coffee taster
Coffee tasters taste coffee samples in order to evaluate the features of the product or to prepare blending formulas. They determine the product's grade, estimate its market value, and explore how these products may appeal to different consumer tastes. They write blending formulas for workers who prepare coffee products for commercial purposes.
coffee taster coffee tasters taste coffee samples in order to evaluate the features of the product or to prepare blending formulas. They determine the product's grade, estimate its market value, and explore how these products may appeal to different consumer tastes. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include types of coffee beans, temperature scales, food and beverage industry, coffee characteristics, tolerate strong smells.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £30,918 a year for Weighers, graders and sorters (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 8144). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Craft and related trades workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only coffee taster, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 7. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Food Production
- Production and Processing
- Chemistry
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Biology
- Mathematics
- Administrative
What you'd actually do
- Taste or smell foods or beverages to ensure that flavors meet specifications or to select samples with specific characteristics.
- Measure, test, or weigh bottles, cans, or other containers to ensure that hardness, strength, or dimensions meet specifications.
- Maintain records of testing results or other documents as required by state or other governing agencies.
- Monitor and control temperature of products.
- Analyze test results to classify products or compare results with standard tables.
- Record or compile test results or prepare graphs, charts, or reports.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does coffee taster do?
Coffee tasters taste coffee samples in order to evaluate the features of the product or to prepare blending formulas. They determine the product's grade, estimate its market value, and explore how these products may appeal to different consumer tastes. They write blending formulas for workers who prepare coffee products for commercial purposes.
What skills does coffee taster need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include types of coffee beans, temperature scales, food and beverage industry, coffee characteristics, tolerate strong smells, perform sensory evaluation of food products. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace coffee taster?
Our AI-durability model gives coffee taster a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.