Our Coffee

Glossary

• Glossary
• A – D
• E – O
• P – Z

Acidity, Acidy, Acid

Typically refers to the pleasant “tartness” of a fine coffee. It is one of the primary components of a coffee cupper’s “flavor profile,” along with flavor, aroma, and body. Acidity is the crisp, tangy sensation that gives a coffee its life; it is experienced much like the tingle on the back of the tongue when drinking red wine or eating a citrus fruit.

Americano, Cafè Americano

An espresso lengthened with hot water.

Arabica, Coffea Arabica

The Coffea arabica plant produces approximately 70 percent of the world’s coffee, called Arabica coffee. It is widely considered superior in cup quality to the other principal commercial coffee species, Coffea canephora or Robusta. All fine, specialty, and fancy coffees come from Coffea arabica trees.

Aroma

When cupping a coffee, professionals evaluate aroma by pouring near-boiling water over the fresh grounds and allowing them to steep. When the coffee grounds form a crust on the surface, the grounds are stirred and the gases that express its aroma are released. Aroma is another essential element of a coffee’s flavor profile.

Balance

Tasting term applied to coffees for which no single characteristic overwhelms others, but that display sufficient complexity to be interesting.

Barista

Italian term for skillful and experienced espresso bar operator.

Bird Friendly

Term associated with shade-grown coffee. Describes coffee grown under a shade canopy, thus providing a habitat for migrating songbirds, particularly in Central America. A recent campaign by researchers at the Smithsonian Institution to define “shade grown” in rather narrow terms (shade provided by mixed native trees) and label coffees grown under such a native canopy as “bird friendly” has been the subject of much discussion in recent years.

Bitter

When coffee is over-extracted or over-roasted, or has an intrinsic taste defect, it may be perceived by the drinker as harsh and unpleasant, particularly at the back of the tongue.

Blade Grinder

Small coffee grinder that uses a propeller-like blade.

Blend

A mixture of two or more single-origin coffees.

Body

The sensation of heaviness, richness, or thickness and associated texture when one tastes coffee, body is actually experienced as the coffee’s weight on the tongue. In conjunction with flavor, acidity, and aroma, body is one of the primary components of a cupper’s flavor profile.

Bouquet

The fragrance, aroma, nose, and aftertaste of brewed coffee.

Burr Grinder, Burr Mill

Coffee grinder with two shredding discs (burrs) that can be adjusted for maximum effectiveness.

Café au Lait

Coffee drink composed of one part drip coffee and two parts hot frothed milk.

Caffè Latte

One part espresso and three parts hot milk, topped with frothed milk.

Caffeine

An odorless, bitter alkaloid responsible for the stimulating effect of coffee and tea.

Cappuccino

A drink made with one serving of espresso topped with hot milk and froth.

Chaff

The innermost skin (called “silverskin”) clings to the coffee bean after processing, and is only separated from the bean during roasting. This collection of coffee flakes is the residual “chaff.”

Cherry

Common term for the fruit of the coffee tree (each cherry contains two coffee beans).

Clean

When a coffee sample is free of flavor defects, cuppers describe the sample as “clean.”

Coffea Canephora

Also known as Robusta, the Coffea canephora plant is widely held to produce an inferior brew. As a lower-growing tree, its beans have a higher caffeine content and are typically used in blends of instant coffee and preground commercial coffee.

Coffeol

During roasting, this “volatile” coffee essence is developed in the bean.

Complexity

A descriptive term given to coffees whose taste sensations have a depth characterized by shifting yet equally pleasurable taste sensations.

Crema

A well-brewed espresso will have a pale brown “cap” of foam that helps to retain the flavors and aromas of the espresso. This crema is the result of colloids and lipids forced into an emulsion under the pressure of an espresso machine.

Cupping

Professional tasters use this procedure to perform a comprehensive evaluation of coffee samples. They grind the beans, pour water over the grounds, and taste the coffee both hot and cooled. The four key elements of a flavor profile are aroma, acidity, body, and flavor.

Dark Roast

Dark roasts are typically pulled after the second “crack” occurs during roasting, thus allowing beans to develop to their fullest body. At their best, the beans’ natural flavors interact with the almost-chocolatey smoothness brought out by the roasting process.

