Glossary. AKA the Coffee101 Jargon Buster

Sip, smile and bust the jargon.

AeroPress: The AeroPress is a versatile, handheld brewing device and a great value way to produce a rich, smooth cup. Think of it as the espresso machine’s basic cousin, which works by using a plunger in a tube to drive water at high pressure through coffee. Just don’t forget you’re pressurising hot water, so get a good apron and probably a full-blown risk assessment. Although it only looks like two plastic tubes it’s actually a simple and brilliant bit of design which can produce espresso-like coffee and has lots of potential for fine tuning your brewing to make great coffee.

Affogato: The Italian word for 'drowned'. It’s what happens when you pour an espresso over a scoop of vanilla gelato. Dessert and coffee in one - because who wants to choose between them?

Americano: Espresso’s attempt to be more approachable. Hot water is added to espresso, resulting in a drink that’s less intense, but still more sophisticated than your average drip coffee. It’s rumoured to have been invented by Americans in Italy who couldn’t handle the local brew.

Barista: Someone who prepares and serves coffee, especially espresso and espresso based drinks like lattes and cappuccinos, usually in a café or coffee shop. A skilled barista often provides friendly and helpful coffee advice and usually has a good understanding of different coffee beans and brewing methods. Often to be found struggling with their ‘I’m not judging you for ordering a caramel macchiato’ pretend smile.

Bloom: That magical moment when hot water hits fresh coffee grounds and they swell releasing a burst of trapped gases and rich coffee aromas. Reckoned to be coffee’s way of showing off, but less annoying and way tastier.
Freshly ground coffee releases carbon dioxide which steadily seeps away. It's why bags of coffee have valves to release pressure and prevent them from bursting and why its worth leaving freshy roasted for a week or so before brewing. After a week there's less gas to be released and so brewing causes less swelling to disrupt the coffee grounds.

Cafetière: Or a French press as it’s known across the pond. It’s a mesh plunger in a beaker with a lid. The cafetière is basically the charmingly old-school way to make coffee. Add ground coffee, pour in hot water, wait a few minutes while the brewing happens, then press the plunger down to separate the grounds from your brew. Et voilà! Rich, full-bodied coffee with zero fuss and maximum café flair. With no electricity or complicated buttons required its a simple way into brewing.

Café au Lait: A sophisticated sounding term for coffee with milk. It can often seem like a flat white but distinctly café au lait isn’t one of the milk coffee drinks that are based on espresso like flat whites, lattes and cappuccinos. Instead, café au lait is made by adding milk to a pour-over, cafetière, or drip style coffees.

Caffeine: A stimulant that sharpens the day, turns up the alertness dial and transforms a ‘whatever mood’ to ‘bring it on’ without breaking any of the laws about which substances are legal. Caffeine provides bitter flavours that can balance sourness to make coffee the most delicious way of getting a caffeine fix.

Channelling: Channelling in espresso occurs when water forces a narrow path through any tiny cracks in the coffee puck, leading to chaotic, uneven extraction and causing a ruined shot with muddied flavours, often tasting weak, sour, or bitter. Not only does it ruin your coffee it often escapes in wild squirts, spraying out like a caffeinated sprinkler system while simultaneously draining your wallet one uneven shot at a time.

Chemex: A stylish glass vessel that makes coffee brewing look like a science experiment. It’s so stylish it’s made it into New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Beloved by hipsters and design enthusiasts, it works like a pour over and brews a clean coffee through, thicker than usual bonded, filter papers.

Cold Brew: A coffee that’s been brewed by cold soaking in water longer than your last holiday. It’s like regular coffee’s suspiciously mild and mellow chill cousin.

Coffee101: This site coffee101.net.

Clever Dripper: The Clever Dripper is a ......and has lots of potential for fine tuning your brewing to make great coffee.

Cup:

Cupping: A tasting process to evaluate coffee’s aroma, flavour, and body - like a coffee’s version of a wine tasting – but with swallowing not spitting, plus a lot of coffee grounds and more sniffing and slurping.

Crema: Smart marketing came up with ‘natural coffee cream’ to describe the foam on top of espresso and ‘crema’ is simply the Italian word for cream. Although on its own crema is bitter and acrid it brings balance to the espresso as long as there’s not too much and so a crown of crema on top of your espresso is usually a sign of a well pulled shot.

Decaf: For those who embrace coffee without risking the heart-thumping, eye-twitching side effects. Perfect for late-night sipping. It’s coffee but without the caffeine boost.

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Doppio: Italian for “double,” it’s two shots of espresso in one cup. For those mornings when one shot just won’t cut it (so, every morning).

Drip coffee: for the difference between pour over and drip coffee see: https://www.barniescoffee.com/blogs/blog/the-difference-between-pour-over-and-drip-brew-coffee?srsltid=AfmBOorJ_SjrmdYQz1P626-1q3xSa4BD2QhlIBlZvMAvayILsmak09gH

Espresso: The concentrated, bold shot of coffee brewed by forcing high pressure hot water through finely ground coffee. Served in shots, but unlike doing a shot at a bar, espresso is likely to turn your morning from "meh" to "marvellous" rather than cause a hangover.

