Coffee Glossary

A to Z

A

Acidity

The bright, sharp quality in a good cup, not sourness. High acidity tastes lively and clean. A coffee with none tastes flat.

Aftertaste

What you taste once the coffee is swallowed, as vapours rise back through the nose.

Aged

Beans held a year or more before roasting. Acidity drops, body builds.

Agtron

A number from a meter that measures how dark a roast is by reflected light. Lower is darker.

Aroma

The smell of the brewed coffee, anywhere from fruity to herbal.

B

Baked

A flat, under-developed flavour caused by roasting too slowly at too low a temperature.

Barista

The person making the espresso. Part bartender, part technician.

Bitter

Perceived at the back of the tongue. Usually a sign of over-roasting or over-extraction.

Blend

Two or more single origins combined, usually for balance or consistency.

Bloom

The swelling and off-gassing when water first hits fresh grounds. Carbon dioxide escaping. Wait for it before the main pour.

Body

How heavy the coffee feels in the mouth: watery, light, full, syrupy. A French press has far more body than a paper filter.

Bourbon

An arabica variety, not the whiskey. Named for the island now called Réunion.

Breve

Any espresso drink made with half-and-half in place of milk.

Bright

A compliment. Coffee with enjoyable acidity.

Burr

The pair of cutting surfaces in a proper grinder. Crushes beans to an even size, unlike a blade.

C

Caramelly

Cooked-sugar sweetness created during roasting, as the bean's carbohydrates change.

Carbony

The charred note in some very dark roasts.

Chaff

The papery skin that comes off the bean during roasting.

Channelling

Water finding a path of least resistance through an espresso puck instead of soaking it evenly. Produces sour and bitter at once.

Cherry

The fruit of the coffee plant. The bean is its seed.

Chocolaty

Unsweetened chocolate in the aftertaste.

Clean

No off-flavours. Everything you taste is meant to be there.

Crema

The dense hazelnut foam on a well-pulled espresso, made of emulsified oils and dissolved gas.

Cupping

The standard way professionals taste coffee: ground coffee steeped in hot water, crust broken, slurped from a spoon.

D

Dead

Lifeless. No aroma, no acidity, nothing to say.

Degassing

Carbon dioxide leaving beans after roasting. Why coffee is better three days old than three hours.

Dialling in

Adjusting the grind and dose until a shot runs the way you want it. Done by taste and by time.

Dose

The weight of dry coffee going into a brew.

E

Earthy

Damp soil. Sometimes deliberate in Indonesian coffees, usually a defect elsewhere.

Espuma

The whipped sugar crema on a Cuban espresso. The same mechanism as dalgona coffee, decades earlier.

Extraction

How much of the ground coffee actually dissolves into the water. Under-extract and it is sour; over-extract and it is bitter.

F

Fines

Very small particles produced by any grinder. They extract fast and can clog a filter, and a few of them give a cup body.

First crack

An audible pop during roasting as moisture escapes and the bean expands. Light roasts are taken just after it.

Flat

Nothing in the fragrance, aroma or aftertaste.

Fragrance

What you smell from the dry or just-wetted grounds, before drinking.

Fruity

Citrus or berry notes, common in washed Ethiopian coffees.

G

Geisha

A prized arabica variety from Ethiopia by way of Panama. Floral and expensive.

Grassy

Freshly cut lawn, with a green astringency. A defect.

Green

Unroasted coffee. Also a sharp, vegetal taste from under-roasting.

H

Headspace

The air left in a bag or container. More air means faster staling.

Honey process

Fruit pulp removed but the sticky mucilage left on to dry. Sits between washed and natural.

Hopper

The container that holds beans above a grinder.

I

Immersion

Any brew where the coffee sits in all the water at once: French press, cold brew, a Clever dripper.

L

Lungo

A long espresso. More water through the same puck, not espresso with water added.

M

Melanoidins

Brown compounds formed during roasting. They give body and help foams hold their shape.

Microfoam

Steamed milk with bubbles too small to see, giving a glossy, paint-like texture. What latte art is poured with.

Mouthfeel

The physical sensation of the coffee on your palate, separate from its taste.

Muddy

Dull and thick, usually from agitated or unsettled grounds.

N

Natural process

Cherries dried whole with the fruit on. Produces heavy, fruity, sometimes boozy coffees.

Nutty

Roasted nuts, released as you swallow.

O

Over-extracted

Too much dissolved out of the grounds. Bitter, drying, harsh. Grind coarser.

P

Peaberry

A single round bean where two flat ones normally form. Sorted separately, often sold at a premium.

Phin

The small Vietnamese drip filter that sits on top of the glass.

Puck

The compressed bed of grounds in an espresso portafilter.

Pull

To make a shot of espresso. From the lever machines that needed real force.

Q

Quaker

An under-ripe bean that fails to roast properly. Pale, papery, and one can spoil a batch.

R

Ratio

Coffee to water by weight. 1:16 means one gram of coffee for every sixteen of water.

Ristretto

A restricted shot. The same dose stopped early, giving something shorter and syrupier.

Robusta

The other commercial species. Roughly double the caffeine of arabica, heavier bodied, flatter and more bitter. The right choice under condensed milk.

S

Second crack

A later, sharper cracking during roasting as the bean's structure breaks down. Dark roasts go into or past it.

Single origin

Coffee from one farm, cooperative or region rather than blended across several.

Sour

Over-acidity, or under-extraction. A sharp, biting flavour.

Specialty

Coffee scoring 80 or above on the 100-point cupping scale.

Stale

Roasted beans kept too long. The aromatics have gone.

Strength

How much dissolved coffee is in the cup. Set by the ratio, not by the grind.

Sweet

Free of harshness. In cupping terms, one of the highest compliments.

T

Tamp

Compressing the grounds in a portafilter so water cannot find a shortcut through them.

TDS

Total dissolved solids. The percentage of the drink that is coffee rather than water. Filter coffee usually lands near 1.3 percent.

Thin

No body, no acidity. Usually under-brewed or under-dosed.

U

Under-extracted

Not enough dissolved out of the grounds. Sour, sharp, salty, thin. Grind finer.

W

Washed process

Fruit removed before drying. Produces cleaner, brighter, more acidic coffees.

Winey

Full-bodied and smooth like a matured red wine. Common in Kenyan and Yemeni coffees.

Woody

Wood in the flavour and smell, usually from storage.

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