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Acidy (Acidity, Acid) - A desirable taste characteristic found in coffee. Sharp and sweet, never acrid and/or biting. Common in many African and Central American coffees.
Aged Coffee - Coffee that has been set aside to age for several months to several years. Since coffee doesn't typically age well, this can be tricky. There are two main methods for doing this. One is monsooning the coffee (see Monsooned Coffee). The other is storing the coffee in special humidity and temperature controlled warehouses. The special climate of these warehouses allows the coffee to age without going stale or turning rancid. This aging process imparts unique tastes to the coffee, usually earthiness and mustiness (which is a desired taste in aged coffees). People who enjoy heavy, earthy coffees might enjoy aged coffees.
Americano - A shot of espresso mixed with six to eight ounces of hot water. Supposedly named for Americans in Europe who didn't like drinking straight espresso.
Antigua - A growing region in the mountains of central Guatemala known for producing acidy complex quality coffees.
Arabica - The bean of choice of the specialty coffee industry. This is because arabica coffee plants produce the sweetest, most flavorful coffees. It is the oldest known coffee species in the world.
Aroma - The odors released when hot water is added to ground coffee. When water is added to coffee, literally thousands of chemical reactions are taking place in the cup. The aroma is the olfactory sensation produced by these chemical reactions. Not to be confused with fragrance.
Balance - A coffee that has several pleasing tastes sensations that compliment each other. A well-balanced coffee is like a well-harmonized choir.
Barista - The person who makes your espresso. Most are very good at what they do, and some are even great. As a whole, they are a friendly, jovial lot who respond well to intelligent conversation and tipping.
Bird Friendly - Coffee that is grown on farms that provide a tree canopy for migratory birds. Coffee trees like shade and birds like tree canopy, so this is a win/win proposition. This program is run by the Smithsonian Institute, which has a certification process in place for participating farmers and retailers.
Blend - A mixture of two or more single origin coffees used to create a unique flavor that can not be found in the single origin coffees by themselves.
Body - How the coffee feels in your mouth. The coffee's viscosity.
Bourbon - A varietal of the arabica coffee plant. Known for its small beans and rich flavors. Common in South America, especially Brazil. Also a distilled grain spirit from Kentucky, but that's not really what this site is about.
Brazil - One of the major coffee producing countries in the world. Brazil produces a wide-range of coffees, from robustas for mass production use to specialty arabicas that can fetch upwards of $50/lb at auction.
Café au Lait - French for "coffee with milk." Usually a fifty-fifty mix of the two ingredients. Traditional New Orleans coffee is served like this, usually with the addition of chicory.
Caffeine - A naturally occurring alkaloid found in coffee, as well as other plants (cocoa among them). It is a central nervous system stimulant that hundreds of millions people consume on a daily basis. It can be addictive if over-used. Like most substances, the effects of caffeine will differ from person to person so it is best to know one's own limits when it comes to caffeine ingestion.
Canephora - See Robusta.
Cappuccino - A shot of espresso mixed with some steamed milk, then milk foam is placed on top. Usually done in thirds (a third of each ingredient).
Caracol - See Peaberry.
Chaff - The annoying by-product of coffee roasting. It is the thin skin on the outside of the green coffee bean. It usually doesn't come off during processing, so us roasters have to deal with it. The equivalent of a peanut skin, except not as useful.
Cherry - The actual fruit of the coffee plant. Coffee beans are actually the seeds inside the coffee cherry. White blossoms of the coffee plant turn into green fruit which eventually ripen into red coffee cherries. Coffee cherries on the branch look similar to bunches of grapes on the vine.
Chiapas - A growing region in southern Mexico famous for its quality, high grown coffees.
Chicory - The bitter root of the endive plant. When roasted it (supposedly) has some similarities to coffee. It has long used as an additive or even substitute for coffee. Common in traditional New Orleans coffee.
Clean - A coffee that is free of any taints or faults.