Extraction: The process of coaxing flavours from coffee grounds into hot water. The flavours in coffee extract at different rates. Too short, and your coffee is sour; too long, and it’s bitter. Acidity extracts first, followed by sweetness and then finally bitterness. Caffeine extracts last – it’s what brings bitterness. Like life, it’s all about balance.

Flat White: Claimed to have been invented by both Australia and New Zealand it’s one of the espresso based milk coffee drinks and basically a latte, but with less milk, more attitude and served in a smaller cup. Flat White’s are the choice of the discerning drinker who’s wants the ‘quiet but classy’ option: smooth, creamy, and perfect for those who want their coffee to whisper, not shout.

French Press: see Cafetière: A classic brewing method involving hot water, ground coffee, and a plunger. It’s rustic, hands-on, and a great way to pretend you’re a coffee genuius as you produce great coffee with minimal effort.

Grinding: The process of milling coffee beans to open them up. It’s the critical and frequently under valued first step on the way to brewing great coffee,

James Hoffmann: Coffee101's go to coffee authority, James Hoffmann has quietly turned “just a coffee” into an entire subject worth studying, and then somehow made it fun to watch.

A World Barista Champion, co‑founder of Square Mile Coffee Roasters, 'coffee influencer' and author, he’s become something of a gentle giant in the specialty‑coffee world; respected, slightly revered, and yet still the kind of person who desn't take himself too seriously while still happily obsessing over grind size at 7 a.m. on a Sunday.

His YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@jameshoffmann) with a staggering 2.48M subscribers, has turned him into the coffee world's most patient teacher: equal parts expert, enthusiast, and mildly amused uncle who keeps telling you, in the nicest possible way, there might be better ways of brewing, while graciously trying not to say that you’ve been brewing it wrong all along!

Latte: Espresso with lots of steamed milk and a little foam. The go-to drink for anyone who likes their coffee to taste mostly like milk, but still wants to feel fancy.

Latte Art: The foamy art masterpiece crafted on top of your drink, a sign that your barista is either a genius or has too much time on their hands. It’s coffee’s way of saying, “I know I’m good, but let’s embellish this a bit.”

Lungo: Somewhere between an espresso and an Americano it’s an ‘extended’ shot of espresso, using more water and a longer extraction time. It’s the opposite of the ristretto.

Macchiato: Espresso “stained” with a dollop of milk foam. Not to be confused with the sugar-laden caramel concoctions at chain cafes. The real macchiato is small, strong, and slightly misunderstood.

Mocha: For those who can’t decide between coffee and hot chocolate. Espresso, steamed milk, and chocolate syrup served up because adulthood is overrated. A sweet, chocolatey hug in a cup. If you’ve ever questioned whether you can combine coffee and dessert, this is the answer in velvety, liquid form, and yes, some claim it counts as breakfast.

Pour-Over: A manual method of slowly pouring hot water over coffee grounds. It’s similar to drip coffee but with more control over flow rate and timing. Pour-Over requires patience, precision, showmanship and often comes with a tendency to explain your brewing method to anyone even if they glaze over.

Rabbit Hole: Falling down the coffee rabbit hole is what happens when a simple desire for good coffee turns into a full-blown obsession involving burr grinders, pressure profiles, and arguments about water chemistry.

One day you’re buying beans from the supermarket; the next, you’re spending hours watching obscure coffee YouTubes and debating whether your shots are texturally expressive.

Real Coffee: ie not instant!

Ristretto: A ‘restricted’ shot of espresso, using less water for a more concentrated flavour. For people who think regular espresso is just too vanilla. The opposite of a Lungo which is made with more water and a longer extraction time.

Roasting: The process of turning green coffee beans into that beautiful golden browns we crave. The hotter the roast, the more intense the flavour.

Sustainable Coffee: Coffee grown with awarenes and care for the environment. It's coffee’s commitment to making the world a better place while still providing the pleasure of a well brewed mornning coffee.

Single Origin: Coffee sourced from one specific location. By showcasing the unique flavours of its terroir it can, so it’s claimed, be the equivalent of premium wine and therefore inspire a coffee nerd’s dream.

Speciality Coffee could be described as what happens when coffee geeks and scientists collide. Technically it’s a coffee that scores over 80 on a 100-point scale devised by the American Specialty Coffee Association (https://sca.coffee). The SCA scale grades the acidity, sweetness, body, cup cleanliness, and uniformity of the coffee

When you pick up a bag of specialty coffee, you’ll usually see details like origin, varietal, altitude, and roast date. Think of it as a TED talk in a coffee mug and also a good bet for making really good coffee.

Tamping: The pressing of ground coffee into a portafilter with just the right amount of force. Too hard, and you’ll strain your wrist; too soft, and your puck will channel, and the espresso will be weak.

Third Wave: The movement treating coffee with the reverence of fine wine. Known for over obsessing about beans, brewing, and flavour notes. Third wave coffee is usually artisanal, organic and inevitably complex producing coffee which comes with tasting notes and requires swirling clockwise around your cup (in the northern hemisphere). Warning: may cause justifiable eye-rolling and forgetting that coffee is actually coffee.

Turkish Coffee: Finely ground coffee simmered (not boiled) in a small pot, usually with sugar and sometimes spices. Unfiltered, unapologetic; a brew so strong it could probably power a small car. Served in small cups, it’s a coffee equivalent of shots, but with more grit. Don’t forget to serve it with a side of sugar and a warning about possible caffeine overload.