Can All Coffee Have Sweetness?

In this episode, I dive deep into a question that has been on my mind: can every coffee have sweetness? As I sit here drinking a natural process medium roast called Fruit Bomb, I explore the complexities of chasing balance in coffee brewing. I discuss why sweetness matters so much to me, how it balances acidity, and share my personal journey of discovering sweetness in coffee about four to five years ago. I talk about my brewing approach for this particular coffee—using a 1:12 ratio at 190 degrees Fahrenheit—and my ongoing struggle to coax more sweetness out of a cup that seems determined to showcase its bright, tropical acidity instead.

But this episode is about more than just brewing techniques. I reflect on the philosophical side of coffee appreciation: the tension between chasing perfection and accepting what's in the cup. I share my realization that not every coffee will deliver that sweet, balanced profile I crave, and explore whether that's actually okay. By listening to this episode, you'll gain insight into how an experienced coffee enthusiast thinks through tasting, brewing adjustments, and the mindset shift required to truly appreciate each coffee for its unique characteristics rather than forcing it to be something it's not.

Chapters

• 1:14 Brewing Fruit Bomb Coffee
• 2:50 The Importance of Balance
• 4:15 Chasing Clarity and Balance
• 5:31 My Sweetness Discovery Journey
• 5:32 Brewing Parameters and Temperature
• 7:08 My Sweetness Discovery Journey
• 9:19 The Elusive Rainbow
• 11:33 Accepting Coffee for What It Is

Transcript

[00:00:05] I am a coffee drinker. I am a lover of coffee. I'm sure you are too. But I have one question.

[00:00:26] The question is, can every coffee, all the coffees ever made, produced, processed, brewed, can they all have sweetness? That's the question I want to attempt to talk about today.

[00:01:17] Fruit Bomb, of course. It's a natural process coffee. But as I was tasting it and understanding it and trying to conquer it, that's the story for another day. I was thinking, what is there? Why can I get more sweetness out of this coffee?

[00:01:42] It has some sweetness. This is a medium roast, so medium roast should have a little bit more sweetness compared to a lighter roast, at least to my palate. But I started to think, I started to wonder, can every single coffee have that type of sweetness that we crave and want?

[00:02:04] I think the answer is no. I think there's probably a degree of variations in what you can get. Can you get maximum sweetness out of every single coffee? No. But I do think something about this particular coffee or this way of thinking a lot. Is that okay?

[00:02:31] That's really what I'm getting at. Is that perfectly okay? Does every single coffee need sweetness? And the reason why I'm bringing up sweetness is because a lot of times when you're dealing with coffees, you want some type of balance.

[00:02:52] Acidity is great. It's awesome. I love it. I really do. It shows what the true character of what a coffee can be. But if it doesn't have the other element to balance it out, this is one of my biggest gripes that I've had with lighter roasted coffee.

[00:03:24] It's tasty. It's delicious. It makes sense, right? And even though it's not acidic forward, it does have those elements in order to balance the cup. Because again, one way versus the other, we're dealing with two spectrums, right? And we want some type of balance, some type of something where it grabs us and it gives us some time to think about that coffee.

[00:04:16] I think that's the reason why I'm chasing balance. And again, this is not a 50/50 split. This is something that we kind of understand when we drink coffee. It gives us that element of surprise, the element of curiosity. At least to me, I know I'm sounding like a broken down novelist trying to describe how awesome coffee is.

[00:04:26] But that's the thing that I'm chasing. Sure, I'm chasing that clarity. What I'm actually tasting in the cup and how it presents itself in different elements, different brews and different temperatures and all that stuff. But in this case right now, the way it is, it's not fair. It's not jelling.

[00:04:44] I thought the way that I roasted it would bring out more sweetness. But it just concentrated the acidity even more so.

[00:04:59] One to twelve ratio for this particular coffee. For this particular coffee, relatively fast brew. 190 degrees Fahrenheit. Because for me, as I like to taste coffees and experience them, especially if I'm trying to coax sweetness out of it a little bit more, it's at that lower temperature.

[00:06:01] And I wouldn't say that this is the most acidic it has been. But it's there. Even with the darker roast that tends to tame down the acidity. But in this cup, it doesn't really do that.

[00:06:21] So again, no matter what we try to do and what we're trying to do with coffees, is it perfectly fine just to say not all coffee is going to have that sweetness that we crave and want, that balance that we want in a cup of coffee? It could be the case. It could be just something that we just have to deal with and understand that we're not going to get sweetness out of every cup. It could be just something that we're trying to do with the coffee that's just perfectly fine.

[00:06:53] But I don't know why I keep chasing it. Because for me, sweetness I actually realized and experienced a lot later. I don't know where your sweetness phenomenon has ever come through. Have you ever tasted sweetness in coffee? But mine happened very late. I would say about four years ago, probably five years ago.

[00:07:28] To where I knew it was there. And probably another coffee that I had that I talked about from time to time. But this is a true experience that I've gone through to where I truly tasted sweetness. It woke me up. It gave me an opportunity to experience coffee on an even playing field. How it allowed me to understand and appreciate coffee even more so because it was different.

[00:08:23] It was unique. It's something that I've never ever tasted before. I know that I am getting closer to the point of getting there with most coffees. But in this coffee, at least right now, the way it is, the way I'm doing things, I'm trying to get there.

[00:09:33] I'm just trying to get there. Even though I know for the most part that that sweetness, that type of balance that I'm looking for is not there for this particular coffee. I still chase it. It's like that rainbow that I'm thinking about right now that I'm trying to grab hold of, trying to chase it, trying to drive to it, trying to see what its wonders are.

[00:10:17] It is doing something for my palate right now. Getting to the point to where I'm accepting, I'm settling. I am getting to understand what this coffee is all about. And that's perfectly fine.

[00:10:39] That's probably perfectly fine to just taste this coffee, drink it, like it for whatever reason, don't like it for whatever reason, and then move on. That's kind of like where I'm at. I want to continue to chase. But I know I need to appreciate.

[00:11:31] Those things are on opposite spectrums. Because it's just something that we want to experience in each and every coffee. And truthfully, it's probably not possible. And that's the issue that I have with all of this. Or it could be just a challenge and something that I look forward to every time that I drink coffee.

[00:12:12] I don't know if I'm just analyzing things too much and kind of seeing it for what it is or whatnot. But it's going to get to the point to where I'm going to just have to accept this coffee for what it is. For what it's telling me. Because once I do that, I will probably appreciate and enjoy coffee for what it is because they're all different. They all speak to you differently.

[00:12:29] And even though this is not my particular cup of tea in this present moment, there's things that I do like about it. I love the intensity of the smell, the way it actually kind of represents what I'm actually tasting in the cup. I'm not smelling that sweetness, but I am smelling that tropical intensity of coffee.

[00:12:59] So yeah, that could be what it is. That's perfectly fine. I don't think I would ever relax and get to the point of just wanting more out of my coffees from time to time, depending on the situation, depending on the things that I'm trying to do with the coffee.

[00:13:30] So this is me just rambling on about coffee intensity and greatness and letdown and not finding that sweetness and just kind of getting there to just appreciate it for what it is. So that's what I'm going to do now, if that makes any sense.

[00:13:36] I'm continuing to do the things that I'm doing and just sit here and just continue to drink this cup of coffee and see what else kind of things that I can get out of it. And probably the best thing I can do is have the least amount of expectations from a cup of coffee.

[00:13:56] It is just coffee, right? There are other things to worry about in life, right? Just coffee, right? Now, that's the point. It's amazing. Even when it sometimes lets you down, this is okay. Alright, I'm signing off. I'll talk to you later. Bye.