hiimac

ACIDITY

Unlike stomach acid or battery acid, acidity in coffee is a good thing. It refers to an enjoyable brightness or liveliness, similar to biting into a tart green apple.

BARISTA

A person who makes coffee by day, plays in a band/draws indie comics/performs standup comedy/dreams of Hollywood stardom by night.

BATCH BREWING

Once called “making coffee” in a coffee shop, this process involves brewing a large amount of coffee—whether in a machine or a large French press—to be poured to order, as opposed to brewing individual cups to order. If you go into most coffee shops and simply ask for “coffee,” this is still what you will likely be served.

BODY

A way to describe how dense the coffee feels in your mouth. For comparison, Guinness has a full or heavy body and Bud has a light body.

BLOOM

Pouring a small amount of hot water onto coffee to release the gases trapped inside before brewing. Basically, making the coffee fart. This makes extraction easier.

CHICORY

A woody plant historically used as a filler or replacement in coffee during shortages or tough economic times. Still commonly consumed by drunk tourists in New Orleans.

COFFEE BAR

A more pretentious name for a café, which is a more pretentious name for a coffee shop.

CREMA

The lighter brown foam that appears on the top of espresso. Or should, anyway—crema’s presence (or rather a lack there of) is the quickest way to tell whether a shot of espresso sucks. Which is not to say that espresso with good crema can’t still suck.

DECAF

Coffee without meaning.

EXTRACTION

The process by which water steals all of the delicious flavors from the coffee grounds. If coffee is under-extracted (often because it is ground too coarsely, the water is too cold, or the brewing time is too short), it will taste weak and watery. If it is over-extracted (ground too fine, water too hot, or brewed too long), it will also pick up too many of the not-so-delicious flavors from the beans or taste burnt.

GREEN BEANS

Unroasted coffee beans, not the thing your mom puts in a casserole at Thanksgiving.

JAVA

Refers either to an island in Indonesia where coffee is grown, or just a general synonym for “coffee,” but never the programming language.

LATTE ART

The fancy designs and images baristas pour into your espresso drinks. Don’t read anything into receiving a cappuccino with a heart on top—it’s just the easiest thing to make.

MOUTHFEEL

Literally how the coffee feels in your mouth—oily, milky, astringent, or buttery, for instance.

NANO-ROASTER

The term “micro-roaster” can refer to anything from some dude who roasts 20 pounds a week in his garage to a business supplying beans to cafés and restaurants all across a city. “Nano-roaster” is even less specific—there is literally no actual definition—but is generally agreed to be more specifically that dude in his garage.

PULL

In coffee lingo, an espresso shot is “pulled.” This dates back to when espresso machines had actual levers on them. Now they have buttons, but “switching on an espresso shot” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

SOURNESS

Instead of acidity, which is a positive feature, its ugly cousin sourness is an unwelcome presence in coffee. Unlike apple or grapefruit, this is more like vinegar or medicine.

SPICY

Describing a coffee as “spicy” means you can taste spices—like cinnamon, ginger, or cardamom—not that it’s burning your mouth like a curry or a forkful of kimchi.

TAMPER

A circular press used to compress grounds into an espresso filter basket. Also known as a really expensive hunk of metal and wood (high-end models get into the hundreds of dollars).