Question: Fist sip of my dripped coffee feeling bitter, is that normal?

[edward1982]

Question: First sip of my dripped coffee feeling bitter, is that normal?

Hi all coffee lover,

I am a coffee beginner, I tried to dripped the some single origin coffee. The first sip of the coffee always has the strong bitter taste and then after the first sip the bitterness is gone. Is this normal?

 

[CucamongaDan]

The profile of tastes does change as the cup cools. A lot of the good flavors are hard to taste when it is close to brewing temperature.

Another factor is that your taste buds may be getting saturated with the bitter taste when you take that first sip, so the subsequent sips don't seem as bitter.

So overall, do you like the taste of your coffee? If yes, continue to enjoy! If no, and you think it's a little too bitter overall, consider that you might be "over-extracting"- which just means brewing it too strong. Lots of ways to adjust that- use a coarser grind, lower the water temperature, decrease the steep time, use less coffee for the same amount of water. Just a little adjustment in any of these can make a big difference.

Also, needless to say, some coffees are naturally more bitter than others, and the roasting influences it too.


Hope you're still reading this and enjoying your coffee! I'd love to hear more details of what kind of coffees you've tried, what kind of dripper you use, and your brewing technique!

 

[coffeefanatic232]

Good answers from the replies above. I think it likely has the most to do with your perception as (a) the coffee cools, and (b) your tongue gets used to the bitter taste.

Regarding (b) above, this is called the phasic sensory response. Ever been in a room where something smells bad? But after a few minutes you don't quite notice it anymore? That's because your sense of small (olfactory glands) are part of the phasic response system where, in the presence of a persistent stimulus, your ability to perceive it decreases over time. Your taste buds are highly integrated with your sense of smell and operate in a similar way.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009250917302816

All of this to say, part of it is you probably just get used to the bitterness.