Glossary of coffee terms

A

Acidity

The perception of acidity in coffee – a little is always useful to lift the flavour. Washed coffees are usually more acidic as are those from particularly high altitude. Usually seen more in Central American and East African washed coffees.

Aftertaste

The lingering taste and sensation of the coffee. Can be good or bad, long or short.

Aged Coffee

Some coffees have been traditionally exposed to ageing in their unroasted state. Two of the main examples are Old Brown Java (which can be many years old before roasting) or Monsooned Malabar, Indian coffee that has been exposed to warm, moist air (proper Monsooning exposes the coffee to the Monsoon winds but nowadays much is done artificially).

Arabica

Coffea Arabica is one of the two main types of coffee and considered to be the finest available. You’ll struggle to find a great tasting coffee that isn’t Arabica and it accounts for around 60% of world production. However, it’s worth noting that there is a lot of poor and average quality Arabica too – “100% Arabica” is a good start but no guarantee of quality!

Americano

An espresso lengthened with hot water to make a black coffee. Different to a black, filter coffee in taste.

Aroma

The fragrance produced by freshly brewed coffee. Aroma, along with flavor, acidity, and body, is one of the principal categories used by professional tasters in cupping, or sensory evaluation of coffee.

B

Balance

Tasting term applied to coffees for which no single characteristic overwhelms others, but that display sufficient complexity to be interesting. All the great coffees are harmoniously balanced.

Barista

The artists of the coffee world, a great barista is the master of espresso and espresso based drinks. The pinnacle of achievement for any barista is to become World Barista Champion

Beneficio (see Milling)

Bitter

Bitterness is the taste perceived at the back of the tongue. No coffee should have anything more than a slight, pleasant bitterness – anything more and something is wrong. Darker roasts are perceptibly more bitter than lighter roasts, and over-extracted coffee (too much coffee, ground too fine or brewing for too long) can produce unpleasant, bitter results.

Blossom

Coffee blossom, the seasonal flowering of the coffee trees before they develop coffee cherries after pollination, is both a fantastic sight and filled with fantastic, fragrant smells.

Blue Mountain

Jamaican is the true home of authentic Blue Mountain coffee. Sold in wooden barrels, it carries a significant price premium and as such is one of the world’s most rare, expensive coffees.

Blend

A mixture of two or more individual types of coffee, usually from a variety of origins. Done to create a style of coffee (for instance, breakfast blend), consistency year on year (to avoid seasonal fluctuations), for espresso where it is a vital tool, and to juggle the costs of a blend in times of price variation (yes, it does happen).

Bourbon Arabica

Bourbon is one of the most traditional varietals of Arabica and if subject to good husbandry and processing, will frequently produce fantastic coffee. Not as popular for many farmers as it’s yields are lower than more modern hybrids.

Body

The sensation of heaviness, richness, or thickness and associated texture when one tastes coffee. Body, along with flavour, acidity, and aroma, is one of the principal categories used by professional tasters cupping, or sensory evaluation of coffee.

Brazil

The number 1 producer and exporter of coffee in the world, and used as a key blending component for many roasters. Brazil produces both Robusta (Conillon) and Arabica. Much of the output is average at best, but it is at the forefront of coffee technology and has an outstanding, specialty coffee industry centred around the BSCA.

Bulked

Much exported, commercial coffee from a single country of origin is bulked from a whole variety of regional sources and farms (the bad, the average and the good) and then graded according to size, appearance and taste. “Santos” from Brasil is a good example of this as the name does not imply a farm, rather the port of Santos which the coffee was traditionally exported from.

C

Cafetiere (French press, Press pot)

A great way of brewing fresh coffee at home, as all you need is the cafetiere, freshly heated water and some great coffee for excellent results.

Cafe Latte (see Latte)

Caffeine

An odourless, bitter alkaloid responsible for the stimulating effect of coffee and tea. Robusta coffee contains nearly twice as much as Arabica coffee.

Cappuccino

An espresso based drink that in its perfected state should be around a third espresso, a third steamed milk and a third foamed milk in a 6oz cappuccino cup. It should appear with a white, creamy centre and brown rim. Not like many of the comedy cappuccinos you can get on the high street with their towers of soap suds.

Caramelisation (see Roasting)

Carbon Dioxide Process (see Decaf)

Caturra Arabica

A widely seen Arabica varietal, particularly in Latin America.

Chemical (Methyl Chloride) Process (see Decaf)

Cherry

The common term for the fruit of the coffee tree. Each cherry contains two normal coffee beans, or occasionally one peaberry. When ripened, the coffee cherries are usually red (although there are some yellow varietals, and the odd orange one). For great coffee, all of the cherries must be harvested at the peak of ripeness.

Clover Machine

The coffee brewing machine that took the speciality coffee industry by storm until a certain coffee company decided that they would buy the company that owned and manufactured it. Capable of producing very fine cups of coffee and (was) particularly suited to coffee shops wishing to offer a range of high quality, single origin coffees.

Cooperative Coffee

Cooperatives are a great way of allowing smallholder farmers to access the market place by combining their coffees, efforts and marketing ability under a membership structure. Primary coops are those comprising of farmers and are likely to some include centralised processing and storage facilities. Often primary coops are members of larger, second tier coops that focus upon the final preparation, export, marketing and advertising of their members coffees.

Commercial Coffee

The generic term for much of the coffee exported and roasted in the world today and very much influenced by the fluctuations of the coffee market. Differentiated from the specialty coffee industry, which focused on the top end of the coffee market (premium prices for specialty coffees).

Coyote

The Latin American term for the middlemen coffee traders who buy coffee from small farmers to sell to larger coops and exporters, often at very low prices.

Crema

The crema is the vital component of a well made espresso. It is the foamy, creamy brown layer that appears on the surface of the espresso trapping the exquisite aromas beneath. It is a combination of the emulsified coffee oils (unique to the extraction method of espresso) and tiny trapped bubbles of carbon dioxide.

Cup of Excellence

The Cup of Excellence program seeks to find the very finest coffees from a variety of coffee producing countries in Latin America and Africa. Any farmer can enter, and coffee entries are subject to several rounds of tasting and final judging by an international jury of professional coffee cuppers. The highest scoring coffees are awarded the prestigious Cup of Excellence award and the coffee is auctioned to the highest bidder via an internet auction.

Cupping

Procedure used by professional tasters to perform sensory evaluation of samples of coffee beans. The beans are ground, water is poured over the grounds, and the liquid is tasted both hot and as it cools. The key evaluation characteristics are Aroma, Acidity, Body, and Flavour.

D

Decaffeinated

Coffee with roughly 97% or more of its naturally occurring caffeine removed is classified as decaffeinated. Decaf coffees are usually achieved through one of 3 methods, all done to the raw coffee – the Chemical Process (usually using Methyl Chloride), which is the cheapest method but perhaps the one to avoid; the critical Carbon Dioxide Process which uses carbon dioxide to remove the caffeine and the Swiss Water Process method which uses the concept of “flavour charged water” and carbon electrodes to remove the caffeine. The latter two are the preferred methods for specialty coffees, as they are less damaging to the coffees aromas and flavours.

Djimmah

The bulk of Ethiopia’s commercial coffee is Djimmah and it is widely used in blen

Double Shot

A double espresso, using a minimum of 14g of coffee

Drum Roasting (see Roasting)

Dry Mill (see Milling)

Dry Natural Coffee

In order to separate the coffee beans from the cherry, water is not used in this method of processing unlike “washed” coffees (although water may be used to clean the cherries). Here, the coffee cherry is dried in the sun and then the beans separated after drying is complete. When done well, this “natural” method lends the coffee more wild, gamey and winey flavours and a full bodied, sweeter taste. However, there is a danger of gaining particularly earthy flavours in the coffee and uneven quality – many of the world’s commercial coffees (Santos, Djimmah, much Robusta) are processed this way.

E

Earthiness

Either a taste defect or a desirable exotic taste characteristic depending on who is doing the tasting and how intense the earthy taste in question is. Apparently earthiness is caused by literal contact of wet coffee with earth during drying. Indonesia coffees from Sumatra, Sulawesi and Timor are particularly prone to display earthy tones.

Espresso

Used to describe both a roast of coffee (see Espresso Roast) and a method of brewing in which hot water is forced under pressure through a compressed bed of finely ground coffee. In the largest sense, an entire approach to coffee cuisine, involving a traditional menu of drinks, many combining brewed espresso coffee with steam-heated, steam-frothed milk.

Estate Coffee

Really just another word for coffee farm, but often slightly larger plantations of coffee that may be family owned or company owned. Often used to describe coffee plantations in Kenya.

Ethiopia

The birthplace of coffee, where all original strains of wild Arabica can be found. One of the largest producers of coffee in the world – all of which is Arabica – much from smallholder farms or plots and even harvested from the wild forests. Some of the world’s finest coffees come from here, including Harar and Yirgacheffe.

F

Fairtrade

Please see our section on Fairtrade and the Fairtrade Foundation in About Grumpy Mule

Fermentation

Coffee that has been purchased from farmers, at a "fair" price as defined by international agencies. The extra paid these farmers under fair trade arrangements is extremely modest, by the way.

Filter Coffee

A classic method of brewing coffee, and if done correctly delivering a clean tasting, flavoursome coffee. Great for single origin coffees and can be achieved with a simple filter cone and filter papers.

Finish

The sensory experience of coffee just as it is swallowed (or, in the professional cupping procedure, just before it is spit out). Some coffees transform from first impression on the palate to finish; others stand pat.

Flat Bean

The generic term for the 2 raw coffee seeds (beans) found within a coffee cherry. The coffee beans have a one flatter side the other side is domed. If two flat beans fuse together during the cherry’s development, it forms a single coffee bean known as a peaberry.

Flavour

Flavour in coffee is the combined sensory impression of both aroma and taste.

Flat White

The espresso-milk based drink of antipodean origin, which is the perfect anecdote to the poor, milk heavy “lattes” and “cappuccinos” often found in the UK. Seemingly a double shot of espresso made using more than the usual 14g of coffee with the addition of steamed, textured milk into a more classic sized cup (6 – 8 oz). There’s also a fine London coffee shop of the same name.

Fluid Bed Roasting (see Roasting)

Fragrance

As a specialised term in cupping, or sensory evaluation of coffee, fragrance describes the scent of dry coffee immediately after it has been ground but before it is brewed.

French Press (see Cafetiere)

French Coffee

Used to describe a traditional blend of coffee and chicory. Not the most pleasant of drinks

French Roast

A particularly dark, continental style roast

Fully Washed (See Washed)

G

Grade

Green Coffee

Unroasted coffee

Grinding

Grounds

Geisha Arabica

H

Hand Picked

Hard Bean

Coffee grown at relatively high altitudes, 4,000 to 4,500 feet. Coffee grown above 4,500 feet is referred to as strictly hard bean. This terminology says that beans grown at higher altitudes mature more slowly and are harder and denser than other beans and are thus more desirable.

I

J

Java

K

L

Latte

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

Latte Art

Liberica

Longberry

Lot

M

Mechanically Dried Coffee

Milds

A trade term for high-quality Arabica coffees. Often contrasted with hard, or inferior, coffees.

Milling

Mechanical removal of the dry parchment skin from wet-processed coffee beans, or the entire dried fruit husk from dry-processed beans.

Micro-lot

Mocha

Mocha-Java

Monsooned Malabar (see Aged Coffees)

Mucilage

N

Natural Coffee (see Dry Natural Coffee)

New Crop

Coffee delivered for roasting soon after harvesting and processing. Coffees are at their brightest (or rawest) and most acidy in this state. Also see Old Crop

New York

O

Old Brown Java (see Aged Coffees)

Omni-Grind Coffee

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.

Over-Extracted

P

Patio

Parchment

Past Crop

Coffee that has been held in warehouses before shipping. Old crop differs from aged or vintage and mature coffees in two ways: First, it has not been held for as long a period, and second, it may not have been handled with as much deliberateness. Depending on the characteristics of the original coffee and the quality of the handling, old crop may or may not be considered superior in cup characteristics to a new crop version of the same coffee.

Pergamino (see Parchment)

Peaberry

A small, round bean formed when only one seed, rather than the usual two, develops at the heart of the coffee fruit. Peaberry beans are often separated from normal beans and sold as a distinct grade of a given coffee. Typically, but not always, they produce a brighter, more acidy, but lighter-bodied cup than normal beans from the same crop.

Phenolic

Polishing

An optional procedure at the end of coffee processing and milling in which the dried, shipment-ready beans are subjected to polishing by friction to remove the innermost, or silverskin, and improve their appearance. Polishing does nothing to help flavor and may even hurt it by heating the beans, hence most specialty coffee buyers do not encourage the practice.

Pulp

Process of removing the outermost skin of the coffee cherry or fruit. See Wet-Processed Coffee.

Pulped Natural

Q

Quakers

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

R

Raised Beds (see Screen Drying)

Ristretto

This is the strongest and most concentrated espresso drink. It is made with about half the amount of water but the same amount of coffee as a regular espresso. It is pure and intense. Ristretto in Italian means "restricted".

Roasting

Robusta

S

Sack

A burlap or jute sack of green coffee. In various countries it is a different weight, usually 60kg (Brasil, Africa, the Far East), 69kg (primarily Central America) and 70kg (Colombia)

Santos

Screen Size

Screen Drying

Semi-Washed Coffee

Shade Grown Coffee

Single Origin Coffee

Single Shot

Soft bean

Describes coffee grown at relatively low altitudes (under 4,000 feet). Beans grown at lower altitudes mature more quickly and produce a lighter, more porous bean.

Strictly Hard Bean

Strictly High Grown

Sourness

Unpleasant flavour which has a sharp, acid taste. Different from acidity, sometimes associated with over-fermented coffee.

Speciality Coffee (note the extra “i”)

Specialty Coffee

Practice of selling coffees by country of origin, roast, flavouring, 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.

Stale

Coffee that has been exposed to oxygen for too long. It becomes flat and has a cardboard taste.

Sun Grown Coffee

Sun Dried Coffee

Steaming, and Foaming, Milk

Swiss Water Process (see Decaf)

Sweet

Smooth and palatable coffee that is free from defects and harsh flavours

T

Tamp / Tamper

Terroir

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.