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Yemen
The straight coffee from the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula along the Red Sea in the mountainous regions of Yemen. This is the world’s oldest cultivated coffee and is distinguished by it’s full body and rich winey acidity.
Yrgacheffe
One of the most admired washed coffees from Ethiopia. It is distinguished by its medium acidity and rich flavor.
Zimbabwe
The coffees from this country have a medium density, highly aromatic quality and lively acidity which ranges from citrus to berry-like. Straight coffee from Zimbabwe, best exemplified by the coffee of the Chipinga region. It is similar to, and ranked by many as second in quality only to...
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Washed coffee
Coffee prepared by removing the pulp and skin from the beans while the coffee berry is still moist. Most of the world’s greatest coffees are wet-processed.
Whole Bean
Coffee that has been roasted and not yet ground.
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Ugandan
The finest Ugandan Arabica, Bugishu, is similar but less admired than the finest Kenyan, Tanzanian, and Zimbabwe coffees due to its generally lighter body and less complex flavor.
Vacuum Filter Method
A method of brewing coffee in which the brewing water is drawn down through the ground coffee by means of a vacuum.
Varietal Character
The tasting term that describes the positive characteristics that distinguish a given coffee from coffees of other regions.
Varietals
Pure, unblended, single-origin coffees from a particular country or geographical region. The name of a varietal often includes the estate name. As with wine...
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Tanzanian
This straight coffee from Tanzania resemble the coffees of Kenya but are less admired due to slightly lighter body and less consistent acidity. Arusha and Moshi are the most notable.
Toraja
Considered the best of coffees from Sulawesi, Toraja is similar in taste to Sumatran coffees.
Turkish coffee
Is made by boiling finely ground coffee and water together in an ibrik, which is a long-handled, open, brass or copper pot. When done, it is poured directly into tiny demitasse cups, along with the fine grounds. The coffee is then allowed to settle before consumption. Spice and sugar are often added into the mix.
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Sanani
This coffee is one of the best coffees from Yemen. A medium-bodied, less acidic version of the standard Yemen style.
Santos, Bourbon
A high quality, washed coffee from Brazil that is usually shipped through the port of Santos. This coffee is usually grown in the State of Sao Paulo or northern Minas Gerais.
Seattle's Best Coffee
Seattle's Best Coffee is a specialty coffee retailer and wholesaler based in Seattle, Washington. It became part of Starbucks Corporation on July 14, 2003. Founded by Jim Stewart in 1968 as the Wet Whisker, an ice cream and coffee shop in Coupeville, Washington, Seattle's Best Coffee was known as Stewart Brothers Coffee...
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Richness
The quality of fullness in flavor, body, and/or acidity.
Rio
A sub-optimal class of coffees from southern Brazil. They are characterized by their medicinal flavor caused by poor handling of the berries.
Roasting
Roasting is a chemical process by which aromatics, acids, and other flavor components are either created, balanced, or altered in a way that should augment the flavor, acidity, aftertaste and body of the coffee as desired by the roaster. Roasting changes the chemistry and physical characteristics of the green coffee bean. The beans shrink about 20% by weight, and acquire the deep dark hue and aroma of coffee.
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Parchment
The thin crumbly paper-like covering that is left on wet-processed coffee beans after the coffee berries have had the pulp removed and the beans dried.
Peaberry
A small round or football shaped bean that is formed when the coffee cherry develops only one seed as opposed to the usual two. Peaberry beans are usually sold as a separate grade of the particular coffee.
Peruvian Chanchamayo
The best straight coffee from Peru, Chanchamayo is flavorful, aromatic, and mildly acidic. It displays the quality and characteristics of the best Central American coffees.
Portafilter
The cupped handle on an espresso machine that holds the...
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Oaxaca
(Wah-HAH-kuh) coffee from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca is among the best from Mexico. Oaxaca Pluma is especially distinguished.
Ocoa
One of the best coffees from the Dominican Republic.
Old Arabicas
These old botanical varieties are considered superior to the newer varieties. The old Arabicas include varietal Bourbon, varietal Blue Mountain, varietal Typica.
Old Crop
This is coffee that has been held in warehouses before shipping. Old crop may or may not be superior in cup characteristics to a new crop of the same coffee.
Organic Coffee
Coffee that has been certified by a third-party agency as...
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Nairobi
Coffee grown on the slopes of Mt. Kenya, Kenya.
Neapolitan Roast
A roast of coffee that is darker than standard espresso but not quite black.
New Crop
Coffee that is delivered for roasting fairly soon after harvesting and processing, when it is at its brightest and highest acidity.
New Guinea
Straight coffee grown in Papua New Guinea that is moderately rich, full-bodied, and has the low key acidity that distinguishes all of the coffees of the Malay Archipelago and Indonesia.
New Orleans Coffee
A dark roast coffee blended with up to 40 percent chicory root (see above). Cafe Du Monde is the most...