University of Oregon Researchers Use Battery Tool to Reveal Coffee's Flavor Fingerprint

University of Oregon researchers have adapted a potentiostat, a tool normally used to test batteries, to send an electrical current through coffee and identify its chemical fingerprint that controls flavor.

The simple process offers an objective measure of what makes a good cup, said lead researcher Christopher Hendon, a university chemist known on campus as "Dr. Coffee."

"It's an objective way to make a statement about what people like in a cup of coffee," Hendon said in a news release.

Traditional tests focus mainly on coffee strength. But flavor depends on other factors too, such as roast color and extraction strength.

The team's work shows how to go beyond strength measurements for a full flavor profile that cafes can repeat.

"The reason you have an enjoyable cup of coffee is almost certainly that you have selected a coffee of a particular roast color and extracted it to a desired strength," Hendon said.

"Until now, we haven't been able to separate those variables. Now we can diagnose what gives rise to that delicious cup."

In tests, the researchers examined four samples from the same English roaster. They spotted a defective batch that had slipped past the roaster's quality control, even though all samples looked identical.

"In the short term, we hope this is something that will make a difference in coffee shops and in the coffee industry," Hendon said.

The team published the findings in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications. The advances are promising but will take time to reach consumers, said Bryan Quoc Le, a consulting food scientist and founder and CEO of Mendocino Food Consulting in California.

"[The science] still relies on expensive components to make it work into a feasible technology," Le told Fox News Digital.

"The interesting bit here is that now we have a way to access the subjective quality in the taste and flavor of coffee using quantifiable measurements. Which means we could start seeing a serious improvement in the coffee game across all coffee shops over the years."