Cold Brew Coffee: Consumer Acceptability and Characterization Using the Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) Method

The aim of this study was to investigate consumers’ acceptability and perceived sensory attributes of cold brew coffee, which is increasing in popularity. A total of 120 consumers evaluated liking of 13 cold brew coffee samples and checked sensory attributes they perceived using the check-all-that-apply (CATA) method. Correspondence analysis identified characteristics of each cold brew sample and brewing methods, namely cold brew, coffee machine brewed but served cold, ready-to-drink, and purchased from a coffee shop. In addition, a reduced number of terms were reviewed for common-to-all cold brew samples (17 terms) and specific to each sample (48 terms), which also discriminated among samples. Furthermore, data on consumers’ liking were not influenced by caffeine contents and most of the volatile compounds, but chlorogenic acid and trigonelline contents were negatively related with sensory data. This study specifies the characteristics of cold brew coffee using the CATA method, shows consumers’ segmentation using acceptability, and investigates the relationship between sensory liking data and non-volatile, volatile compounds of coffee.