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Glossary of Coffee Terms
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Acidity.A term used to
describe a coffee in which this desirable cup characteristic occurs.
This characteristic is particularly desirable in Brazil and is found
in most Milds. Colombians have both acid and body. It is natural in
Mochas. An acidy flavor is sharp and pleasing to the taste as opposed
to sourorfermented, or caustic or bitter as chemical
terminology implies. It is never found in old coffee. The term "e;acid"e;
used by the coffee trade does not refer to a greater amount of actual
acid but to coffee that is smooth and rich and has verve, snap, life
and thinness compared to a sweet, heavy, old and mellow flavor. Acidy
coffee commands a higher price. it is rank, hidy, sour, muddy, or
bitter. The brew is sipped and held in the mouth only long enough to
get the full strength of the flavor. It is then spat out.
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Aged.Coffee beans that have
been stored for one year or more before roasting. They have lost their
acidy characteristics, becoming instead richly sweet and heavy bodied.
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Aroma.Refers to the odor of
the prepared coffee beverage. It may be lacking, faint, delicate,
moderate, strong, or fragrant (also called aromatic), and distinctive
as to character.
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Bitter.Not to be confused
with "e;Harsh"e;. This action is usually the result of coffee that has
been brewed and allowed to stand for more than a half hour.
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Black
Beans.Dead
coffee beans which have dropped from the trees before harvest. For
counting imperfections in grading coffee on the New York Coffee
Exchange, the black bean has been taken as the basis unit and all
imperfections are calculated in terms of black beans.
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Body.The tactile impression
of weight and texture in the mouth. Coffee may be watery,thin,slight, light, medium, full, heavy, thick, or even syrupy in body, as
well asbuttery,oily,rich,smooth, chewy, etc., in
texture.
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Caffeine
(C,H,ON,O,).An alkaloidal substance found in the coffee bean, coffee leaf, tea
leaf, yerba mate, cacao bean, etc. Isolated in pure form, it forms
long white silky needles. The caffeine content of green coffee
averages 1.5 per cent.
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Cherry.Name applied to the
ripe fruit of the coffee tree. The seeds, freed from all coverings,
become "e;green coffee."e;
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Chicory.An addition or
filler in coffee made from the plant,cichorsum intybus,the
wild variety of which is a perennial but the cultivated plant an
annual. The raw root is cut into slices, kiln dried, and then roasted
in the same manner as coffee.
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Coffee.As defined by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, "e;Coffee is the seed of cultivated
varieties ofCoffee arabica, C. liberica,and C.robusta.Green coffee, raw coffee, orunroastedcoffee is coffee
freed from all but a small portion of its spermoderm, and conforms in
variety and in place of production to the name it bears. Roasted
coffee is properly cleaned green coffee which by the action of heat
(roasting), has become brown and has developed its characteristic
aroma."e;
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Flavor.(a) The total
impression oraroma, acidity,andbody~if the
impression is strong, fine, and pleasant, the coffee is described as
flavory or flavorful or ranked on a scale from poor, fair, good, to
fine-flavored. (b) Specific taste flavors may suggest spices,
chocolate, nuts, or something less complimentary--straw, grass, earth,
rubber, etc.
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Groundy.An earthly taste
sometimes found in damaged coffee. It differs from mustiness.
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Harsh.A term used to
describe a certain coffee flavor. Rio and similarly flavored coffee
are generally described as harsh.
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Hidy
coffee.Coffee
that smells like hides. Odor can come from contact with hides.
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Mild
coffee.Coffee
produced mainly in countries other than Brazil. A term formerly used
to indicate coffee that are free from the harsh Rio flavor.
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Musty.A flavor often found
in coffee as a result of either overheating or lack of sufficient and
proper drying or aging. Mustiness from overheating is undesirable,
while the must of age is very desirable
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Neutral.A characterless,
flavorless coffee, inoffensive to insipid; without virtue (save for
economical blending) but without defect. A desirable character inrobustaand otherwise undistinguished Brazils.
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Parchment.The endocarp of
the coffee fruit. It lies between the fleshy part or pericarp and the
silver skin, and is removed during the hulling process. Coffee is said
to be "e;in the parchment"e; when dried after the outer skin and pulp have
been removed by water treatment.
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Pulping.The first step
after picking in the preparation of coffee by the wet method. It
consists in removing by machinery the outer skin. The machines rub
away the pulp by friction without crushing the beans.
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Rio
flavor.A heavy
and harsh taste characteristic of coffee grown in the Rio district of
Brazil, and sometimes present even in fancy mild coffee.
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Silver
skin.The
thin, papery covering on the coffee bean surface, inside the
parchment.
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Sweet.A trade term to
describe coffee which is free from harshness or Rio flavor or any form
of damage.
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Washed coffee.Green coffee
is produced by the dry process: viz., drying the entire fruit and
then, by hulling operations, removing skin pulp parchment, and "e;silver
skin"e;.
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Unwashed coffee.Coffee
which has been pulped, fermented, washed, dried, and hulled. The ripe
fruit is passed through a "e;pulper"e; which takes off the outer skin.
Fermentation and washing remove the gummy substance. Drying, hulling,
and separating complete the preparation process.
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