Channeling
When brewing espresso, water sometimes slips through cracks or weak spots in the coffee puck. This makes the water rush through too quickly in some areas and can cause the espresso to taste uneven.
Brew pressure
The force applied to extract espresso. The standard pressure, usually around 9 bar, used to brew espresso. This pressure is key to achieving the signature crema, body, and intensity of the coffee.
Dial-in
The process of adjusting grind size, dose, and brewing time to get the best flavor from a coffee. Tuning the espresso recipe by making small changes until the desired taste and balance is achieved.
Distribution
The way ground coffee is spread evenly in the portafilter before tamping, which helps avoid channeling and ensures even extraction.
Dose
The amount of ground coffee used to prepare a shot of espresso, adjusted depending on recipe or style of espresso. Dose is usually measured in grams.
Double basket
A filter basket (placed inside the portafilter) designed to hold enough ground coffee for a double shot of espresso, usually around 14–20 grams.
Crema
The golden-brown foam layer that forms on top of a freshly pulled espresso shot, often seen as a sign of freshness and quality in the coffee.
Espresso brew ratio
The ratio of the weight of dry coffee grounds used and the weight of the espresso brewed, often expressed as 1:2 (e.g., 18g coffee to 36g espresso). Brew ratio is used to control taste and strength.
Espresso extraction
The act of brewing espresso that transforms ground coffee into espresso, where timing, grind size, and pressure affect the final taste.
Backflushing
A routine cleaning method for espresso machines where water and espresso machine cleaner are forced backward through the group head to remove coffee residue.
Group head
The part of an espresso machine where the portafilter locks in and water flows through to brew espresso.
Knock box
The waste box where used coffee grounds are tapped out of the portafilter, designed for baristas to easily discard spent espresso pucks.
Milk pitcher
The jug used for steaming, frothing, and pouring milk into espresso-based drinks.
Naked portafilter
A portafilter without a spout, also called a bottomless portafilter, where the espresso flows directly from the basket. This portafilter helps barista spot channeling or uneven brewing.
PID
Short for Proportional-Integral-Derivative, a PID is a control system in espresso machines that keeps the water temperature stable.
Portafilter
Key part of an espresso machine that holds ground coffee and attaches to the group head for brewing.
Pre-infusion
An initial stage in espresso brewing where a short, gentle flow of water over the coffee grounds before full pressure is applied, helping achieve even extraction.
Pressure profiling
The ability to adjust the pressure of water during brewing, used to fine-tune flavor, body, and aroma.
Puck
The compacted coffee grounds left in the portafilter after brewing espresso.
Puck preparation
The steps taken to evenly distribute, level, and tamp coffee grounds in the portafilter before brewing.
Pulling a shot
A common phrase meaning to brew a shot of espresso using an espresso machine. Traditionally called “pulling” because older machines used levers to brew espresso.
Single basket
Filter basket designed to hold a smaller dose of ground coffee, usually for brewing a single shot of espresso, typically holds around 7–10 grams of coffee.
Tamper
An essential espresso tool for compressing coffee grounds into a puck, helping achieve balanced extraction.
Tamping pressure
The amount of force applied to tamp down the grounds. How firmly the coffee is compacted in the portafilter affects water flow and espresso flavor.
Tiger Striping
A visual sign in espresso where streaks of gold and brown show up in the crema, often linked to good extraction.
WDT
WDT (Weiss Distribution Technique), a distribution method and tool that loosens and evens out coffee grounds, reducing channeling and improving shot consistency.
Water tank/Water reservoir
Built-in reservoir in an espresso machine that stores water for brewing and steaming.
Steam valve
The control knob or switch on an espresso machine that controls the release of pressurized steam, used when steaming or frothing milk.
Steam wand
The wand attached to an espresso machine that injects steam into milk, creating microfoam and texture for espresso drinks.
Affogato
Classic coffee-and-dessert pairing made by pouring a shot of hot espresso over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Americano
Beverage made by adding hot water to espresso, creating a smoother, lighter taste similar to brewed coffee.
Cappuccino
Espresso-based drink topped with equal parts steamed milk and foam, known for its creamy, airy texture.
Cold brew coffee
A refreshing coffee brewed slowly in cold water, usually for 12-24 hours, resulting in a smooth, less acidic flavor.
