations
Morten Münchow is the founder of Coffeemind, a consultancy based in Copenhagen, Denmark, that specializes in sensory perception and coffee education.
“It’s a question about mapping out the main areas in the world where coffees are consumed, and picking people from different areas,” Morten says. “I think they should centrally design the method and then find some centers around the world who could execute this.”
“It could be the Specialty Coffee Association of China, or the Specialty Coffee Association of Africa,” he adds. “Make the local chapters invest in this, but they would centrally control the methodology and collect data.”
For Yufan Wu and his entry into the U.K. market, the cultural discrepancy has not been a significant issue. Chinese coffee growers and tasters have long relied on the SCA wheel to communicate sensory experiences. Still, he acknowledges its Western skew.
“The current coffee flavor wheel is not wide enough to cover some universal flavors that Asians are more familiar with, umami being one of them,” Yufan says.
The term umami, which originates from Japan and is often associated with high-quality matcha, has gained global recognition alongside the matcha trend. It is widely described as savory—present in foods such as soy sauce, parmesan, and cooked meat—and is recognized as the fifth basic taste, alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. In coffee, its role is debated: some see it as a positive attribute that adds depth and complexity, while others perceive it as undesirable.
Guiding Principles for a More Inclusive Wheel
“I think we should start to agree on the more fundamental and not the kind of subtle fancy notes,” Morten says, “so that would be the first agreement.”
He used licorice as an example: “I mean, if nobody knows what licorice is in the Gulf region, it really doesn’t make sense to have it.”
“We should find the most obvious things to disagree with based on cultural differences and then make the flavor wheels about those,” Morten adds. “It’s not the new fancy exotic descriptors on the coffee bags that worry me. … It’s really interesting to point out that a flavor wheel is always limited in some ways, because it’s both limited based on the products used to create the number of sensory impressions and the cultural horizon of the people coming up with the words.”
“But since there are a lot of new products, species, and processing methods that come up, you kind of need to redo it—and there’s also the issue of cultural horizon,” Morten continues, “so that’s why there should be a much more dynamic approach to flavor wheels.”
Twiggy Yeung is a U.K.–based specialty-coffee barista and freelance journalist, currently focusing on food and culture. With a background in journalism and a passion for coffee, she brings a reporter’s eye to stories within the coffee industry. Her work has appeared on Monocle Radio. She is also the social media manager at Beanberry Coffee Company, creating content that highlights the roastery’s in-house offerings. You can reach her at twiggy.cyyeung@gmail.com.
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