off-notes
Pitches gone wrong
Off-notes are unwanted flavors or aromas that detract from how something should taste or smell.
The term appears most often in wine, coffee, and food criticism: The batch had off-notes of cardboard and wet dog.
Off-notes suggest something has gone wrong—improper storage, contamination, or flawed production.
The term extends to music, where an off-note is simply a wrong or out-of-tune note.
Plugged with bark stopper
- mouseyTimid and inconspicuous
- reductionMaking something smaller
- acetaldehydeSimplest two-carbon aldehyde
- barnyardFarm's animal enclosure
cooked · oxidized · sulfurous · pricked · cloudy · lightstruck
Make impure
- mustinessStale, damp odor
- sournessAcidic taste quality
- bitternessSharp, unpleasant taste or feeling
- stalenessLoss of freshness
rancidity · spoilage · fermentation · oxidation · sulfur · vinegar · acetic · moldy
corked
Plugged with bark stopper
- mouseyTimid and inconspicuous
- reductionMaking something smaller
- acetaldehydeSimplest two-carbon aldehyde
barnyard · cooked · oxidized · sulfurous · pricked · cloudy · lightstruck
taint
Make impure
- mustinessStale, damp odor
- sournessAcidic taste quality
- bitternessSharp, unpleasant taste or feeling
staleness · rancidity · spoilage · fermentation · oxidation · sulfur · vinegar · acetic · moldy · curdled
imbalance
Lack of proportion
- harshnessUnsparing quality or manner
- syntheticProduced artificially, not natural
- cloyingExcessively sweet or sentimental
discordance · jarring · mismatch · sharpness · flat · muddy · overwhelming · chemical · sour · rancid
clinker
Fused coal residue
mistake · blunder · fumble · miss · botch · inaccuracy · howler · pitchy · flat · sharp