Coffee Glossary

This Coffee Glossary covers many of the Coffee words and technical terms. Our Coffee Glossary defines hundreds of common and not-so-common words in the world of coffee. To help you along we have compiled a list of coffee terms for you to use as a Coffee Dictionary. Enjoy!

Cafe Americano
A few shots of espresso poured with hot water to fill a typical drip-style coffee cup or sometimes espresso brewed drip-style.

Cafe au Lait
Coffee drink combining one-third drip coffee with two-thirds hot frothed milk.

Cafe con Panna
Espresso dabbed with whipping cream.

Cafe Latte
A shot of espresso served in a tall glass poured with 3 to 4 times that amount steamed milk and a dab of foam.

Cafe Macchiato
A shot of espresso marked with a dab of foam.

Cafe Mocha
A shot of espresso served in a tall glass poured with 3 to 4 times that amount steamed chocolate milk (made from powder or syrup) and a dab of foam or whipped cream and a shake of shaved or powdered chocolate.

Caffe Americano
An espresso lengthened with hot water.

Caffe Latte
A serving of espresso combined with about three times as much hot milk topped with froth.

Caffeine
An odorless, bitter alkaloid responsible for the stimulating effect of coffee and tea.

Canephora
The coffee species second in importance to "Coffee Arabica," "Coffee Robusta" is known by botanists as "Coffee Canephora."

Cappuccino
An espresso drink comprised of one serving of espresso topped with hot milk and froth.

Caracas
A class of coffees from Venezuela, ranging from fair to excellent in quality.

Caracol
Also known as Peaberry. A small, round bean formed when only one seed, rather than the usual two, develops at the heart of the coffee fruit. Peaberry beans are often separated from normal beans and sold as a distinct grade of a given coffee. Typically, but not always, they produce a brighter, more acidy, but lighter-bodied cup than normal beans from the same crop.

Caramelized
Corresponds to the taste acquired by roasted beans that have been dipped in sugar, dextrin syrup, or molasses before roasting. Also perceived in spray-dried instant coffees.

Caramelly
A sweet aroma suggestive of candy or syrup.

Carbony
A roasty aroma suggestive of a burnt substance that is present in many very dark-roasted coffees.

Caturra
A relatively recently selected botanical variety of the Coffea arabica species that generally matures more quickly, produces more coffee, and is more disease resistant than older, traditional arabica varieties. Many experts contend that the caturra and modern hybrid varieties of Coffea arabica produce coffee that is inferior in cup quality and distinction to the coffee produced by the traditional "old arabica" varieties like bourbon and typica.

Celebes
Former name of Sulawesi. Single-origin coffee from the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Most come from the Toraja or Kalossi growing region in the southeastern highlands. At best, distinguished by full body, expansive flavor, and a low-toned, vibrant acidity. At worst, many display unpleasant hard or musty defects. Some display an earthiness which many coffee lovers enjoy and others avoid.

Chaff
Flakes of the innermost skin of the coffee fruit (the silverskin) that remain clinging to the green bean after processing and float free during roasting.

Chaff (Roasting)
Chaff is paper-like stuff that appears though the roasting process. These little brown flakes are fragments of the innermost skin (the silverskin) of the coffee fruit that still cling to the beans after processing has been completed. Roasting causes these bits of skin to lift off the bean.

Chanchamayo
Market name for a respected coffee from south-central Peru.

Chemical
A definite chemical flavour (such as formaldehyde) not to be confused with Rio flavour.

Cherry
Common term for the fruit of the coffee tree. Each cherry contains two regular coffee beans, or one peaberry.

Chiapas
Coffee-growing state in southern Mexico. The best Chiapas coffees are grown in the southeast corner of the state near the border with Guatemala, and may bear the market name Tapachula after the town of that name. At their best, Chiapas or Tapachula coffees display the brisk acidity, delicate flavor, and light to medium body of the better known Mexican coffees of Oaxaca and Vera Cruz States.

Chicory
The root of the endive, roasted and ground, it is blended with coffee in New Orleans style coffee.

Chipinga
Region in eastern Zimbabwe near the border with Mozambique that produces the most admired coffees of that country.

Chocolaty
A roasty, sweet aroma suggestive of unsweetened chocolate, cocoa, or even vanilla.

