Freshly Roasted Coffee Re-Evaluated: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Post-Roast Maturation on Sensory Experience

‘Freshly roasted’ has long been considered the ultimate indicator of coffee quality. This study challenges this concept by arguing that coffee, as a complex processed agricultural product, undergoes a critical developmental ‘maturation’ phase after roasting that is significant for its sensory experi...

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Main Authors: Yves C. Zimmermann, Steffen Schwarz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-07-01
Series:Proceedings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/109/1/8
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author Yves C. Zimmermann
Steffen Schwarz
author_facet Yves C. Zimmermann
Steffen Schwarz
author_sort Yves C. Zimmermann
collection DOAJ
description ‘Freshly roasted’ has long been considered the ultimate indicator of coffee quality. This study challenges this concept by arguing that coffee, as a complex processed agricultural product, undergoes a critical developmental ‘maturation’ phase after roasting that is significant for its sensory experience. Thus, this study investigates whether there is (i) a discernible sensory effect and (ii) a perceptible consumer preference for ‘freshly roasted’ coffee beans by means of a triangle test (ISO 4120:2021) combined with a hedonic preference test (ISO 8587:2013) on 42 untrained participants. The triangle test results indicate that there is a significant difference between the samples, and a slight majority expressed a preference for not ‘freshly roasted’ coffee, encouraging a more nuanced approach to the issue.
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spelling doaj-art-9e291a4410e44cce96013097ff659f8f2025-08-20T02:43:54ZengMDPI AGProceedings2504-39002024-07-011091810.3390/ICC2024-18164Freshly Roasted Coffee Re-Evaluated: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Post-Roast Maturation on Sensory ExperienceYves C. Zimmermann0Steffen Schwarz1Department of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Applied Sciences Heilbronn, Max-Planck-Str. 39, 74081 Heilbronn, GermanyCoffee Consulate, Hans-Thoma-Strasse 20, 68163 Mannheim, Germany‘Freshly roasted’ has long been considered the ultimate indicator of coffee quality. This study challenges this concept by arguing that coffee, as a complex processed agricultural product, undergoes a critical developmental ‘maturation’ phase after roasting that is significant for its sensory experience. Thus, this study investigates whether there is (i) a discernible sensory effect and (ii) a perceptible consumer preference for ‘freshly roasted’ coffee beans by means of a triangle test (ISO 4120:2021) combined with a hedonic preference test (ISO 8587:2013) on 42 untrained participants. The triangle test results indicate that there is a significant difference between the samples, and a slight majority expressed a preference for not ‘freshly roasted’ coffee, encouraging a more nuanced approach to the issue.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/109/1/8coffeefreshly roastedpost-roast maturationpreference testqualitytriangle test
spellingShingle Yves C. Zimmermann
Steffen Schwarz
Freshly Roasted Coffee Re-Evaluated: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Post-Roast Maturation on Sensory Experience
Proceedings
coffee
freshly roasted
post-roast maturation
preference test
quality
triangle test
title Freshly Roasted Coffee Re-Evaluated: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Post-Roast Maturation on Sensory Experience
title_full Freshly Roasted Coffee Re-Evaluated: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Post-Roast Maturation on Sensory Experience
title_fullStr Freshly Roasted Coffee Re-Evaluated: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Post-Roast Maturation on Sensory Experience
title_full_unstemmed Freshly Roasted Coffee Re-Evaluated: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Post-Roast Maturation on Sensory Experience
title_short Freshly Roasted Coffee Re-Evaluated: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Post-Roast Maturation on Sensory Experience
title_sort freshly roasted coffee re evaluated a pilot study on the impact of post roast maturation on sensory experience
topic coffee
freshly roasted
post-roast maturation
preference test
quality
triangle test
url https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/109/1/8
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AT steffenschwarz freshlyroastedcoffeereevaluatedapilotstudyontheimpactofpostroastmaturationonsensoryexperience