Body
‘Body’ refers to the mouthfeel of coffee, which mainly comes from suspended solids (very small cell wall fragments) and coffee oils. Lingle suggests that the two sensations can be partially distinguished by separating ‘texture’ from ‘weight’ — for example, a coffee with a high oil content but a small amount of suspended solids could have a creamy texture but a light weight.
Petracco writes, ‘Most of [mouthfeel’s] nature is related to small movements of the tongue against palate and gums, which apply a shear stress to the liquid performing a sort of rheological measurement of viscosity and texture.’ In other words, we press the liquid against the surfaces of our mouth to feel how thick it is and to evaluate the texture.
The oils in coffee also play another role in tasting: they reduce surface tension,