Paper Short Abstract:

This paper examines how sensory practices communicate coffee quality, focusing on differences between Brazilian and British coffee tasters. By investigating these multisensory dynamics, the study highlights how embodied tasting practices convey meaning and value within the global food system.

Paper Abstract:

This paper explores how sensory language and flavour perception communicate coffee quality beyond textual descriptors, uncovering how sensory practices shape the global coffee trade. Focusing on divergences between Brazilian and British coffee tasters, it examines how the sensory lexicon—anchored in tools like the Coffee Taster’s Flavour Wheel—reproduces Northern Hemisphere hierarchies, marginalizing producers in coffee-growing nations. By investigating these multisensory dynamics, the study highlights how embodied tasting practices convey meaning and value within the global food system.

Grounded in a sensory anthropology of food but paired with experimental sensory science work, we looked at how professional coffee tasters from Brazil and the UK develop and deploy sensory references. Blind cupping sessions reveal contextual shifts in flavour descriptions when evaluating coffee for different markets. Complementary interviews and participant observation document the tacit, material, and social dimensions of sensory expertise, emphasizing unwritten forms of communication central to the coffee supply chain.

By analyzing sensory practices as communicative acts, this research challenges established hierarchies of taste and knowledge. It considers how unwriting can reframe food quality and value, centering diverse lived experiences and non-textual narratives. This approach offers pathways to disrupt systemic inequalities, fostering more inclusive and equitable communication within the global coffee economy.