Coffeol (coffee oils) - A catch-all term for the oils that coffee produces on its surface when roasted to an extremely dark level. Originally thought to be a single substance (coffeol), it is now known to consists of hundreds of chemical compounds.
Colombia - A major coffee growing country in South America. Colombia produces some of the most flavorful and richest coffees in the world.
Complex - A coffee that has many different positive taste attributes.
Costa Rica - A major coffee producing country in Central America. Known for their bright (acidy) coffees. The mountains of Costa Rica are, arguably, the best climate for growing coffee anywhere on the planet.
Crema - That tasty brown foam on top of your espresso. Some baristas like to draw pictures in it. If they do that for you, you should tip them well.
Cupping - The coffee industry's ceremony for sampling and tasting coffee. Actually, it is a very thorough, well laid-out procedure to ensure that sample coffees are tasted under equal and optimal conditions. A solid cupping procedure is a must for sampling any group of coffees professionally. Similar to wine tasting, including the spitting.
Decaffeination - A procedure used to remove most (97%+) of the caffeine from coffee. There are several methods of doing this, but all of them tend to alter the taste of the coffee in some way.
Defects - Simply put, bad beans or foreign matter found in bags of green coffee. There are many grades and types of defects, such as black beans, sour, and major/minor insect damage. Specialty coffee, like the kind we sell here at HT Brown Coffee, are as free from defects as possible. That is actually one of the things that makes it specialty.
Demitasse - A small serving cup commonly used for espresso. French for "half cup."
Demucilage - Industry term referring to the removal of the coffee cherry fruit pulp (mucilage) from the coffee bean. This usually involves some sort of fermentation, pulping, milling, and drying, depending on the method used.
Drip - Probably the most common way to make coffee. Hot water is run thru a holder containing ground coffee and a filter. The holder has a small hole in the bottom that allows the coffee to drip into a container below. The two most common type of drips are flat-bottomed and conical.
Dry-Processed Coffee - A coffee processing method mostly used in Brazil, but in other areas as well like Ethiopia. The coffee is left to dry with the fruit still on the bean. It is only removed (demucilaged) after it has completely dried. This process imparts very unique flavors on the bean that can not be found in wet processed coffees. Dry processed coffees are often very fruity and/or nutty.
Earthiness - A taste attribute often found in Sumatran coffee. It can be good or bad, depending on who you talk to. In our opinion, a good earthiness, especially a clean earthiness, can be a very positive cup attribute.
El Salvador - A small country in Central America known for producing some very well-balanced coffees.
Espresso - Coffee produced when hot water is forced thru finely ground coffee under pressure. No, it is not as easy as it sounds. Espresso is very strong and should be sweet as opposed to bitter.
Estate Grown Coffee - Coffee grown on a single farm. Estate grown coffees are common within the specialty coffee industry.
Ethiopia - A major coffee producing country in NE Africa. Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. Some of the finest coffees in the world are grown there. Yirgacheffe, Harrar, Sidamo, and Gimli are all varieties of Ethiopian coffees.
Excelso - In Colombia, the second largest bean size measured by screen. The term has little to do with the actual quality of the coffee.
Fair Trade Coffee - Fair Trade coffee is promoted by a group known as TransFair. Not only does TransFair help small coffee farmers get their product to market, they guarantee them a per pound price of $1.26. Founded in an effort to help small, struggling coffee farmers around the globe.
Fermentation - The process whereby the fruity pulp of the coffee cherry is loosened from the skin of the bean. Usually this is done by letting the beans sit in a tank of water for up to forty-eight hours, and is part of the wet process method of processing coffee. The dry process method allows the pulp to ferment while it dries on the bean.
Finish - The lingering taste that coffee leaves in your mouth after swallowing.
Flavor - What the coffee tastes like, besides coffee. Coffees have a range of flavors, from nutty to fruity to honey to berry to earthy and so on. Some flavors are up-front, while others are more subtle.
