Hedonic and descriptive sensory evaluation of instant and fresh coffee products

Abstract

Sensory acceptance testing of instant and filtered coffees using naive assessors (n = 40) and rapid descriptive profiling using trained assessors (n = 10) was used to determine the sensory hedonic and descriptive drivers of 13 (8 filtered, 5 instant) of the most popular coffee brands on the Irish and UK market. Training was undertaken using commercial coffees to highlight sensory attributes, which is common in industry. ANOVA-Partial Least Squares Regression (APLSR) was used to process the data generated by the assessors. Sensory results indicated that training was effective and that filter coffees were more positively correlated with liking of flavor, aroma and overall acceptability. In contrast, instant coffees were negatively correlated with hedonic attributes (with the exception of one instant coffee, I2). This indicates large quality and sensory variation between instant and fresh filter coffees currently on the market. It also shows a large variation between the instant coffees currently on the market. It is clear that instant coffee lacks the desirable aromas and flavors associated with fresh filter coffee as determined from the descriptive analysis. Thus, we can conclude that there is market potential for a good quality instant coffee that has similar attributes to a fresh filter coffee.