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Glossary of Coffee

Acidity Acidity is tasted mainly at the tip of the tongue and is the snappy quality that makes coffee refreshing. This is not the same as sensing bitter or sour tastes.
After Taste The aftertaste is the sensation of coffee residue left in the mouth after swallowing. The after taste can be described with similar terms as the Aroma (see below.)
After Dinner Roast An after dinner roast is a blend of coffee is specially designed to compliment desserts.
Aged Coffee Aged coffee has been held in warehouses for several years to reduce acidity and increase body.
Altura Altura is Spanish for ‘heights’ and Altura Coatepec coffee is high grown coffee from the historical town of Coatepec, Mexico
Americano An Americano is a shot or two of espresso that is cut with very hot water to fill an American size cup.
American Roast An Amercian roast is coffee that is roasted to traditional American taste with a medium brown colour. Also known as a brown roast – the ‘Full City’ version is a darker brown colour with oil drops.
Aquapulp A process where sticky fruit pulp is removed from freshly picked coffee beans by scrubbing.
Arabian Mocha Arabian Mocha coffee is from the Yemen port of Mocha which grown in the northern mountains terraces of the country and naturally dried. The word Mocha is associated with chocolate because when cocoa was first introduced in Europe it reminded people of the Mocha coffee from Yemen.
Arabica Arabica coffee produces about 70% of the world’s coffee and it is the earliest cultivated and most widely grown species of coffee tree. Arabica is more delicate than robusta coffee and needs higher altitudes and more intensive cultivation.  It grows in the tropical and equatorial strips of America, Africa and Asia where the temperature always resembles spring or mild summer. The flavour of Arabica coffee can be described as fragrant, sweet, round, slightly acidic and often chocolatey, with a light hazel to reddish crema and a pleasant bitter note. The Arabica bean is elongated, with a sinuous groove and caffeine content of Arabica ranges from 0.9 to 1.7%.
Aroma The aroma is the smell or sensation released by brewed coffee. The aroma of coffee can be described as any of the following: caramelised, carbony (for dark roasts), chocolately, fruity, floral, malty, rich, round and spicy.
Arusha Arusha is a region in Tanzania that produces Arabica coffee, mostly from Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro.
Artisan Coffee Artisan coffee is produced by skilled roasters using high quality Arabica beans and modern roasting equipment.
Bar The Bar is the pressure rating on most espresso machines. 9 BAR is the typical accepted pressure for brewing espresso is 8.8 atmospheres of pressure or 130 pounds per square inch.
Barista Barista is an Italian term for a professional person highly skilled in the operation of the espresso bar system. Barista’s will often be skilled in producing Latte Art.
Batch Roaster This is a machine that roasts a quantity or ‘batch’ of coffee at a time. The beans are removed before the next batch is roasted unless you have a continuous roaster which produces coffee at a fixed rate per hour.
Bitter This is a description of a taste which comes from the back area of the tongue. Dark roasts tend to be bitter otherwise bitter coffee tends to be the result of over extraction.
Blade Grinder When a blade is used to grind coffee.
Blend A blend is a mixture of two or more varieties of coffee
Body The body is the feeling of the weight of coffee in the mouth. It can be described as any of the following; light, medium, thin, watery, syrupy, heavy, rich or creamy.
Boiler The main heating unit for water in an espresso machine. It can be made of brass, stainless steel, copper or aluminium and is one of the most important components of the machine.
Bouquet The smell of coffee grounds is called the bouquet.
Briny The salty sensation caused by excessive heat after brewing
Burr Grinder A burr grinder ss the recommended type of grinder for espresso making. It features two disks, one stationery, one rotating , which slice away portions of a coffee bean into very fine particles.
Café Au Lait A french drink made with equal parts of steamed milk and brewed coffee.
Café Con Leche 1.5 ounces espresso with steamed milk to fill an 8 ounce cup
Café Con Panna Espresso topped with whipped cream
Café Corretto Espresso with a shot of brandy, cognac or liqueur
Café Creme 1.5 ounces of espresso combines with one ounce of heavy cream
Café Doppio A double shot of espresso with one shot of water
Café Frappuccino A blended iced coffee, milk, flavourings and ice.
Café Freddo Chilled espresso served in a glass and iced.
Café Latte 1.5 ounces of espresso in a 6 ounce cup whileld to the top with steamed milk.
Café Lungo A long espresso  made by adding boiling water to 1.5 ounces espresso, similar to an americano
Café Mocha A blend of espresso, chocolate syrup and steamed milk. Often topped with whipped cream and cocoa powder or chocolate shavings.
Café Noir Coffee served without milk or cream
Café Romano Regular espresso served with a twist of lemon or lemon peel
Cafetiere The cafetiere or ‘french press’ brewing method separates the grounds from the brewed coffee by pressing them to the bottom of the brewing receptacle with a mesh plunger.
Caffeine Caffeine is the drug contained in coffee. It us often used in medicine as a mild stimulant or to treat certain kinds of headache.
Cappuccino A cappuccino is an espresso topped with equal parts foamed and steamed milk. It gets its name from the Italian Capuchin monks whose hooded robes resemble the drinks cap of foam.
