The characteristics and differences between soft drinks and hard drinks are provided for in specific legislation: Normative Instruction No. 8 of 2003. This instruction was established by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The whole difference is in the presence (soft drink) or not (hard drink) of natural fruit sugar in the drink. It's not difficult to tell the difference between hard coffee and soft coffee.
Hard drink: This nomenclature is directly linked to the classification of coffee as a drink. The hard drink results in a coffee that after roasting appears intense and full-bodied. Furthermore, it has a certain harshness and astringency similar to the feeling of eating a green fruit with cica. Hard coffees are considered to be of good quality, but they are not extraordinary, like soft coffees, which have greater complexity and sophistication.
Soft drink: The soft drink has a pleasant softness and sweetness to the palate, and may have floral, fruity, citrus, chocolate or caramelized notes, among others. It has a similar flavor to the strictly soft drink, but with less intense characteristics. The strictly soft drink has very striking softness and sweetness, an intermediate body and extremely pleasant to the palate.
The glossary below provides an introduction to basic terminologies about types of drinks:
Beverage: Classification commonly used in marketing to characterize coffee in terms of flavor and aroma.
Soft drink: Coffee that has a pleasant, mild and sweet aroma and flavor.
Soft drink: Coffee that has a slightly sweet and smooth flavor, but without astringency (taste like Cashew) or harshness of taste.
Strictly soft drink : Coffee that presents, together, all the characteristics of a “soft” aroma and flavor, but more pronounced.
Hard drink : Coffee that has an acrid, astringent and harsh flavor, but does not have an unpleasant aftertaste.
Rio drink: Coffee that has a typical and pronounced iodoform flavor.
Riada drink: Coffee that has a light flavor, typical of iodoform.
Rio zone drink : Coffee that has a very strong aroma and flavor, similar to iodoform or phenic acid, and is repugnant to the taste.
In the case of Robusta coffee , the classification of coffee by type of drink is as follows:
Excellent: coffee with a neutral flavor and medium acidity;
Good: has a neutral flavor and slight acidity;
Regular: has a typical Robusta flavor without acidity;
Abnormal: presents a flavor that is not characteristic of the product.
In addition to this terminology, there is another, unofficial, but also used by tasters to describe the coffees tasted. According to Senar, this is terminology that helps in composing the selling price of coffee :
Fermented: vinegary taste, due to the presence of acetic acid produced in an unwanted fermentation, which harms the drink. It is worth mentioning here that this is not fermented coffee produced for this purpose;
Green taste: has a flavor or texture associated with the presence of the green defect;
Dirty hard: coffee with a “hard” standard, but with harshness, an earthy flavor or impurities;
Hard old: “hard” standard, but with a straw or sackcloth flavor. This occurs because it has been stored for a long time, or because it has been stored incorrectly;
Hard for better: it is a coffee classified as “hard”, but presenting superior aroma and flavor nuances;
Hard fermented : coffee with a “hard” standard, but which ferments in one or more cups;
Hard green: has a “hard” pattern, but has very high astringency;
Full-bodied: coffee that has viscosity and density on the tongue;
Duro-riado: “hard” pattern, but which has one or more cups with a “riado” pattern;
Riado-rio: coffee with a “riado” pattern, but which has one or more cups with a “rio” pattern;
“Coffee that burst a cup”: this is the same as saying that one or more cups of the sample analyzed have problems, such as a vinegary or iodine taste.
Classification by drink concerns the taste, flavor, taste and aroma or smell of roasted coffee. Coffee can be sweet or have high acidity. Or a little of each flavor and aroma, in a percentage mixture calculated by expert tasters. The acid content of the drink originates from the fermentation of organic matter and mainly the natural sugars of the fruit. It results from the action and multiplication of different types of microorganisms (natural yeasts) existing in the crops and on the farms, which are difficult to control as long as there is a high moisture content in the fruit.
The main undesirable fermentation is that which transforms sugars into acids (vinegar) and aldehydes, responsible for the derogatory flavor and odor of the drink, destroying the sweet and smooth aroma that roasted coffee would have if the natural sugars were not destroyed by fermentation, which normally occurs during the drought process. Therefore, avoiding fruit fermentation represents the key point, the important phase, to obtain coffees with quality drink.
The type of grain is not linked to the flavor of the drink. The coffee may be excellent, with almost no defects, but it may not be soft, depending on how the fermentation process took place.
We know that the quality of the drink is mainly affected by fermentation in the drying process. Either in drought on the tree, when the already ripe fruit (cherry) begins to lose water and undergoes the wilting process, losing water, passing to the buoy stage, or in the yard, after harvesting the cherry, green and buoy fruits, mixed or separated, they can all modify and alter the composition of their chemical substances through the action of yeasts or fermentation agents, transforming different types of sugars into different acids and aldehydes, with unpleasant flavors, which detract from the coffee drink.
So, to obtain a quality drink it is necessary to lock, stop, prevent, avoid the bad, pernicious, harmful and ruinous process of fermentations that destroy sugars into various other substances with unpleasant flavors and odors, which devalue the coffee drink .
Finally, soft drinks are associated with gourmet coffee and specialty coffee , which, as they have higher quality, are more valued and also more expensive. Hard coffees are superior, but do not reach gourmet and special quality. They are commonly found on supermarket shelves , with a slightly higher price than other lower quality coffees.
Now that you know the difference between coffee drinks, I'm sure you'll enjoy your coffee in a different way. Tell us about your experience with your home coffee, is it soft, hard or another category?
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