You're not likely to find a coffee that advertises "notes of crabgrass" on the packaging.
And yet, if you're a coffee drinker—and if you’re reading this blog, I sure hope that you are—you've probably had a cup or two that tastes suspiciously like lawn clippings. So what gives?
Why Do Some Coffees Taste Like Grass?
Sure, some coffees have some pretty pronounced herbal notes. But if your joe screams bermuda grass more than, say, thyme—you might be wondering if something's wrong.
So what's the reason? It actually has to do with underdeveloped roasting.
Underdeveloped roasting is when the coffee beans are roasted for too short of a time, or at too low of a temperature.
This can result in a coffee that that tastes grassy, vegetal, or is even reminiscent of hay. And science proved long ago that hay is for horses. Not humans.
Do Certain Regions Produce "Grassier" Coffee?
I suppose it's definitely possible, though not definitively proven. There's a lot of anecdotal stuff around the web about coffee from certain regions being more likely to taste grassy.
And I've definitely heard some people associate grassiness with coffee beans that were sourced from "developing" countries.
But frankly, I think that's bull. I've drank a lot of coffee in my life. I've had some stellar single-origin coffees from some "developing" countries that tasted like anything but grass, and coffee grown in rich, alluvial soils in "developed" countries that tasted like a mouthful of fescue. (Not that I would know. I just really like saying "fescue.")
Other people claim anecdotally that coffee grown in the United States has a higher likelihood of tasting grassy. Which, again, I think is crap. I think these are all just personal experiences from small sample groups that people are extrapolating to make larger claims. On the Internet. Can you believe it?
The reality is, there are a TON of variables that go into roasting coffee—from the type of roaster to the Roast Master's technique to the actual coffee beans themselves. So in my opinion, without scientific evidence, it's tough to say that coffee from some place tastes grassy more often—though you certainly could type it a lot on the Internet and people would probably believe you.
No matter where your coffee comes from, if it tastes like grass—chances are it wasn't roasted correctly. And that can happen anywhere. All coffee beans have the potential to be underdeveloped when they're not roasted properly, regardless of the coffee's origin.
So if you want to avoid a cup of coffee that tastes like lawn clippings, make sure to buy your beans from a reputable roaster who takes care in developing the roast.
That way, you can enjoy all the complexities and nuances that your coffee has to offer—and not end up feeling like you're grazing in a pasture.
The Takeaway:
Raw (green) coffee beans taste, yep, like grass.
So when you're brewing coffee that tastes like grass, it's not that the beans are somehow magically channeling their inner savannah—it's that they weren't roasted long enough or hot enough to bring out their full potential flavor.
If you're stuck with a cup of coffee that tastes like the stuff your dog eats right before he pukes, don't despair. Just remember that it's not the coffee's fault. It's the roaster's. All you can do is make sure to buy your beans from a reputable roaster who knows how to roast good coffee.
*Of course, if you actually like the taste of grass in your coffee, then more power to you. I'm not here to judge. I'm here to inform and make puns. And that's why they call me The Roast Interesting Man in the World.
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