Acidity: The Sharpness, snap, sourness or liveliness of coffee.
Arabica (Coffea Arabica): The most widely grown and cultivated commercial coffee plant. Also of higher quality than Robusta (Coffea Canephora) and a native species of Ethiopia.
Aroma: The smell that can be detected from coffee, often influencing our taste of the drink.
Astringent: Causing the mouth to feel dry.
Baked: A roasting defect that causes coffee to lose its sweetness and taste flat and papery.
Bitter: Having a sharp, pungent taste.
Body: A coffees weight or fullness as perceived in the mouth. E.g. does it feel smooth or thick in the mouth.
Brew Strength: The amount of coffee that has been dissolved into the cup.
Brew Ratio: The ratio of dry coffee to water used to brew a coffee.
Caffeine: A bitter tasting stimulant that is found in a lot of plants.
Chaff: A layer of the coffee bean that is released as they expand during roasting.
Cherry: The fruit from the coffee tree.
Cinnamon Roast: The lightest commercially acceptable roast, often resembling a cinnamon colour.
City Roast: A light coffee roast, slightly darker than cinnamon. Usually around the end of first crack.
Crema: A thin, golden layer of foam that forms on top of an espresso. Made up predominantly of CO2 from the roasting process.
Cupping: A standardized procedure used to evaluate and score roasted and ground coffee.
Dark Roast: A strong often bitter roast, produced by releasing the beans after second crack.
Degassing: The releasing of gas from roasted coffee beans.
Drum Roaster: A coffee roaster, where the beans are tumbled in a rotating drum. Similar to a tumble dryer.
Extraction: The process of removing flavours, solids and oils from ground coffee.
First Crack: A stage within the coffee roasting process where the bean pops as a result of a build-up of pressure and water vapour inside the bean.
French Roast: A dark roast, produced by dropping the beans after oils begin to appear on the surface.
Full City Roast: A medium style roast normally dropped just before or at the beginning of second crack.
Italian Roast: The darkest commercial roast, often producing very bitter coffee.
Light Roast: A roast level where beans are dropped during or just after first crack. City roasts and cinnamon roasts are classed as light roasts.
Lungo: A long shot of espresso.
Medium Roast: A roast that is roasted until or just into second crack.
Mouth feel: The in mouth sensation produced by drinking the beverage. E.g. drying of the mouth.
Over extraction: When to much flavour, solids and oils have been removed from ground coffee. Often giving the coffee a very dark, bitter flavour.
Preinfusion: The process of wetting coffee grounds, often at low pressure, before full brewing begins.
Refractometer: A device that uses light to measure the refractive index of a solution.
Ristretto: A short/ restricted shot of espresso.
Scorching: The burning of the outside of coffee beans in the early stage of the roast.
Second Crack: A phase that occurs during darker roasts, in which the release of gasses from the coffee beans, (mainly CO2), create a loud popping noise.
Shrinkage: The weight loss of coffee beans during the roasting process.
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): The combined total of all substances (smaller than 2 microns) dissolved into a liquid.
Underdeveloped: When the coffee beans have not been cooked/ developed properly during the roasting process.
Under extraction: When not enough flavours, solids and oils have been removed from ground coffee. Often giving the coffee a very sour flavour.
Vacuum Sealing: A packaging technique that removes air before sealing.
Viennese Roast: A medium dark roast produced by allowing the oils to start to come to the surface before being dropped.