Glossary Of Coffee Terms

Acidy -  A desirable flavor, as it occurs in high grown coffees, that is sharp and pleasing, but not biting.

Acrid -  A burnt flavor that is sharp, bitter, and perhaps irritating.

After Taste - A taste that remains in the mouth longer than usual after eating or drinking.

Aged - Aged coffee implies a carefully regulated storage to bring out a heavy body. This must not be confused with "old" crop.

Aroma - Volatile pleasant smelling substances with the characteristic odor of coffee.

Astringent - A flavor that causes puckering and a bitter impression.

Bitter - An unpleasant taste which is sharp and disagreeable, such as that of quinine. Some people get an acid taste impression, while others get a bitter taste from the same coffee.

Bland - A taste which is smooth and flavorless, such as that of butter.

Burnt - A smell and taste like that of burnt carbohydrate, protein, or oil, e.g., charcoal.
Brackish A distasteful, bitter, salty characteristic.

Body - A taste sensation or mouth feeling of more viscosity, usually associated with heavy coffee flavor, but in no way reflecting any increase in true physical viscosity.

Caramelized - A sweet, almost burnt flavor, like caramelized sugar.

Dirty - An undesirable "fuzzy" taste that dominates the coffee flavor background.

Earthiness - An undesirable taste or odor resembling the odor of freshly uncovered earth; Usually due to molds.

Fermented - An undesirable flavor resulting from a chemical change by yeast or enzymes in the green coffee, similar to those occurring when wine changes to vinegar.

Grassy - A flavor found most often in early pickings of new crop coffees and caused by immature beans, suggestive of an intense, fresh greenness.

Green - A taste caused by under-roasting, thus failing to develop full coffee flavor.

Harsh - A taste which is unpleasantly sharp, rough, or irritating.

Hay - Odor and taste like dried grass.

Natural - Usually blander, a "natural" does not have the flavor development and acidity characteristic of the washed wet process coffees and the same growth. This coffee is often without the clarity and uniformity of cup, but it may have as much or more body.

New Crop - A fresh, light coffee flavor and aroma which enhances the normal characteristics of a coffee blend, particularly flavor and acidity.

Old Crop - A flavor and aroma in which the normal characteristics of a mature, greenish coffee are weakened or toned down, particularly acidity and flavor, but which can also reflect a deterioration of these qualities into a woody or papery flavor.

Pungent - A pricking, stinging, or piercing sensation; not necessarily unpleasant.

Quakers - A "peanut" flavor caused by undeveloped, dead beans which show up very light in the roast.

Rio - An unpleasant flavor, which produces a penetrating character that is somewhat medicinal (iodine) with possible woody or fermented overtones.

Rubbery - An odor similar to braked car tires on pavement.

Sour - A somewhat unpleasant flavor having a sharp, acid taste.

State - A woody but unpleasant flavor and aroma of roasted coffee which reflects the oxidization of many of the pleasant volatiles and the loss of others.

Sweet - A pleasant flavor like sugar.

Wildness - The presence of one or more extreme flavor characteristics, usually akin to sourness or fermentation, found in poorly prepared coffees, mostly "naturals".

Wine like - Reminiscent of wine flavor and body, usually in high grown coffees.

Woody - A taste caused by deterioration of the coffee; akin to wood.