Here it goes: Tasting Tuesday the whole shebang is here! After covering specific elements of the tasting method I have learned from books, my AROXA course, and working with other professional tasters it is time to take you through the entire method in one swoop.
Check out the explanations for how to perform each step and why each step is included below the video.
My Critical Tasting Method: The How
Step 1: Distant Sniff
Hold the glass about 12 inches from your face and sniff. Move it slightly closer about 8 inches away and sniff again. See if you can smell anything at all here.
Step 2: Up and Over Sniff
Start with the glass about 12 inches away and about six inches below your nose. Move the glass continuously and make a motion up and in toward your nose, getting about 2 inches below your nose, do not stop moving. Move the glass up and away from your nose at an angle so the end point is 12 inches away and about 6 inches above your nose. Think about how the aroma changes as the glass moves.
Step 3: Close Sniff
Bring the glass to your nose and take two to three 1-second sniffs. Move the glass at least 12 inches from your nose and think about what you sensed.
NOTE 1: Write down your initial assessment of the aroma. If you’re judging a flight or doing a blind tasting of multiple samples, now is a good time to move onto the next sample. Conduct steps 1 through 3 on each sample and then return.
Step 4: Long Sniff
With the glass in the same location as the Close Sniff, take a single three second sniff. Move the glass at least 12 inches from your nose. Did this sniff confirm or contrast with your initial assessment of the aroma.
Step 5: Covered Sniff
Cover the glass with your palm creating a seal. Swirl the liquid in the glass for about 3 seconds. Align your hand (still sealing the glass) with your nose. Remove your hand and take a Long Sniff.
NOTE 2: Write down your final assessment of the aroma. Does it confirm your initial idea? Or contrast with it? Try to think in three layers of flavor notes.
Step 6: Retronasal “Sniff”
Hold your nose. Inhale a breath (this is what people forget to do most often!) take a medium sized sip. Close your lips tightly. Swish beer to cover your whole tongue and palate. Simultaneously swallow and exhale out your nose, keeping your lips closed
See what flavor fills your mouth, is it noticeably different than the top note of the aroma? If so, write it down
Step 7: Flavor Sip
Take a medium size sip. Focus on the similarities and differences between the aroma and the taste. Are any flavor notes stronger in the taste than the aroma? Does the balance change?
NOTE 3: Make note of the beer’s taste (remember this would be the five taste sweet, sour, bitter, salty, or umami) as well as if the taste is enhancing or detracting from any flavor notes.
Step 8: Mouthfeel Sip
Take a medium sip and hold it in your mouth until the carbonation dissipates. Notice how much carbonation was there and what the bubbles felt like. Then swish the flat beer in your mouth to get a sense of the body.
Step 9: Aftertaste Sip
Take a medium sip, swish for a second or two and then swallow while exhaling hard out of your mouth. This enhances the feeling of warming (from alcohol) or drying (from astringency) in the back of your throat.
NOTE 4: Record the carbonation, body, alcohol warming, astringency, overall mouthfeel and aftertaste.
Critical Tasting Method: The Why
Step 1: Distance Sniff
Getting a full dose of aroma molecules can cause you to go nose-blind to certain scents. This helps you ease in and notice which aromas are strongest. For a full explanation check this post.
Step 2: Up and Over Sniff
This again eases you into getting the full-on scent of the sample. It also allows you to compare the scent as it approaches your nose, verse as it leaves your nose. Molecules travel differently depending on factors like size and weight. For a full explanation check this post.
Step 3: Short Sniff
Taking short sniffs gives you small doses of the scent and keeps you from drying out your all important nasal mucus. For a full explanation check this post.
NOTE 1: At this point, you have enough aroma data to get down some flavor notes and it shouldn’t have taken you too long so other samples will still have their volatile aromas intact.
Step 4: Long Sniff
Sniffing for three full seconds gives your sensory memory more data to work with, without overwhelming it and without drying out your mucus. For a full explanation check this post.
Step 5: Covered Sniff
This is the final orthonasal sniff to confirm the flavor picture you are sensing so far. Covering the glass allows aroma molecules to gather in the space between your hand and the top of the liquid. This delivers the most potent dose of aroma yet. For a full explanation check this post.
NOTE 2: These two sniffs give you a better idea of the aroma and the sample will be warmer.
Step 6: Retronasal “Sniff”
This sniff encourages you to use the other side of your olfactory epithelium which exposes different receptors to the aroma molecules. For a full explanation check this post.
Step 7: Flavor Sip
This is a simple sip that allows you to focus on flavor (the aromas you’ve sensed so far coming together with taste.
NOTE 3: Make note of the beer’s taste.
Step 8: Mouthfeel Sip
Mouthfeel can be easy to skip over. This sip helps you to pause and focus on how the beer feels separating it from how the beer tastes and smells. More information on what to assess in the mouthfeel sip in this post.
Step 9: Aftertaste Sip
This taste forces you to slow down and assess the entire flavor of the beer from start to finish. The warm air being exhaled also enhances the warming and astringent feelings in your throat. For a full explanation check this post. For more details on what to sense in this sip, check out this post.
Wheww now that that’s all done we can finally move on to exploring specific flavor compounds, styles, memory techniques and all kinds of concepts on Tasting Tuesdays. If you have ideas for what you would like to see covered, let me know @beerswithmandy on Instagram! Or in the comments of the Youtube video!
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