Fluid Bed Roaster - A method of roasting that uses a bed of hot air to roast the coffee instead of the traditional drum roasting method. Think of a cross between a convection oven and a hot air popcorn popper.
Fragrance - The smell of dry, freshly ground coffee. Not to be confused with aroma, which applies to brewing coffee.
French Press (Press Pot) - A device used for making coffee. In a French press, the coffee is steeped in hot water for several minutes. Then the grounds are "pressed" to the bottom of the container by a plunger-like device with a filter contraption attached to it. Probably the most effective way of making a cuppa. Letting the grounds steep ensures the best possible extract from the coffee grounds.
French Roast - The darkest possible roast before the beans turn to charcoal. Beans should be not-quite black (but almost), fully covered in oil, and glossy.
Green Coffee - Coffee that has been processed, but remains un-roasted. The green color of the beans can range from a light yellowish green to a dark blue/green bean.
Guatemala - A major coffee producing country in Central America. Known for producing complex, flavorful coffees.
Hard Bean - Coffees grown at altitudes between 4000 and 5000 feet, depending on the country. Coffees grown at this altitude mature slower and develop better taste profiles. Similar appellation to High Grown, but not to be confused with Strictly Hard Bean.
Harrar (Harar) - A coffee growing region in Ethiopia that produces some of the finest coffees in the world. The best coffees from Harrar are very nutty, fruity, and acidy.
Hawaii - The only coffee-growing location in North America. Hawaii produces some very flavorful, smooth coffees. Kona is probably the best known growing region on the islands.
India - A major coffee growing country. Famous for their monsooned coffees as well as their more traditional offerings. Indian coffees tend to be very earthy.
Indonesia - Major coffee growing country in Asia. Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Java are all coffee-growing regions in Indonesia.
Jamaica - Small Caribbean island known for producing high quality coffees. Blue Mountain and Wallenford estate are two of the more famous growing regions in Jamaica.There is some debate as to just how good Jamaican coffees are anymore, compared to the best the rest of the world has to offer.
Kenya - A major coffee producing country in Africa. Kenya produces the finest coffees Africa has to offer. Kenyan coffees are known for their crisp acidy and fruitiness.
Kopi Luwak - An oft-talked about, but rarely consumed, coffee from Indonesia. The key to Kopi Luwak coffee is in the processing. Civets, a small mammal native to the area, live in the coffee estates and eat cherries that have fallen off the branches. Eventually, the coffee bean passes thru the civet's digestive system un-digested, but sort-of fermented. The droppings are then gathered up for further processing. It is not an urban legend. Kopi Luwak coffee does exist. It is very rare, and it is very expensive. It is also very debatable just how much of the Kopi Luwak coffee on the market is authentic.
Latte - Espresso mixed with steamed milk in approximately a 3-to-1 milk-to-coffee ratio.
Mexico - A major coffee producing country in Central America. Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Pluma are major growing regions.
Mocha (Moka) - Either refers to a coffee from Yemen (Yemen Moka), or the coffee/chocolate/milk drink. The Yemen coffee is rich and acidy, and is commonly blended with Indonesian Java to form the Moka Java blend.
Mocha-Java (Moka-Java) - Traditionally, a blending of Yemen Moka and Indonesian Java. Nowadays, many retailers simply use the name Mocha Java to refer to a two-part coffee blend where one part is an earthy, heavy-bodied coffee while the other is a more acidy, flavorful coffee. The oldest known coffee blend.
Monsooned Coffee - Coffee from India (typically) that is stored in a special warehouse. These warehouses have huge windows that are opened during the rainy (monsoon) season, allowing the moist air to be absorbed into the bags of beans. This process imparts a musty, baggy taste to the coffee that are positive taste characteristics in this case.
New Crop - Basically, fresh green beans. Beans delivered to the roaster soon after processing that have not sat around a warehouse for an extended period of time.
New Guinea - Small, South Pacific nation that produces clean, complex, flavorful coffees.
