There are many ways to enjoy specialty coffee and play around with flavour perception, ranging from using different-shaped cups to even aerating coffee. But a tasting flight might be considered the “ultimate” experience.

Common in the wine and craft beer industries too, tasting menus or flights allow customers to sample a selection of coffee beverages – including espresso, filter, and milk-based drinks. 

Baristas can also have the freedom to be as creative as they want with these menu options. Serving different processing methods, origins, and varieties can be a unique way to showcase the full spectrum of flavour and mouthfeel.

So as increasingly rare and exclusive coffees become more popular, tasting flights could be a useful tool for cafés and roasters to introduce more people to specialty coffee.

To find out more, I spoke to Reef Bessette, co-founder of The Coffee Movement, and Amy Chow, Marketing Officer at Moving Coffee.

You may also like our article on how different shaped cups affect coffee flavour.

What are the different types of coffee flights?

A tasting flight is a concept that not all coffee consumers will be familiar with. In the wine and craft beer industries, however, tasting menus have become increasingly popular in recent years. 

Bartenders or sommeliers typically serve three to five small samples of various beers and wines at the same time. This allows customers to experience different flavours, compare sensory profiles (i.e. a Chardonnay and a Pinot Grigio, or an IPA and a Gose), and learn more about beer and wine making.

Although coffee flights are much more niche, a small but growing number of specialty cafés and roasters are including them on their menus – especially businesses which sell more premium and exclusive coffees.

Reef Bessette is a co-founder of The Coffee Movement, a coffee shop and lab in San Francisco, California. He is also the 2023 Coffee Masters NYC Champion and US Barista Championship finalist.

“Unless you work in a café or have an impressive home bar set up, most people rarely have the opportunity to taste and compare different coffees in one sitting,” he says. “Tasting flights provide customers with that opportunity. We serve coffee in sample-sized glasses for a comfortable, at-your-own-pace tasting experience.”

There are several types of coffee flights, including:

• Espresso – usually with different origins, varieties, or processing methods
• Filter or pour over – similar to espresso flights, used to showcase differences between various origins, varieties, and processing methods  
• Brewing method – a specific coffee prepared in three different ways, such as espresso, pour over, and small milk-based drink (e.g. piccolo or cortado)
• Roast profile – often ranging from light to dark to demonstrate how roast level can change coffee flavour
• Cup or vessel – allows customers to experience how the shape or material of drinking vessels can impact flavour and aroma perception

How can baristas serve tasting flights?

Tasting flights can be one of the most creative ways for baristas to showcase the diversity of flavours and aromas in coffee. But for coffee shops interested in adding flights to their menus, a little bit of guidance can go a long way.

Reef tells me his team serves a filter coffee flight, as well as one coffee prepared in three different ways: filter, espresso, and piccolo.

“We serve three coffees in 4oz (118ml) glasses,” he says. “Customers can choose if they want to experience how different brew methods affect the flavour of a single coffee or to taste how wildly different coffees can be even with the same brew method.”

Amy Chow is the Marketing Officer at Moving Coffee, a roaster and tasting lab in Vancouver BC, Canada. She explains that Moving Coffee offers single origin espresso, pour over, and cappuccino flights (which includes two cappuccinos and a filter coffee), a single origin coffee three ways (espresso, filter, and piccolo), and the Figgjo Oslo cup set filter flight. 

These three distinct cups are Tulipan (cone-shaped), Splitt (wide mouth), and Åpen (classic U-shape), and are some of the first commercially-available drinking vessels specifically designed to highlight different characteristics of coffee. For example, the Tulipan cups can be paired with coffees that have lower acidity levels, while the Splitt cups are used for coffees with intense fruity and floral aromas and brighter acidities. The Åpen cups, meanwhile, pair well with coffees that have fruity characteristics and medium-intense acidities

“Customers can choose their desired flight format and coffees, or they can go for an ‘omakase’ style experience,” Amy says. “Omakase” is a Japanese phrase used when ordering in restaurants that largely translates to “I’ll leave it up to you” in English – indicating that the customer wants the chef to choose their dishes.

Should they be served a certain way?

There are no specific rules for coffee flights, so coffee shops can take their own unique approach to serving them that’s in line with their values and branding.

“To enhance the flavour experience, we serve all of our flights with no cream and sugar, and most with no milk,” Amy says. “We also provide information cards with tasting notes.”

Reef, on the other hand, emphasises that accounting for consumer preferences is also important: “Coffee is such a personal experience, so while we do recommend tasting filter coffee black, or drinking piccolos made with cow’s milk, we also offer a side of cream, sugar, and alternative milk upon request.”

He adds that guiding customers – especially those who are newer to specialty coffee – can also be helpful.

“When ordering something like a flight, customers are usually open to recommendations and new experiences, but if you want your guests to have the best chance of truly enjoying it, you sometimes need to bridge the gap to make the experience more comfortable,” he explains. “Not everyone will drink light roast experimental process espresso, and that’s okay.

“While we also recommend tasting coffee after it’s cooled to experience different flavours, we believe everyone should serve or experience flights in their own way – no order and no rules,” he continues.

Will tasting flights become more popular in specialty coffee?

With an ever-growing range of brew methods, new processing methods, and “rediscovered” varieties – as well as a bigger emphasis on enhancing the customer experience – tasting flights are sure to remain popular among coffee enthusiasts. But will we ever see them really take off in specialty coffee?

“I see more and more flights or tasting experiences popping up all the time in the coffee industry,” Reef says. “There’s no doubt they’re very popular, and I believe interest in these kinds of offerings will only grow in the future. 

“If we look at other industries like craft beer and wine bars, tasting flights have been a staple on menus for years and continue to gain popularity,” he adds.

Amy agrees, saying: “With our vision of ‘Moving Specialty Coffee Forward’, we aim to broaden people’s understanding of what specialty coffee truly embodies. Our tasting flights serve as one of the most effective means to achieve this goal.”

Tasting flights are a simple yet effective way for baristas to showcase just how diverse and exciting specialty coffee is. Although they may not suit every customer’s needs, adding coffee flights to a menu can be both a unique selling point and a useful tool to introduce more people to specialty coffee.

If coffee shops or roasters decide to include tasting menus as part of their offerings, creativity is fundamental. In turn, they can provide a one-of-a-kind experience to their customers and inspire others to learn more about coffee.

Enjoyed this? Then read our article on how aeration can improve coffee flavour.

Photo credits: Moving Coffee

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