Sustainable Coffee
At
this writing, a contested and vaguely defined category of
environmentally friendly coffees. A caucus in the Specialty Coffee
Association of America (SCAA) is attempting to evolve reliable
guidelines for what constitutes a genuine sustainably grown coffee.
Supporters of organic coffees object to the concept as dangerously
fuzzy.
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.
Santos, Bourbon 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.
SCAA, Specialty Coffee
Association of America
An important and influential
association of specialty coffee roasters, wholesalers, retailers,
importers and growers headquartered in Long Beach, California.
Scorched
Coffee that has not been roasted or
brewed properly (usually due to excessive heat) may take on this highly
bitter, acrid aroma.
Secondary Coffee
Taste Sensations
">Piquant to nippy, mild to delicate, tangy to tart, soft to
neutral, rough to astringent, hard to acrid.
Semi-Dry-Processed
Coffee, Pulped Natural Coffee, Semi-Wet-Processed Coffee
Coffee
prepared by removing the outer skin of the coffee fruit (a process
called pulping) and drying the skinned coffee with the sticky mucilage
and the inner skins (parchment and silverskin) still adhering to the
bean. This processing method, situated between the dry method and the
wet method, has no consensus name. It is one of three processing methods
practiced in Brazil, and is used sporadically on a small scale by
farmers in Sumatra and Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Shade Grown, "Bird
Friendly
" 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.
Sharp
A primary
coffee taste sensation created as acids in the coffee combine with salts
to increase the overall saltiness. Characteristic found most often in
unwashed robusta coffee. Sharp coffee ranges from rough to astringent.
Sidamo, Washed Sidamo
Market
name for a distinguished light-to-medium bodied, fragrantly floral or
fruity wet-processed coffee from southern Ethiopia.
Silverskin
The
thin, innermost skin of the coffee fruit. It clings to the dried coffee
beans until it is either removed by polishing or floats free during
roasting and becomes what roasters call chaff.
Single-Estate Coffee,
Estate-Grown Coffee
Coffee produced by a single
farm, single mill, or single group of farms, and marketed without
mixture with other coffees. Many specialty coffees are now identified by
estate name, rather than the less specific regional or market name.
Single-Origin Coffee,
Straight Cofee
Unblended coffee from a single
country, region, and crop.
Sivitz Roaster
Type
of coffee roaster named after inventor Michael Sivetz. Also known by
the generic terms Fluid Bed Roaster, Fluidized Bed Roaster, and Air
Roaster, A roasting apparatus that works much like a giant popcorn
popper, utilizing a column of forced hot air to simultaneously agitate
and roast green coffee beans.
Smoky
Coffee that has been dark roasted properly may take on this roasty,
high-quality flavor.
Smooth
A
moderately low level of oily material suspended in the coffee beverage.
Result of fats in the beans present in perceptible amounts.
Soft
A
secondary coffee taste sensation characterized by an absence of any
predominant taste sensation on any part of the tongue, except for subtle
dryness. Caused by a concentration of salts high enough to neutralize
the acids but not high enough to neutralize the sugars. Typified by
washed arabica coffee from Santos, Brazil.
Soft Bean
Often
used to describe coffees grown at relatively low altitudes. In the same
context, coffees grown at higher altitudes are often designated hard
bean. The lower altitudes and consequently warmer temperatures produce a
faster maturing fruit and a lighter, more porous bean. Soft bean
coffees usually make a less acidy and less flavorful cup than do
hard-bean coffees, although there are many exceptions to this
generalization. The hard bean /soft bean distinction is used most
frequently in evaluating coffees of Central America, where it figures in
grade descriptions.
Soft-sweet
A pleasant
clean taste. Denotes a smooth cup free of any foreign flavours. applies
particularly to Brazilian coffee.
Sound Cup
A coffee
with no particular positive characteristic and without negative
characteristics.
Sour
When
acidity is at an undesirable level, we may say “sour” referring to its
intense briny sensation at the tip of the tongue.
Spanish Roast, French
Roast, Heavy Roast
Terms for coffee brought to
degrees of roast considerably darker than the American norm; may range
in color from dark brown (see Espresso Roast) to nearly black (see Dark
French Roast) and in flavor from rich and bittersweet to thin-bodied and
burned.
Specialty Coffee
Association of America (SCAA)
An important and
influential association of specialty coffee roasters, wholesalers,
retailers, importers and growers headquartered in Long Beach,
California.
Specialty Coffee
Practice
of selling coffees by country of origin, roast, flavoring, or special
blend, rather than by brand or trademark. The term specialty coffee also
suggests the trade and culture that has grown up around this
merchandising practice.
Spicy
A fragrance or flavor reminiscent of
spices like cinnamon or allspice.
Stale
Coffee that has not been stored properly may take on this
flat, one-dimensional cardboard flavor.
Steam Wand, Nozzle,
Pipe, Stylus
The small protruding pipe on most
espresso machines that provides live steam for the milk-frothing
operation..
Stinker
A coffee
with no particular positive characteristics and without negative
characteristics.
Straight Coffee,
Single-Origin Coffee
Unblended coffee from a single
country, region, and crop.
Strawy
A negative herbaceous aroma or flavor suggestive of hay.
Strength
The ratio of water to ground
coffee.
Strictly High-Grown
Washed
Highest grade of Haiti coffee.
Strictly High-Grown
Highest
grade of El Salvador coffee.
Strong
Characteristic
of rich, full-bodied coffees.
Sulawesi, Celebes
Single-origin
coffee from the island of Sulawesi (formerly Celebes), 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.
Sumatra
Single-origin
coffee from the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Most high-quality Sumatra
coffee is grown either near Lake Toba (Mandheling, Lintong) or in Aceh
Province, near Lake Biwa (Aceh, Gayo Mountain). At best, distinguished
by full body, deep, 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.
Sun Drying
Drying
coffee directly after picking (in the dry method) or after fruit
removal (in the wet method) by exposing it to the heat of the sun by
spreading and raking it in thin layers on drying racks or patios. A more
traditional alternative to machine drying.
Sun Grown
Describes
coffee that is not 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.
Supremo
Highest
grade of Colombia coffee.
Sweet
A
mild, smooth, or fruity taste noticeable at the tip of the tongue.
Sweetly Floral
An
aromatic sensation created by a highly volatile set of aldehydes and
esters that produce sweet fragrance sensations reminiscent of a flower.
Sweetly Spicy
An
aromatic sensation created by a highly volatile set of aldehydes and
esters that produce a spicy fragrance sensations reminiscent of a sweet
spice.
Swiss Water Process
A
trademarked decaffeination method that removes caffeine from coffee
beans using hot water, steam, and activated charcoal rather than
chemicals or solvents.
Syrupy
A sweet, thick, and sticky heaviness
in the mouth.