Nicaragua - A small coffee producing country in Central America known for their flavorful, high grown coffees.
Organic Coffee - Coffee that has been certified as having been grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, or other chemicals.
Parchment (Pergamino) - A thin, outer skin that forms around the bean. Not to be confused with chaff. Removed during processing.
Peaberry - A single, dense coffee bean that forms inside a coffee cherry instead of the typical two. Peaberry beans are sometimes separated during processing and sold separately. Some people consider the flavor from peaberries to be more concentrated than regular coffee beans.
Peru - A small coffee producing country in South America. Peru is currently known for producing a wide range of organic coffees.
Qahwah - Early Arabic word for coffee. This early form of coffee was brewed from the un-roasted beans of the coffee plant. Also a term for an ancient wine made from the fruit of the coffee cherries.
Quakers -A defective coffee bean that goes thru the roasting process but fails to roast.
Rio (Rio-y) - A taste unique to certain Brazilian coffees. Considered a taste fault by most of the world, rio-y coffee has a medicinal taste to it that resembles iodine sometimes. Nevertheless, some people seek it out and love the flavor. Popular in parts of the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Robusta - Along with arabica, the most widely grown coffee plant on the planet. Robusta coffees can not compare in quality or taste to arabicas. Used mainly by the large coffee companies to mass produce pre-ground coffee. Minimally used within the specialty coffee industry, but high-quality robusta beans can be found in some espresso blends.
SCAA, Specialty Coffee Association of America - The premier trade organization of the specialty coffee industry. The SCAA consists of farmers, roasters, importers, baristas, and just about anyone else you can think of involved in the specialty coffee industry.
Sidamo - A small coffee growing region in Ethiopia. Known for producing earthy, fruity coffees.
Single-Origin Coffee - Estate grown coffees. Coffee beans that come from a single farm that have not been blended with other beans.
Strictly Hard Bean - Coffees grown at altitudes over 4500 feet, 5000 feet in some Central American countries. Similar appellation as Strictly High Grown, but not to be confused with Hard Bean. SHB coffees are among the most flavorful coffees in the world due to the slow maturation of the coffee plants.
Sumatra - Coffee growing region in Indonesia. Sumatran coffees are known for their earthiness and unique flavors.
Supremo - In Colombia, the largest bean size measured by screen. The term has little to do with regards to the coffee's quality.
Swiss Water Process - A trademarked process for removing caffeine from coffee beans. The SWP method uses stream and charcoal filtering to remove caffeine from the beans.
Tanzania - Small coffee producing country in Africa. Coffees are similar to Kenyans in terms of flavor and acidy. Best known for their peaberry coffees.
Turkish Coffee - Finely ground, almost to a powder, coffee brewed in an ibrik. Similar to espresso. One of the oldest methods for brewing coffee.
Uganda - A major coffee producing country in central Africa. Bigisu is the major growing region in Uganda, and the country's best coffees are produced there.
Varietal - Varieties of the arabica coffee plant. Varietals of arabica include typica, cattura, Blue Mountain, and bourbon.
Wet-Processed Coffee - A coffee process that removes the fruit from the bean while the fruit is still wet. It is the easiest and most common method for processing coffee. Unlike dry processing, which imparts unique tastes to the beans, wet processing is said to heighten coffee's acidy.
Whole-Bean Coffee - Roast coffee that is sold in bean form, not ground. We believe it is the only way to sell coffee. Coffee shouldn't be ground until you are ready to pour water over it. However, we understand that you can't carry a grinder with you everywhere (though we're trying to find ways to do so), so we are happy to grind your coffee order to whichever grind you specify.
Yemen - Small coffee producing region on the SW tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Some of the world's oldest cultivated coffee comes from this part of the world. Yemen coffees are distinctive for their unique fruity and winey flavors.
Yirgacheffe - A coffee growing region in Ethiopia known for producing fine coffees. Coffee from the Yirgacheffe region is often very bright with fruit and floral overtones.
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