EP 1069 Part 4 of 5 | How Language Shapes Coffee Quality (Ian Fretheim) Map It Forward
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Episode Description
This is Part 4 of a five-part series with Ian Fretheim, Director of Sensory Analysis at Cafe Imports.
Throughout this series of The Daily Coffee Pro Podcast by Map It Forward, Lee Safar and Ian Fretheim are exploring one of coffee's most challenging questions: What is quality coffee?
After examining quality, specialty coffee and sensory education, this conversation turns to something many people overlook:
The language we use to describe coffee.
Coffee travels through multiple stages before reaching a consumer. At every step of that journey, producers, exporters, importers, roasters, cafés and consumers are all describing the same coffee, but often using completely different language because they have different goals, different customers and different commercial realities.
Lee and Ian explore why technical accuracy isn't always effective communication, why language must match its audience, and how descriptors that work in one part of the supply chain can become meaningless somewhere else.
The discussion also examines how rising coffee prices and changing market conditions are influencing the way businesses talk about coffee today. Rather than simply describing flavour, language has become a commercial tool that shapes purchasing decisions, customer expectations and ultimately the kinds of coffees producers choose to grow and process.
As the conversation develops, Lee and Ian discuss the evolution of flavour descriptors, the growing popularity of highly processed coffees, and why coffee assessment systems must continue evolving if they are to keep pace with what is actually happening throughout the industry.
This episode demonstrates that language doesn't just communicate quality, it actively shapes it.
Connect with Ian Fretheim here: