Coffee Vocabulary

Acidity. A word used to describe a coffee characteristic. The pleasant tartness of a fine cup of coffee, usually sensed on the sides of the tongue. One of the tasting categories used by coffee tasters to evaluate a coffee.

Arabica, or Coffea Arabica. The most widely grown species of the coffee plant. Dramatically superior in quality to the other major coffee species, Coffea canephora, or Robusta. All specialty or gourmet coffees come from the Arabica trees.

Aroma. The fragrance resulting from brewing coffee. One of the tasting categories used by coffee tasters to evaluate a coffee.

Balance. A term used to describe the taste of a coffee where no single characteristic overwhelms the others.

Bird Friendly. A certification given to coffees grown on farms where a minimum amount of tree cover has been maintained, leaving a natural habitat for native birds.

Blade Grinder. A small kitchen appliance with a blender-type blade used to grind coffee. Results in uneven coffee particles, but is usually inexpensive.

Blend. A mixture of two or more single origin coffees.
Body. The sensation of texture or thickness in coffee. One of the tasting categories used by coffee tasters to evaluate a coffee.

Bourbon. A botanical variety of Coffea Arabica. Var. Bourbon first appeared on the island of Bourbon, now Réunion. Many Latin-American coffees are from this variety.

Café au Lait. A coffee drink consisting of 1/3 brewed coffee and 2/3 steamed milk.
Caffé Latté. An espresso drink consisting of a small amount of espresso and a large amount of steamed milk.

Caffeine. A stimulant occurring naturally in coffee and tea.

Cappuccino. An espresso drink consisting of several shots of espresso with a small amount of steamed and frothed milk.

Caturra. A botanical variety of the coffea arabica species developed relatively recently because of its faster rate of growth and resistance to disease.

Chaff. Paper-thin flakes of the inner-most skin of the coffee bean, which separate from the bean during the roasting process.

Cherry. The fruit of the coffee tree. Each cherry contains two coffee seeds, or beans.

Chicory. The root of the endive plant. It is roasted, ground, and added to coffee to create New Orleans style coffee.

Complexity. A coffee tasting term used to describe a coffee with very distinct and identifiable variations in the overall flavor.

Crema. The tan colored dense foam layer atop a freshly poured shot of espresso.

Cupping. The procedure used by professional coffee tasters to evaluate and grade coffees. It is a highly defined process of roasting, grinding, and brewing the coffee where the tasters, or cuppers, evaluate coffees based on acidity, body, aroma, and flavor.

Degassing. A natural process that occurs in coffee in the first week or so after roasting, where the coffee gives off carbon dioxide, protecting it from the staling effects of oxygen.

Drip Brewing. A coffee brewing process where water is “dripped” over a basket with ground coffee.

Dry Processed. Coffee processed on the farm by drying the coffee cherry, then removing the dried fruit. Results in a fruity, full-bodied coffee, and done primarily in Brazil, Yemen, and Harrar.

Espresso. A method of brewing coffee perfected in Italy, where hot water is forced through a dense bed of finely ground coffee to quickly produce an intensely flavored, concentrated ounce of beverage.

Espresso Blend. A blend of single-origin coffees blended to produce an espresso drink that has certain flavor qualities as well as a large amount of crema.

Fair Trade Coffee. Coffee that has been purchased from farmers at a “fair” price as determined by international agencies. The true “fairness” varies with the fluctuating market price paid to other farmers, and is sometimes even lower.

Filter Basket. The component of a coffee brewer that holds the filter and ground coffee.

Finish. The sensory experience in the mouth after coffee has been swallowed. Depending on the coffee, the finish may be long or short, and may be very different or very similar to the taste of the coffee.

Flavor. The combination of acidity, body, and aroma in coffee.

Fragrance. The scent of dry coffee immediately after being ground, and before it is brewed.

French Press. Also known as a plunger pot, a manual brewer that separates the coffee grounds from the brewed coffee by means of pushing the grounds to the bottom of the pot using a plunger with a mesh screen.

Green Coffee. Unroasted coffee.

Hard bean. A descriptor used for coffees grown at higher altitudes. These coffees are generally more desirable because the longer growing season and more moderate temperatures produce more flavorful beans. They are denser than coffees grown at lower altitudes.

High Grown. Arabica coffees grown at elevations of 3,000 feet or higher.

Italian Roast. Very dark roasted coffee.

Kopi Luak. Coffee brewed with coffee beans which have passed through the digestive tract of the Indonesian mammal called the luak (or civet). It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world, due to its very limited supply.

Macchiato. Either a shot of espresso marked with a small amount of frothed milk, or a glass of hot frothed milk stained with espresso.

Maragogipe (Mah-rah-goh-shzee-peh). Elephant Bean. A variety of coffea arabica grown traditionally in Brazil, and
known for its extremely large, porous beans. It is seldom used any more due to the poor quality of the cup.

Monsooned Coffee, Monsooned Malabar. Coffee from southern India deliberately exposed to monsoon winds in open warehouses.

Natural Coffee. See Dry Processed coffee.

Organic Coffee. Coffee certified by a third-party agency as having been grown and processed free of pesticides, herbicides, other chemicals.

Patio Drying. A method of drying coffee on the farm by spreading it in thin layers out on open patios.
Peaberry. A small coffee bean that forms in the cherry when one seed, instead of two, forms in the cherry. They often produce a lighter, brighter cup.

Percolation. A coffee brewing method where hot water is forced up and out the top of a tube to filter down through a bed of ground coffee. Often produces a bitter, over-extracted cup.

Portafilter. A metal object that holds finely ground espresso blend coffee and which is clamped onto the espresso machine to make espresso.

Quakers. Defective coffee beans that stay light colored throughout the roasting process.
Rioy, Rio. A defect occurring in the drying process of green coffee resulting in a medicinal, iodine-like flavor. Originally found in coffees from Rio, Brazil.

Robusta, Coffea Canephora. A coffee species accounting for about 30% of the world’s production of coffee. Has a higher caffeine content than Arabica, but is inferior in taste. Is inexpensive and easy to grow. It is found in instant coffees and many pre-ground commercial coffee blends. It is not used in the specialty coffee market except as a body-enhancer in some espresso blends.

SCAA. Specialty Coffee Association of America. An important association of specialty coffee growers, importers, roasters, wholesalers, and retailers of specialty coffee.

Semi-dry Processed Coffee, Pulped Natural Coffee, Semi-Wet Processed Coffee. A method of processing coffee where the skin of the coffee fruit is removed, and the cherry dries with the mucilage still adhering to the bean. Practiced primarily in Brazil, and occasionally in Sumatra.

Shade Grown. Coffee grown under a tree canopy. Arabica coffee is traditionally grown this way in most of Central America and South America, and in many parts of Africa, Indonesia, and India.

Specialty Coffee. The practice of identifying and selling coffee by country of origin, roast, or blend, rather than by brand or trademark. Also refers to the culture of treating these coffees as “gourmet” coffees.

Strictly Hard Bean (SHB). The highest grade designation based on growing altitude. Applies to coffees grown in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama.

Strictly High Grown. The highest grade designation based on growing altitude. Applies to coffees grown in El Salvador and Mexico.

Sustainable Coffee. A vaguely defined category of environmentally friendly coffee. The SCAA is trying to better define the guidelines for a truly sustainable method of producing coffee.

Turkish Coffee, Middle Eastern Coffee. Coffee made with very finely ground coffee, brought to a boil, in some cases three times, and served with the grounds.

Viennese Roast. Coffee roasted slightly darker than the typical American norm, but not as dark as a French, or Espresso roast. May also refer to a blend of coffees including dark roasted beans and medium roasted beans.

Wet Processed Coffee. Coffee processed on the farm by removing the skin and pulp while the fruit is still fresh, and the beans are allowed to sit in tanks where enzymes further remove the fruity material, resulting in a very clean bean.

Whole Bean Coffee. Coffee that has not been ground.