Decaffeination Processes

Specialty coffees are decaffeinated by one of four methods. The direct-solvent method involves treating the beans with a solvent that unites with the caffeine and is removed from the beans by steaming. In the indirect-solvent or solvent-water method, the green beans are soaked in hot water; the water and beans are separated, the caffeine is removed from the water by a solvent, and the water and beans are recombined; then the beans are dried. Both of these solvent processes are often called European Process or Traditional Process. The water-only method, commonly known by the proprietary name Swiss Water Process™, involves the same steps, but removes the caffeine from the water by allowing it to percolate through a bed of activated charcoal. In the carbon-dioxide method—which is only beginning to be established in the specialty-coffee trade—the caffeine is stripped directly from the beans by a highly compressed semi-liquid form of carbon dioxide.

Degassing

A natural process in which recently roasted coffee releases carbon dioxide gas. Mayorga uses a three-layer foil bag with built-in degassing valve, thereby protecting freshly roasted coffee from exposure to oxygen.

Demitasse

“Half cup” in French; a half-size or three-ounce cup used primarily for espresso coffee.

Doppio

A double espresso, or three to six ounces of straight espresso.

Dry-Processed Coffee, Dry Method Coffee

Unlike wet processing, dry-processed coffees are created by removing the husk after the coffee fruit has been dried.

• Glossary
• A – D
• E – O
• P – Z

Earthiness

Depending upon the taster and the intention of the roast, earthiness can be considered either a desirable quality or a taste defect in the cupper’s profile.

Espresso

The term can be applied both to a coffee’s roast and to the method of brewing in which hot water is forced under pressure through a compressed bed of finely ground coffee.

Estate-Grown Coffee

Coffee produced by a single farm, single mill, or single group of farms.

Fermentation

An important but confusing coffee term with two main meanings. 1) As a positive component of the wet method of coffee processing, fermentation is a stage in which the sticky pulp is loosened from the skinned coffee seeds or beans by natural enzymes while the beans rest in tanks. If water is added to the tanks, the process is called wet fermentation; if no water is added, it is called dry fermentation. 2) In sensory evaluation, or cupping, of coffee, fermentation is an important descriptor for a range of related taste defects set off when the sugars in the coffee fruit begin to ferment. Sensations described as ferment can range from sweet, composty, rotten-fruit tastes to harsh, moldy, musty, or medicinal tastes.

Filter Method

Technically, any brewing method in which water filters through a bed of ground coffee. The term more popularly describes drip-method brewers utilizing a paper filter to separate grounds from brewed coffee.

Finish

The sensory experience of coffee just as it is swallowed. While some coffees transform from first impression on the palate to finish, others remain steady.

Flavored Coffees

Once in their roasted, whole-bean form, flavored coffees are those mixed with flavoring agents (such as hazelnut or mocha).

Fragrance

As a part of the flavor profile, fragrance is the scent of dry coffee immediately after it has been ground (but prior to brewing).

French Press

A method of brewing coffee whereby spent grounds are separated from brewed coffee by pressing them to the bottom of the canister with a mesh plunger.

French Roast

This degree of roast is considerably darker than the American norm; it may range in color from dark brown to nearly black. Flavors vary dramatically according to roasting styles.

High-Grown

Arabica coffees grown at altitudes over 3,000 feet, usually well over.

Latte, Caffè Latte

A serving of espresso combined with about three times as much hot milk and topped with froth.

Macchiato

The Italian Macchiato (espresso macchiato) is a serving of espresso “stained” ( or “marked”) with a small quantity of hot frothed milk. The American Macchiato is typically an 8oz glass of hot frothed milk “stained” with espresso.

Milling

The mechanical process whereby dry parchment skin is removed from wet-processed beans, or the entire dried fruit husk is removed from dry-processed beans.

Mocha

The term most commonly ascribed to a drink combining chocolate and (usually espresso) coffee.

Organic Coffee, Certified Organic Coffee

Coffee that has been certified by a third-party agency as having been grown and processed without the use of pesticides, herbicides, or similar chemicals.

