Coffee vs. wine: the cherry and the grape compared

They punctuate any good meal, lubricate social gatherings and are blessed with a cornucopia of flavour, but coffee and wine are worlds apart when it comes to production, trade and consumption, reports Tobias Pearce

With the potential for notes of curry, tobacco, or even soil, coffee is one of the most chemically complex foodstuffs we consume. Comprised of more than 1,000 compounds, chlorogenic acids (CGAs) deliver many of coffee’s infamous bitter notes, while furan and furanones are associated with caramel, and pyrazines relate to the perception of nuts.