What is "Strong" Coffee? It May Depend on Cultural Context
Daily Coffee News Staff| August 11, 2026 When consumers say they want a “strong” coffee, they may be referring to any number of qualities — bitterness, dark color, roasted aroma or caffeine-linked stimulation — within a broader cultural context, according to new research from a team in Brazil. Published in May in theJournal of Sensory Studies, the qualitative study drew on 35 in-depth interviews with Brazilian coffee consumers in Campinas and Recife. It found that the phrase strong coffee, or “café forte,” carries layered and often contradictory meanings. The study drew on “social representations theory,” a framework for examining how shared cultural ideas shape individual perception. While famous for its vast,world-leading coffee production, Brazil is also theworld’s second-largest coffee-consuming countryby volume, behind the United States, with growingdemand for specialty coffee. “Through its scale of production and long-standing traditions, Brazil has helped shape a shared symbolic language around coffee that extends beyond its borders,” the study states. “Within the country, coffee is present in 98% of households and consumed in diverse settings, from morning meals to social gatherings.” The “Strong” Coffee Sensory Cues In addition to the in-depth in-person interviews, the study involved tasting three filter-brewed coffees — a “specialty” 100% arabica, a “gourmet” 100% arabica and a “traditional” arabica-robusta blend — prepared to standardized recipes. Bitterness, dark color, roasted aroma and body were the sensory cues consumers most consistently associated with strength. In a sentence-completion task, strong coffee was most often described as dark, bitter, full-bodied, smoky or astringent. Some people also tied strength to caffeine’s functional effect, describing it as a “pick-me-up” that helps them wake up and focus. Yet the broader pattern was ambivalent. The same qualities that made a coffee feel strong to one person made it feel harsh, burnt or low-quality to another. Weakness as a
Daily Coffee News Staff| August 11, 2026 When consumers say they want a “strong” coffee, they may be referring to any number of qualities — bitterness, dark color, roasted aroma or caffeine-linked stimulation — within a broader cultural context, according to new research from a team in Brazil.
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