• Glossary
• A – D
• E – O
• P – Z

Parchment, Pergamino

After the coffee berries have been skinned and their pulp removed, the beans are dried; a thin, crumbly skin, known as parchment, remains on the wet-processed coffee beans.

Peaberry, Caracol

When only one seed, rather than two, develops at the center of a coffee cherry, the anomalous beans are often separated and sold as a distinct grade of coffee. These Peaberry beans are typically small, round, and often produce a brighter, more acidy cup of coffee.

Portafilter, Filter Holder

The metal object with plastic handle that holds the coffee filter and clamps onto the group in espresso brewing.

Pulping

Process of removing the outermost skin of the coffee cherry or fruit.

Pyrolysis

The chemical breakdown of fats and carbohydrates during roasting to produce the delicate oils that provide the aroma (and most of the flavor) of coffee.

Quakers

Defective coffee beans that fail to roast properly, remaining stubbornly light-colored.

Richness

A satisfying fullness in flavor, body, or acidity.

Robusta, Coffea Canephora

Currently the only significant competitor to Coffea arabica, Robusta produces about 30 percent of the world’s coffee. It is a lower-growing, higher-bearing tree that produces full-bodied but bland coffee of inferior cup quality and higher caffeine content than Coffea arabica. It is used as a basis for blends of instant coffee, and for less expensive blends of preground commercial coffee. It is not a factor in the specialty-coffee trade except as a body-enhancing component in some Italian-style espresso blends. See also Arabica.

Semi-Dry-Processed Coffee, Pulped Natural Coffee, Semi-Wet-Processed Coffee

Coffee prepared by removing the outer skin of the coffee fruit (a process called pulping) and drying the skinned coffee with the sticky mucilage and the inner skins (parchment and silverskin) still adhering to the bean. This processing method, situated between the dry method and the wet method, has no consensus name. It is one of three processing methods practiced in Brazil, and is used sporadically on a small scale by farmers in Sumatra and Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Shade Grown

The older Coffea arabica trees often produce the finest specialty-coffee beans. Aging, however, is accompanied by an increasing fragility and delicacy; to protect these fruits from overexposure to the sun, attentive farmers create a partially shaded environment or simply plant their coffee underneath existing forestry. Shade-grown coffees are typically of higher quality, and the protective canopy of existing forest provides a home to many otherwise-endangered migratory birds.

Silverskin

The thin, innermost skin of the coffee fruit that clings to the dried coffee beans until it is either removed by polishing or floats free during roasting and becomes what roasters call chaff.

Single-Origin Coffee, Straight Coffee

Unblended coffee from a single country, region, and crop.

Specialty Coffee

Practice of selling coffees by country of origin, roast, flavoring, or special blend, rather than by brand or trademark. The term specialty coffee also suggests the trade and culture that has grown up around this merchandising practice.

Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA)

An important and influential association of specialty-coffee roasters, wholesalers, retailers, importers, and growers headquartered in Long Beach, California.

Steam Wand, Nozzle, Pipe, Stylus

The small protruding pipe on most espresso machines that provides live steam for frothing milk.

Sun Drying

As a more traditional alternative to machine drying, sun-drying coffee is done either directly after picking (the dry method) or after fruit removal (the wet method). The coffee is exposed to the sun’s heat by spreading and raking it in thin layers either on drying racks or directly on patios.

Sustainability

A broad and often-politicized term. According to the World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Swiss Water Process™

A trademarked decaffeination method that removes caffeine from coffee beans using hot water, steam, and activated charcoal rather than chemicals or solvents.

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.

Turkish Coffee

Coffee ground to a powder, often sweetened, added to water and brought to a boil, and served without separating the brewed coffee from the grounds.

Varietal Coffee

As used by many people in the American specialty-coffee industry, a term describing an unblended coffee from a single country, region, and crop. For example: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Kenya AA, or La Minita Costa Rica Tarrazu.

Wet-Processed Coffee, Washed Coffee

Coffee prepared by removing the skin and pulp from the bean while the coffee fruit is still moist. Most of the world’s great coffees are processed by the wet method, which is generally characterized by intensified acidity.

Whole-Bean Coffee

Coffee that has been roasted but not yet ground.