Once you have a good understanding of the flavor profiles characteristic of the three major coffee growing regions, and practice comparative tastings regularly, you can get crazy and do impressive things like tasting blind. You can be like Frasier and Niles in a wine tasting - spouting off erudite terms like "round and unassuming." Although, coffee connoisseurs do tend to lack pretension and probably wouldn't be caught dead making such sissy statements. But nonetheless, with a little practice you can impress others with your new-found coffee knowledge.

Three Major Growing Regions
 
Latin America - Latin American coffees tend to have a bright, clean acidity with an inherent sweetness. Also typical of these coffees, are hints of spice. I'm not a big Latin American coffee fan because of the liveliness, but everyone's palate is different. Although, I do enjoy Guatemalan coffee with its tasty hints of chocolate.

Africa and Arabia - Coffees from Africa and Arabia are floral, fruity and sweet. They can have flavors reminiscent of wine, which is often referred to as "winy." These coffees can also be quite mellow. There tends to be citrus notes, and the acidity can sometimes be pungent.

Pacific - I'm partial to coffees from the Pacific due to their inherent smoothness and earthy and nutty flavors. I also love the richness and full-body characteristic of Pacific coffees.

The last posting in the coffee tasting series will be all about the best vehicles for tasting. Stay tuned.

The Art of Tasting Coffee - Part 1: Like a Fine Wine

The Art of Tasting Coffee - Part 2: It Doesn't All Have to Taste Like Mud