Cherry The cherry is the name for the fruit of the coffee tree. Each cherry contains two regular coffee beans or one peaberry (if it has formed one bean only). Peaberries can be sold as their own distinct variety and are popular from Guatemala.
Clean To describe a coffee sample that is free of flavour defects
Colombian Colombian coffee is sold by grade with ‘supremo’ being the highest grade rather than by name or region.
Coffee Oil This is the coffee essence produced from a bean during roasting
Commercial A commercial coffee machine is one that will be used in a commercial environment such as a cafe or restaurant where high volume output is required and the durability of the parts is important.
Complexity A tasting term for coffee when the favours shift and layer in the mouth and give the impression of depth.
Costa Rica The most admired of central american coffees, they are usually full bodied with a clean and robust acidity.
Crema The caramel coloured foam that appears on top of a shot of espresso during the brewing process. The liquid contains emulsified oils in a dark golden brown layer.
Cup Character To describe a coffee’s taste, the cup character would include opinions on the aroma, acidity, body and sweetness of the coffee.
Cupping While tasting wine is called ‘tasting’, tasting coffee is called ‘cupping’.
Cup Tray The cup tray is the part of the coffee machine where you place your cup before commencing the brewing of your drink – it is normally situated above the drip tray.
Decaffeination Coffees are decaffeinated when they are in the green state. There are four different methods of decaffeinating coffee.
Demitasse A small ½ size cup used for serving espresso
Doppio A double shot of espresso
Drip Method A way of brewing coffee that allows hot water to settle through a bed of ground coffee.
Drip Tray The drip tray sits beneath the brew group and catching spillages from the brewing process.
Espresso Used to describe the roast of a coffee and the method of brewing in which hot water is forced under pressure through a compressed bed of finely ground coffee. The word is from the Italian ‘expresere’ which means ‘to force out’.
Fairtrade Coffee Coffee that has been purchased from farmers at a fair price as defined by international agencies. Fairtrade coffee is branded by the Fairtrade organisation.
Finish The sensory experience of coffee just before it is swallowed
Filter Coffee A brewing method where water filters through a bed of ground coffee. This term can also be used to describe drip bed brewers that use a filter paper to separate the grounds from the brewed coffee.
Fragrance The scent of dry coffee immediately after it has been ground, but before it has been brewed.
French Roast A French Roast is dark roasted coffee that tastes bittersweet
Froth Froth is produced when milk is steamed with an espresso machine’s steaming wand. The steam tip goes right near the surface of the milk, agitating and heating it while drawing air at high velocity into the milk.
Frothed Milk Milk that is heated and frothed with a steam wand by adding high pressurised steam into a jug of milk.
Good Hard Bean A grade of bean of Costa Rica coffee grown at altitudes of 3,300 to 3,900 feet
Green Coffee Unroasted coffee
Hard A trade term for low-quality coffee
High Roast Coffee brought to degrees of roast darker than traditional American but lighter than espresso, French or Italian.
Hopper The hopper is the part of the coffee machine that holds the coffee beans.
Kenya Kenya coffees are celebrated for their deep, winy acidity and complex fruit and berry tones. Kenyan coffee is the most widely available and consistent in quality.
Latte Art Latte art is a style of art, consisting of pouring steamed milk into a shot of espresso that creates a pattern or design on the surface of the resulting latte. It can also be created or embellished by simply “drawing” in the top layer of foam. Latte art is particularly difficult to create consistently, due to the demanding conditions required of both the espresso shot and milk this is also affected by the skill of the barista and the quality of the espresso machine.
Mild A trade term for high-quality Arabica coffees, often contrasted with hard or interior coffees.
Monsooned Coffee Coffee purposely exposed to monsoon winds in an open warehouse to increase body and reduce acidity.
Piston Machine An espresso machine that uses a piston operated lever to force brewing water at high pressure through the compacted bed of ground coffee.
Sidamo The market name for a distinguished light to medium bodied, fragrantly floral or fruity wet-processed coffee from southern Ethiopia, from the formerly named Sidamo or Sidama region. It is sometimes now marketed under the regions new name of Yirgacheffe.
Single Estate Coffee produced by a single farm, single mill, or single groups of farms.
Specialty Coffee Selling coffee by country of origin, roast, flavouring, or special blend rathen than by trademark
Tamper In espresso brewing, the small pestle-like device with a round flat end used to distribute and compress the ground coffee inside the filter basket.
Texturing Texturing the milk ensures that you get a good microfoam of milk on top of your coffee rather than a foamy mess. Creating the big bubbles at the beginning allows time for the milk to be swirled in the jug so that the big bubbles hit each other and reduce themselves to smaller bubbles. The more time allowed to swirl the milk, the denser the foam. Therefore it's best to start off with fresh, cold milk.
Turkish Coffee Coffee ground to a powder, sweetened, brought to the boil and served with the grounds. It is a popular way of brewing coffee throughout the Middle East, Greece and Turkey.
Wet Processed Coffee prepared by removing the skin and pulp from the bean while it is still fresh. Most of the world’s coffees are produced by using this method which intensifies acidity.
Whole Bean Coffee Coffee that has been roasted but not ground.
Winy A flavour reminiscent of fine red wine