Cortado
A small coffee beverage with equal parts espresso and warm milk, balancing strength with smoothness. It could be served with or without foam on top.
Flat White
An espresso topped with thinly textured steamed milk, giving a smooth, velvety drink without heavy foam. Similar to a latte but smaller, with less froth and a stronger coffee-to-milk ratio.
Latte
A creamy, smooth coffee made with espresso and steamed milk with a thin layer of foam on top.
Long black
A long black is made by pouring espresso over hot water. This method preserves the crema on top and creates a strong yet smooth coffee.
Lungo
A “long” espresso that extracts more liquid than a standard shot, giving a larger, less concentrated cup.
Macchiato
An espresso topped with a small dollop of milk foam, meaning “stained” in Italian. A classic Italian espresso coffee that highlights coffee first, with just a hint of milk.
Mocha
Latte-style drink made with espresso, steamed milk, and cocoa or chocolate syrup.
Moka
Traditional Italian method of making concentrated coffee at home, often called “stovetop espresso. This brewing method using steam pressure to push water through the grounds, producing a bold, espresso-like cup without a machine.
Nitro coffee
Cold brew coffee infused with nitrogen gas, giving it a creamier, smoother texture. Served on tap like beer, with a foamy head and velvety body.
Ristretto
A “short” espresso shot made with the same amount of coffee but half the water, highlighting sweetness and body while reducing bitterness.
Acidity
The sharp, lively flavor notes in coffee, like citrus or berry, not to be confused with sourness. A positive coffee trait that gives brightness and character to the cup.
Aftertaste
The flavors that linger in your mouth after swallowing coffee. Can be pleasant and sweet, or unpleasant and bitter, depending on quality. Aftertaste is an important aspect of coffee evaluation in cupping and tasting.
Aroma
The scent of coffee released when coffee is brewed. This greatly influences taste, since much of what we taste comes from aroma.
Astringent
A dry, puckering sensation in the mouth, often from over-extracted coffee. Usually considered a negative quality, linked to bitterness or harshness.
Balance
A quality where acidity, sweetness, and bitterness are well-rounded, making the overall impression that a coffee is smooth, even, and enjoyable.
Bitterness
A basic taste sensation in coffee, often strong and sharp. When bitterness is in balance, it adds depth, but in excess can dominate the cup. Bitterness can come from over-roasting or over-extraction but is also part of coffee’s natural profile.
Bland
A negative tasting term meaning the coffee lacks distinctive taste qualities, often weak or uninteresting.
Body
The texture (weight or heaviness) of coffee as it feels in your mouth, ranging from light to full.
Bright
A positive tasting note describing coffee with a fresh, crisp flavor quality that adds vibrancy to the cup.
Brightness
A tasting term used to describe the lively, crisp quality in coffee flavor, often linked to fruity or citrus-like notes.
Burnt
An unpleasant flavor that resembles overcooked or scorched food, often from over-roasting or brewed using water that is too hot.
Clarity
A measure of how clearly different notes (like fruit, chocolate, or floral) can be tasted.
Clean cup
A cupping term describing a coffee with clarity and no off-flavors or defects. Indicates that the coffee’s natural flavors shine without distraction.
Flat
A negative term describing coffee that tastes dull or lifeless, lacking brightness or distinct flavor notes.
Flavor profile
Description of the overall combination of tastes and aromas that define a coffee’s unique character.
Fragrance
The smell of ground, dry coffee before brewing. Fragrance is a sensory quality that gives the first impression of a coffee’s character.
Fruity
Descriptive term for coffee with flavor profiles similar to fresh fruit, often from lighter roasts or specific origins.
Grassy
Flavor that resembles fresh-cut grass, usually a sign of underdeveloped or under-roasted beans.
Intensity
Measure of the degree of boldness or concentration in flavor that coffee presents.
Mouthfeel
Sensory term describing coffee’s texture, weight, and overall feel when drinking it.
Nutty
Flavor note in coffee that reminds drinkers of nuts like almonds, hazelnuts, or peanuts.
Over-extracted
Coffee that tastes bitter, dry, or harsh because too many compounds were pulled out. Often caused by overly fine grinds, brewed with water that is too hot, or long brew times. Leads to a cup with unpleasant, overpowering flavors.
Rubbery
An unpleasant flavor in coffee, often described as tasting like rubber or plastic. A flavor that can come from poor-quality beans or improper storage.
