SMELLBOOK REFERENCE · SB-0005
Coffee
Permanent ID: smellbook: · updated 2026-10-25, revision 5
Character EDITORIAL
Coffee smells roasted, warm and deep, with a bitter edge and hints of toast, nuts, caramel or dark fruit depending on the brew.
Words: roasted, warm, bitter, dark. Families: Temperature and texture, Sharp and bitter, Cooked and fermented.
States: roasted (VERIFIED). A state says how an entry is met, such as wet, aged or roasted. It does not create a new smell, and it adds no scientific fact by itself: states marked EDITORIAL come from the entry's own records, and only those marked VERIFIED are reported by a VERIFIED claim.
Met in: Kitchen, Coffee shop, Office, Street, Station.
Evidence
Scientific evidence
- Coffee aroma is chemically complex (CLM-COFFEE-001). Aileen Pua et al., Recent advances in analytical strategies for coffee volatile studies: Opportunities and challenges, Food Chemistry, 2022.
- The aroma released when roasted coffee is ground (CLM-COFFEE-002). Masayuki Akiyama et al., Analysis of Volatile Compounds Released during the Grinding of Roasted Coffee Beans Using Solid-Phase Microextraction, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2003.
- Odorants with the greatest impact on roasted Arabica coffee flavour (CLM-COFFEE-003). M. Czerny, F. Mayer & W. Grosch, Sensory Study on the Character Impact Odorants of Roasted Arabica Coffee, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 1999.
Molecules named in these claims: 2-furfurylthiol, 2-methylbutanal, 3-methylbutanal, 4-vinylguaiacol, acetaldehyde. A molecule listed here is named in a VERIFIED claim about this smell. It is not presented as the cause of the smell; each claim says what its source supports.
Cite
SmellBook. (2026). Coffee (revision 5, 2026-10-25). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:coffee. https://smellbook.com/smells/coffee
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