Decaffeinated coffee
Coffee that has been
processed through a chemical process to remove the majority of caffeine.
Dark
Roasting
term meaning dark brown beans with a shiny surface; equivalent to
espresso or French roast
Dark French Roast
A
roast of coffee almost black in color with a shiny surface,
thin-bodied, and bittersweet in flavor, with an overlay of burned or
charcoal-like tones.
Dark Roast
Vague
term; may describe any roast of coffee darker than the traditional
American norm.
Dark-roasted coffee
Coffee roasted past the
point of full flavor so as to bring out highly desirable burnt notes.
Decaffeination Processes
Specialty
coffees are decaffeinated in the green state, currently by one of four
methods. The direct solvent method involves treating the beans with
solvent, which selectively unites with the caffeine and is removed from
the beans by steaming. The indirect solvent or solvent-water method
involves soaking the green beans in hot water, removing the caffeine
from the hot water by means of a solvent, and recombining the water with
the beans, which are then dried. Both processes using solvents often
are called European Process or Traditional Process. The water-only
method, commonly known by the proprietary name Swiss Water ProcessTM,
involves the same steps, but removes the caffeine from the water by
allowing it to percolate through a bed of activated charcoal. In the
carbon dioxide method, which is only beginning to be established in the
specialty-coffee trade, the caffeine is stripped directly from the beans
by a highly compressed semi-liquid form of carbon dioxide.
Defects, Flavor Defects
Unpleasant
flavor characteristics caused by problems during picking, processing
(fruit removal), drying, sorting, storage, or transportation. Common
defects include: excess numbers of immature or under-ripe fruit
(unselective picking); inadvertent fermentation (careless processing);
fermentation combined with invasion by micro-organisms, causing moldy,
hard, or rioy defects (careless or moisture-interrupted drying); and
contact with excessive moisture after drying, causing musty or baggy
defects (careless storage and transportation).
Degassing
A
natural process in which recently roasted coffee releases carbon
dioxide gas, temporarily protecting the coffee from the staling impact
of oxygen.
Delicate
A
secondary coffee taste sensation characterized by fragile sweet-subtle
sensation just past the tip of the tongue. Caused by the lowest possible
combination of sugars and salts that still produce a sweet cast to the
taste, a combination easily broken up by other taste sensations.
Typified by a washed New Guinea arabica coffee.
Demitasse
"Half
cup" in French; a half-size or three-ounce cup used primarily for
espresso coffee.
Demucilage
Terms
for a procedure in which the sticky fruit pulp, or mucilage, is removed
from freshly picked coffee beans by scrubbing in machines. Mechanical
demucilaging is gradually replacing the traditional wet processing
procedure of removing mucilage by fermentation and washing.
Depth
Depth
describes the resonance or sensual power behind the sensations that
drive the taste of the coffee. It is a tricky and subjective term, but
it tries to get at the way certain coffees open up and support their
sensations with a sort of ringing, echoing power, whereas others simply
present themselves to the palate and then stand pat or even fade.
Detrimental
Coffee Taste Sensations
Common to natural coffees that
are harsh due to bitter replacing sweet in the taste modulation. The
result of sugars being ingested by the shrub as the cherries remain on
the branches while drying. Range from medicinal to caustic.
Dirty
A taste that is not earthy or musty
but actually grimy in flavor.
Djimah, Djimma, Jimma
A
coffee from Ethiopia. Washed Djimah can be an excellent low-acid
coffee. Dry-processed Djimah is a lesser coffee often exhibiting wild or
medicinal taste characteristics and is not often traded as a speciality
coffee.
Dominican Republic, Santo
Domingo
Coffee from the Dominican Republic.
High-grown Dominican coffee is a fairly rich, acidy coffee with classic
Caribbean characteristics. Lower grown Dominican coffees tend to be
softer and less acidy.
Doppio
A
double espresso, or three to six ounces of straight espresso.
Doser
A
spring-loaded device on specialized espresso grinders that dispenses
single servings of ground coffee.
DP
Abbreviation
for "double picked," meaning the coffee in question has been subjected
to hand picking to remove imperfect beans, pebbles, and other foreign
matter twice rather than once.
Drip Method
Brewing
method that allows hot water to settle through a bed of ground coffee.
Dry
A coffee that finishes parched or dehydrated in the mouth, not clean.
Also the opposite of sweet.
Dry-Processed Coffee, Dry
Method Coffee, Natural Coffee
Coffee processed by
removing the husk or fruit after the coffee fruit has been dried. When
only ripe fruit is utilized and the drying is done carefully
dry-processed coffee can be complex, fruity, and deeply-dimensioned.
When the picking and drying are performed carelessly, as is the case
with cheaper dry-processed coffees, the result is off-tasting, harsh
coffee. The best and most celebrated dry-processed coffees are Yemen
coffees, the Harrar coffees of Ethiopia, and the finest traditional
Brazil coffees.
Dull
f it gives an impression of roundness but at the same time lacks
character. Dull comes close to the meaning of flat.