Most of us are au fait with the concept of wine tasting - with organised 'experiences' and fayres offering such an activity in countries all over the world. But beverage tasting doesn't stop at wine - whilst majorly less represented, coffee tasting is arguably an activity of equal skill...

This introductory guide to coffee tasting will therefore boost any budding barista in the world of coffee tasting; providing the basic knowledge and vocabulary required for anyone to confidently enter coffee tasting territory. All you need is a coffee vending machine with a selection of varied coffees and a couple of colleagues who are willing to participate too!

Here are the four things you will need to know about when coffee tasting...

1. Acidity - The acidity of coffee is said to be the most important characteristic which differentiates between one coffee and another. Acidity can be assessed by the sharpness around the edges of the tongue and towards the back of the palate. However, do be careful not to confuse acidity with sourness as these are entirely different in the world of coffee tasting. When you see coffees described as 'mellow' this essentially means they have low acidity. This requires balancing though, as coffees with little or no acidity are often deemed bland.

2. Body - The body of coffee refers to its texture and the way it tastes in the mouth. As an example, ask yourself whether the coffee you're tasting is smooth and light or rich and heavy? The body of coffee is decided based on the amount of oils and soluble compounds taken during the brewing process. Typically, a stronger brew would be considered to have more body.

3. Aroma - As the name suggests, the aroma is the way in which coffee smells when inhaled as a result of contact with the oils released during the brewing process. In order to assess a coffee's aroma, place your nose very close to the beverage and inhale fully. In order to describe the aroma you may use words such as burnt, fragrant, musty, nutty, winey, spicy, chocolaty, earthy and bland.

4. Flavour - The flavour assesses and combines the previous three points, assessing the total effect of the acidity, body and aroma in addition to other sensations experienced by our tongues such as bitterness, sourness, saltiness or sweetness. This criteria can vary greatly and differ from one coffee taster to the next.

So rally your colleagues, raid your office coffee machines and transform yourselves into coffee connoisseurs.