Coffee Lingo
Confused when you go into a coffee shop and want to order a drink or when you hear people and experts talk coffee - below are some explanations of some of the most common terminologies you will often hear. If you know of anymore common terminologies, please send them with proof of reference and we will include them. In any case, study these are impress your friends.
Types of Coffee
Arabica: A type of coffee, named by the first coffee nation, the Arabs - this is the type of coffee mostly used in good coffee shops especially for making espresso based drinks.
Blend: Coffees from different regions blended together to create a “blend” of coffee. Sometimes there can be up to 9 different types of coffees in one blend, like the famous Illy Blend.
Bourbon: a type of arabica species, more commonly found in South America, especially in Brazil.
Coffee: Coffee is like a cherry fruit and usually has two seeds inside a cherry type plant.
Java: Traditionally coffee from the island of Java in Indonesia
Mocha: Traditionally coffee from the Yemen city of al-Mukka (Mocha in English), which has chocolate tones.
Peaberry: The presence of a single bean as opposed to double bean inside a coffee cherry fruit.
Robusta: A type of coffee, more commonly used to produce instant coffee and inferior in taste and quality to Arabica. Robusta actually has more caffeine in it than the high quality Arabica used in cafes. Robusta coffee beans tend to be smaller then arabica ones.
Single Estate: Coffee from one “estate” or from a region in a country and not mixed with any other coffee blends.
Cafe Expressions
Barista: Literally a barman, but in coffee, it means the expert that prepares coffee.
Crema: The appearance of a dark/reddish brown thick foam with tiny bubbles on top of a freshly brewed espresso.
Double Shot: The presence of s double shot of espresso in your cappuccino or latte. You might want a double shot if you prefer your milk based coffee drink stronger.
Flavourings: Ever been asked if you want your coffee flavoured ? what they mean is that do you want a flavour syrup like vanilla, almond, caramel, amaretto - usually it is best to have your coffee flavoured with the type of tastes you find in good coffees like vanilla, chocolate, nuts, but go on try something wild like banana flavour, so you can have a banana latte. Starbucks usually have special flavoured drinks during the holiday season like eggnog latte.
God shot: What baristas or espresso experts aim for - the perfect espresso - a shot of espresso so good that it must have been blessed by God.
House Blend: A blend of coffee specific to the coffee shop.
Micro-foam: The appearance of very tiny milk bubbles on top of properly frothed milk. You need micro-foam for latte art.
Rosetta: The appearance of the shape of a rosetta flower on top of your caffe latte or cappuccino due to the way the frothed milk has been poured into your cup of espresso coffee.
Skinny Latte: A caffe latte made with low fat and non-fat milk - for the very health conscious and a common term used in American cafes.
Tamper: Usually a stainless steel device used to press coffee grounds firmly into the portafilter when preparing to brew an espresso shot. If you are bold enough, ask the barista to tamp (if they have one) the coffee grounds firmly enough by 30 pounds of pressure. If this isn’t done, you won’t get proper crema in your espresso - you can test this by timing how long the crema stays on top - if it is shorter than 50 seconds, then it hasn’t been prepared properly provided of course that the beans are fresh and the machine is clean. Good luck!
Types of Coffee Drinks
Affogato: An espresso drink with a scoop of ice cream inside. Sometimes served as a dessert in restaurants and usually offered during summer.
Americano: An espresso drink made with one part espresso and 3 parts of hot water. Also known as a Café Lungo.
Bika: the Portuguese version of an espresso.
Brauner: Austrian version of an espresso, prepared with coffee grounds not as finely ground as an Italian espresso, and served with cream.
Cafe au Lait: Strong coffee traditionally made with a cafetiere and mixed with equal parts steamed milk and poured at the same time into the cup. A traditional cafe au lait mug has two handles at the side.
Caffe Freddo: The Italian name for a cold iced version of a milk based espresso drink like a cappuccino or latte, more commonly known as a frappuccino.
Caffe Latte: Traditionally an espresso mixed with 3 times it’s size of steamed milk. However, you are more likely to be served a caffe latte with both steamed and frothed milk outside Italy, making what most people know as a latte, really a large cappuccino.
Cappuccino: An espresso mixed with equal parts of steamed and frothed milk (1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk and 1/3 froth milk).
Doppio: Italian for double and usually used for ordering a double espresso.
Espresso: In general, seven grams of freshly ground Arabica coffee, tamped with 30 pounds or pressure, ground to a precision and brewed at 93C (195 F) with 9 Bars of pressure on an espresso machine that allows about 45ml (1.5 US fl ounce) of coffee to drip through into a cup in about 23-25 seconds, resulting in dark coffee with crema on top. SOUNDS COMPLICATED DOESN’T IT ?
Well ! There is controversy about the definition and the Italians have actually got their own trade mark for what an espresso should be, so do Australians and Americans. The most important thing however, concerns the preparation, the coffee, the grind and the machine – if any of the essential elements are missing then you won’t get espresso but some mutant of it, which unfortunately you will get in most coffee shops.
Espresso Con Panna: An espresso topped with a dessert spoon of whipped cream. Also known as espresso tazza d’oro.
Flat White: Originally an Australian version of a Latte but with less froth. It’s becoming a popular offering in more trendy cafes.
Frappuccino: A cappuccino prepared with ice cubes and blended to produce a crushed ice version of a cappuccino. The name was actually invented by a Boston Coffee Shop chain taken over by Starbucks in the mid-1990’s.
Latte Macchiato: The opposite of an espresso macchiato, so a steamed and frothed milk drink “stained” with a shot or two of espresso. You pour the milk drink first into the cup and then pour the espresso into the tall cup. See how to make Latte Macchiato section.
Macchiato: Also known as espresso macchiato. Macchiato means stained with, so it is a shot of espresso stained with a spoon of frothed milk.
Mocha: also known as Caffe Mocha - an espresso milk based drink made usually with chocolate flavouring like a chocolate syrup or with hot chocolate powder. A mocha is like a cappuccino flavoured with with chocolate. In more trendy cafes they may actually use melted chocolate.
Ristretto: Italian for “restricted” and in coffee terminology a smaller version of an espresso just in case you were wondering how can there be anything smaller than an espresso. a ristretto is made with he same amount of coffee as for an espresso but the brewing time is much shorter and if made properly, it should taste sweeter as all the good sweet tones of the coffee are extracted within the first 15 seconds of brewing time. However, most people feel like they are being cheated when served a ristretto as they get much less liquid, but this is one of the Italians favourite drinks.
Skinny Latte: A caffe latte made with low fat and non-fat milk - for the very health conscious and a common term used in American cafes.
Wiener Melange: An Austrian version of a cappuccino but served with whipped cream. Can also be known as a Kapuziner.
General
Cupping: The art of tasting different types of coffees, usually done by experts before they order their coffees, but coffee clubs now organise cupping sessions.
The Five M’s: This stands for; Mescla (coffee type or blend), Machina (the type of coffee machine), Machinadosatore (the grinder that grinds the coffee), Mesura (the grammes of coffee used per espresso shot) and Mano (the hand of the barista) - the five M’s are what Italians use to judge a cafe and the quality of coffee it produces.