A graph for those who like coffee and spiders

Do you like coffee and spiders? If the immediate, unthinking answer to that question is “Yes”, then perhaps you will like this coffee spider graph. A coffee spider graph specialist (who goes by the pen name “Staff”) at a company called Coffee Analysts explains it on their web site:

Coffee Taste Spider Graphs Explained

By Staff | November 7th, 2011

…In essence, a spider graph displays a series of attributes on a predefined scale to create a visual representation of how a product tastes. The key to spider graphs is in blind testing by a trained panel. At Coffee Analysts, a team of professional cuppers (tasters) convene in a dedicated sensory laboratory devoid of external stimuli: no talking, no perfumes, no distractions. These cuppers independently analyze the coffee in terms of taste and aroma… Coffee Analysts can complete descriptive Analysis projects and chart the results in spider chart format.

This kind of chart, also known as a radar chart, can be wonderfully confusing when used to display the behavior of several variables. Deployed skillfully in a PowerPoint presentation, they can be as effective as live spiders at frightening an audience. Microsoft says: “Spider charts are commonly used by consultants“. Microsoft offers this as an example of a consultant-grade spider chart:

BONUS (unrelated): A spider identification chart