A panel consisting of six highly-trained descriptive members (1
male and 5 females; age range 50e70 years) from the Sensory
Analysis Center at Kansas State University evaluated the coffee
samples. The panelists had completed 120 h of general training and
had a minimum of 1200 h of general sensory testing including
beverages and other food products. Three 90 min orientation
sessions were conducted to familiarize the panelists with the
evaluation process and the samples to be tested. Three coffee
samples from each stage, except for brewed coffee, were randomly
selected to be examined in the first two orientation sessions. The
last session was focused on six randomly selected brewed samples.
The coffee beans needed for the orientation sessions were roasted
1e2 days prior to the sessions. During orientation, the descriptive
panel developed a list of aromatic attributes for the study. A list of
15 appropriate aroma descriptors and their definitions was generated
for the samples. The list of descriptors is shown in Table 1. The
references needed for each attribute were also determined to
calibrate the intensity measurement.