Cibao
Market name for a good, generally low-acid coffee from the Dominican Republic.

Cinnamon
A spicy aroma suggestive of cinnamon.

Cinnamon Roast
Also known as Light Roast and New England Roast. Coffee brought to a degree of roast of coffee lighter than the traditional American norm, and grainlike in taste, with a sharp, almost sour acidity. This roast style is not a factor in specialty coffee.

City Or Full City Roast
">"City" is a roast that is slightly darker than the American roasting norm. "Full City" is definitely darker than norm; sometimes patches of oil on surface.

City Roast
Also Light French Roast, Viennese Roast, Light Espresso Roast, High Roast, and Full-City Roast. Terms for coffee brought to degrees of roast somewhat darker than the traditional American norm, but lighter than the classic dark roast variously called espresso, French, or Italian. In the cup, full-city and associated roast styles are less acidy and smoother than the traditional American "medium" roast, but may display fewer of the distinctive taste characteristics of the original coffee. Among many newer American specialty roasters, roast styles once called full-city, Viennese, etc. may constitute the typical, "regular" roast of coffee.

Clean
Coffee cupping or tasting term describing a coffee sample that is free from flavor defects.

Coatepec, Altura Coatepec
Market name for a respected washed coffee from the northern slopes of the central mountain range in Veracruz State, Mexico.

Cobán
Market name for a respected high-grown coffee from north-central Guatemala.

Cocoa
A bittersweet aroma suggestive of unsweetened chocolate.

Coffee Oil, Coffeol
The volatile coffee essence developed in the bean during roasting.

Cold-Water Method
Brewing method in which ground coffee is soaked in a proportionally small amount of cold water for 10 to 20 hours. The grounds are strained out and the resulting concentrated coffee is stored and mixed with hot water as needed. The cold water method produces a low-acid, light-bodied cup that some find pleasingly delicate, and others find bland.

Colombia
The standard Colombia coffee is a wet-processed coffee produced by small holders, and collected, milled and exported by the Colombian Coffee Federation. It is sold by grade (Supremo highest) rather than by market name or region. It can range from superb high-grown, classic, mildly fruity Latin-America coffee to rather ordinary, edge-of-fermented fruity coffee. Coffees from some estates and cooperatives and from privately operated mills are sold by region as well as by botanical variety (Bourbon is best). Narino State in southern Colombia is currently producing the most respected Colombia coffee. Mixed Medellin, Armenia, and Manizales Columbia coffees are often sold together as MAMs.

Commercial Coffees
Packaged pre-ground (pre-brewed in the case of instant or soluble) coffees sold by brand name.

Common
Coffee of ordinary and average quality.

Complex
Flavors that have multiple layers of sensation.

Complexity
A tasting term describing coffees whose taste sensations shift and layer pleasurably, and give the impression of depth and resonance.

Continental Roast
Also known as Espresso Roast, After-Dinner Roast, and European Roast. Terms for coffee brought to degrees of roast ranging from somewhat darker than the traditional American norm to dark brown. Acidity diminishes and a rich bittersweetness emerges. Among many newer American specialty roasters, roast styles once called by these names may in fact constitute the typical, "regular" roast of coffee.

Continuous Roaster
Large commercial coffee roaster that roasts coffee continuously rather than in batches.

Cooked
A typical taste of an instant coffee treated at too high a temperature.

Costa Rica
The best Costa Rica coffees (San Marcos de Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Heredi, Alajuela) display a full body and clean, robust acidity that make them among the most admired of Central American coffees.

Course
A coffee that is rough on the tongue.

Crema
The pale brown foam covering the surface of a well-brewed tazzina of espresso.

Creosol
fee taste sensation characterized by a predominantly scratching sensation at the back of the tongue. Caused by the high percentage of phenolic compounds created by a dark roast.

Cucuta
Market name for a coffee grown in northeastern Colombia, but often shipped through Maracaibo, Venezuela.

Cupping
Procedure used by professional tasters to perform sensory evaluation of samples of coffee beans. The beans are ground, water is poured over the grounds, and the liquid is tasted both hot and as it cools. The key evaluation characteristics are Aroma, Acidity, Body, and Flavor.