Coffee Terms... What's What

Brewing

Drip Coffee
The traditional home brewing method is used by most commercial coffee makers on the market. Although a simple process, modern drip coffee makers have introduced several improvements, including insulated carafes and spray nozzles that enable the grounds to soak evenly during the brewing process. Ground coffee is placed in a filter basket, with hot water dripped through into a pot below. Most makers are automatic using a water reservoir where the water is heated to the perfect temperature and run through tubes to the top of the machine, then dripped through into the coffee basket sitting just above the coffee pot.

French Press Coffee
Perhaps the simplest method for brewing coffee is with the use of the French Press. A typical press is a cylindrical pot with a mesh plunger that is pushed down through a mixture of water and coffee. Ground coffee is placed at the bottom of the pot and covered with very hot, but not boiling or boiled water. After allowing the mixture to steep for a few minutes, the plunger is pushed from top to bottom keeping the grounds at the bottom of the pot. Although the standard French Press is glass, the newer stainless steel thermal insulated French press coffee makers have brought a nice improvement for those who want to keep the coffee hot for several hours after brewing.

Espresso Coffee
Made popular in Italy, espresso uses force to push steam through coffee grinds that have been measured and tapped into a small container. The steam condenses quickly as it reaches the metal brewing nozzle and flows into a vessel below. Some of the newer espresso machines are technological marvels and completely automate the process from grinding the perfect grind to packing, coffee making, dumping the grounds and cleaning out the system to get it ready for the next cup quickly. Most people think that the stronger taste means that espresso coffee has more caffeine, but it is usually about the same amount or less, depending on the amount of coffee required.

Turkish & Lebanese Coffee
Turkish, Arabic and Lebanese coffee is made from dark roasted Arabica beans, usually Brazilian, ground powdery fine. This coffee is normally boiled with sugar three consecutive times using a long-handled pot called "cezve" or "ibrik." Lebanese coffee comes with and without the Cardamom which is ground and mixed with the coffee when manufactured. After allowing it to settle, the coffee is poured into the cup without straining the grounds, which tend to settle at the bottom of the small Middle Eastern style cups. Often, after the coffee is consumed, someone will "read" the coffee grounds left at the bottom of the cup.

Percolated Coffee
On their way to extinction, and for good reason, is the percolator coffee maker. The traditional percolator held the ground coffee in a metal basket at the top of the pot. The water in the pot is then heated, which then travels up a tube to the top and "percolates" over the grounds falling back down and mixed with the water coffee mixture below. This continues until the desired consistency is reached. Because the water is boiled to force it up the tube, this type of coffee results in more or less a flat, overcooked cup because of the boiling and recycling of the water.

Cupping

Analyzing the coffee beans
A method of systematically evaluating the aroma and taste of coffee beans. It is often used by growers, buyers and roasters to assess the quality of a particular coffee sample. Proper cupping requires the adherence to an exacting set of brewing standards and a formal step-by-step evaluation process. A trained cupper generally looks at six characteristics:

• Fragrance - the smell of beans after grinding
• Aroma - the smell of ground-up beans after being steeped in water
• Taste - the flavor of the coffee
• Nose - the vapors released by the coffee in the mouth
• Aftertaste - the vapors and flavors that remain after swallowing
• Body - the feel of the coffee in the mouth

*Information from the Specialty Coffee Association of America

Coffee Roasting

Roasting
The way in which coffee is roasted can have a profound effect its taste. Roast too quickly at too high a temperature, and you'll scorch the exterior of the bean. Roast too slowly at too low a temperature, and you'll sap the bean of its of flavor. Over the years, numerous roasting methods have been developed to address these challenges, all with the same objective: To transfer heat to the coffee bean, initiating a series of chemical reactions that prepare it for consumption. Most roasting methods include the following six phases:

• Drying Cycle
  This is the first phase of the roasting process, when the temperature of the beans rises to 100 degrees centigrade. Also, in this phase, the beans change from a bright green color to a pale yellow.
• First Crack
  When the beans reach 160 degrees centigrade, complex chemical reactions begin to occur causing a cracking sound.
• Roast Initiation
  The beans swell to 140%-160% of their pre-roasted size. Elements within the beans begin to caramelize, giving the beans their brown color.
• Pause
  In this phase, the audible cracking ceases, but the reactions continue. The time of this silence will depend on the amount of heat applied by the roaster.
• Second Crack
  The progressive dehydration of the beans has made them brittle. As a result, more cracking can be heard. It is at this stage that elements in the beans begin to carbonize, producing the burnt characteristics of extremely dark roasts.
• Stopping the Roast
  One of the keys to the master roasters talents is to know when to stop the roasting process. Once the optimal amount of roasting time has elapsed, the beans must be cooled quickly. This is usually accomplished by introducing large amounts of cool air or water.

*Information from the Specialty Coffee Association of America