Batch Roaster
Apparatus
that roasts a given quantity (a batch) of coffee at a time.
Baggy
An
off-taste often observed in cups from weakly roasted coffees that have
been stored for a long time in unsuitable conditions.
Baked
A taste
and odor taint that gives the coffee brew a flat bouquet and insipid
taste. The result of the roasting process proceeding with too little
heat over too long a period. Generally unpleasant characteristic of
having an over-baked taste in an over-heated coffee. Ranks in the
following order of intensity: cooked, baked or burnt.
Balance
Tasting
term applied to coffees for which no single characteristic overwhelms
others, but that display sufficient complexity to be interesting.
Balanced
This is a
difficult term. When tasting coffees for defects, professional tasters
use the term to describe a coffee that does not localize at any one
point on the palate; in other words, it is not imbalanced in the
direction of some one (often undesirable) taste characteristic. As a
term of general evaluation, balance appears to mean that no one quality
overwhelms all others, but there is enough complexity in the coffee to
arouse interest. It is a term that on occasion damns with faint praise.
The Mexican sample should be most balanced, but it has less to balance
than the other two coffees. If you tasted the Yemen Mocha against a
standard Ethiopian Harrar you would probably sense how the Yemen coffee
is similar to the Harrar, but much more balanced. A well-balanced coffee
contains all the basic characteristics to the right extent.
Bani
Market
name for a good, low-acid coffee of the Dominican Republic.
Barahona
Market
name for coffee from the southwest of the Dominican Republic. Barahona
is considered by many to be the best coffee of the Dominican Republic.
Barista
Italian
term for skillful and experienced espresso bar operator.
Basic Tastes
Sweet,
sour, salt, and bitter. Characterized respectively by sucrose, tartaric
acid, sodium chloride, and quinine.
Beany
Specific
aroma of an insufficiently roasted coffee that has not been able to
develop its full aroma.
Bird Friendly
Term
associated with Shade-Grown coffee. Describes coffee grown under a
shade canopy. Arabica coffee is traditionally grown in shade in many
(but not all) parts of Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Peru, and
Venezuela, and in some other parts of the world, including India and
some regions of Indonesia and Africa. Elsewhere arabica coffee is
traditionally grown in full sun, or near full sun. The importance of
maintaining shade canopies to supply habitat for migrating song birds in
Central America has led to a controversial campaign by researchers at
the Smithsonian Institute and their supporters to define "shade grown"
in rather narrow terms (shade provided by mixed native trees) and label
coffees grown under such a native canopy as "bird friendly." Farmers who
traditionally have not grown coffee in shade but maintain extensive
forest reserves on their land understandably object to the concept, as
do those who use non-native trees to shade their coffee. On the other
hand, shade grown coffees most definitely are much easier on the
environment than sun grown coffees, and the better tasting traditional
varieties of arabica, bourbon and typica, are, in Central America at
least, best grown in shade.
Bitter
A twinge or strong taste noticeable
at the back of the tongue. Dark roasts are prominently bitter, adding to
the fullness of the coffee. High levels of bitterness can be
unpleasant, especially if due to over-extraction or brewing too little
coffee at a too-fine grind.
Blade Grinder
Small
coffee grinder using a propeller-like blade to grind coffee.
Bland
Lacking
coffee flavour and characteristics. A primary coffee taste sensation
created as the sugars in the coffee combine with the salts to reduce the
overall saltiness of the coffee. Found most often in washed arabica
coffees grown at elevations below 2,000 feet, such as a Guatemalan.
Bland coffees range from soft to neutral.
Blend
A
mixture of two or more single-origin coffees.
Body
The
sensation of heaviness, richness, or thickness and associated texture
when one tastes coffee. Body, along with flavor, acidity, and aroma, is
one of the principal categories used by professional tasters cupping, or
sensory evaluation of coffee.
Bourbon
A
botanical variety of Coffea arabica. Var. Bourbon first appeared on the
island of Bourbon, now Réunion. Some of the best Latin-American coffees
are from Bourbon stock.
Bourbon Santos
Also
known as Santos. A market name for a category of high-quality coffee
from Brazil, usually shipped through the port of Santos, and usually
grown in the state of São Paulo or the southern part of Minas Gerais
State. The term Bourbon Santos is sometimes used to refer to any
high-quality Santos coffee, but it properly describes Santos coffee from
the Bourbon variety of arabica, which tends to produce a fruitier, more
acidy cup than other varieties grown in Brazil.
Brackish
A taste
fault giving the coffee brew a salty and alkaline sensation. The result
of salts and alkaline inorganic material left after evaporation of water
from the brew due to excessive heat after brewing.
Bready
Bready
taste manifests in coffees that have not been roasted long enough or at a
high enough temperature to bring out the flavour oils.
Brew
Specific
taste of a good home brew prepared properly.
Bright
Sharp acidity.
Briny
The salty feeling in the mouth after drinking over-roasted or
over-brewed coffee.
Brown Roast
Also
known as American Roast. Coffee roasted to traditional American taste:
medium brown.
Bugishu, Bugisu
Market
name for arabica coffee from the slopes of Mt. Elgon in Uganda.
Considered the best Uganda coffee.
Burr Grinder, Burr Mill
Coffee
grinder with two shredding discs or burrs that can be adjusted for
maximum effectiveness.
Buttery
A
rich and oily heaviness in the mouth that’s found in fuller-bodied
coffees.