Smoky
A tasting note with hints of char, firewood, or campfire, sometimes pleasant in moderation, often from darker roasts or beans roasted over an open flame.
Sweetness
A desirable flavor quality in coffee that can taste like sugar, fruit, or caramel. Often a sign of well-grown and well-processed coffee, balancing acidity and bitterness.
Taste notes
The descriptive flavors used to identify specific flavours in coffee, like chocolate, berries, nuts, or spices. Tasting notes are often listed on the packaging.
Under-extracted
Coffee brewed too quickly, often tasting sour, sharp, or thin. Happens when not enough flavors are dissolved from the grounds. Usually caused by grind size being too coarse or short brewing time.
Uniformity
A cupping term that measures the consistency of flavor across multiple cups from the same batch of coffee.
Air roaster (Fluid bed roaster)
An air roaster, also called a fluid bed roaster, uses a stream of hot air to roast coffee beans by suspending them on a bed of hot air. This method gives a consistent roast with cleaner, brighter flavor because the beans are roasted evenly. At Micken Coffee, we proudly use air roasting to bring out the natural character of each bean. To learn more, see our Air Roasting article.
Dark roast
Roast profile where coffee is roasted until beans are dark brown to nearly black, producing bold, smoky flavors.
Drum roaster
A type of roaster where beans are tumbled inside a rotating drum heated by gas or electricity.
Espresso roast
Roast profile tailored for brewing espresso, highlight richness and crema when prepared as espresso.
French roast
A very dark roast with shiny, almost black beans that produces a strong, smoky cup with low acidity.
Full city roast
Roast level between medium and dark, offering balance with hints of roast flavor.
Italian roast
Very dark roasted coffee that emphasizes roast character over origin flavors. A roast style commonly used for espresso in Italy, producing bold, bitter-sweet coffee.
Light roast
Roast profile where coffee is roasted lightly to preserve natural flavors, highlighting brightness and acidity.
Medium roast
Roast profile that highlights the coffee bean’s natural flavors and offers a smooth, well-rounded taste without being too bright or too bold.
Arabica
The most commonly used coffee species worldwide, making up about 60–70% of global production.
Chaff
Also known as the silver skin, chaff is the thin, papery, innermost skin of the coffee bean. The chaff is a natural by-product of roasting that looks like dried husk.
Coffee cherry
The fruit of the coffee plant that holds the coffee beans, usually two seeds, which become the roasted coffee beans we drink.
Coffee blend
A crafted combination of beans from different regions or farms, combined to create a specific flavor.
Coffee grade
A grading method used by farmers, traders, and roasters that classifies coffee beans based on size, quality, and defects.
Defects
Imperfections in green coffee beans, like insect damage or mold that affect flavor. Beans with defects are usually removed and can cause undesirable tastes such as sour, musty, or flat notes.
Excelsa
A coffee species grown mainly in Southeast Asia, prized for its unique, complex taste.
Green coffee beans
Raw, unroasted coffee beans that are processed and dried but not yet roasted, which appear greenish-grey and have no roasted aroma..
Hull
The outer shell or layer of the coffee fruit that is removed from dried coffee beans during processing.
Liberica
A coffee species known for its bold, fruity, and sometimes smoky flavors. Liberica coffee is grown mainly in Southeast Asia, and are larger and irregularly shaped compared to Arabica or Robusta.
Microlot coffee
Coffee from a very small, carefully managed plot of land, often of exceptional quality. Often produced in limited quantities, microlots showcase unique flavors or experimental processes.
Mucilage
Part of the coffee fruit that is sticky, honey-like layer that surrounds the coffee bean inside the cherry.
Peaberry
A natural coffee mutation where only one round bean grows inside the cherry instead of two. Peaberry makes up of a small percentage of harvested coffee, often hand-sorted and sold separately as a specialty offering.
Pulp
The soft, fleshy outer layer of the coffee cherry that surrounds the beans.
Quakers
Defective coffee beans that remain pale even after roasting because they were underdeveloped when harvested. Considered undesirable, quakers are usually removed to maintain coffee quality.
Robusta
A type of coffee species known for its strong, bitter, and earthy flavor. Often higher in caffeine than Arabica, giving it a more intense kick.
Single origin coffee
Coffee sourced from one specific region, farm, or country. Check out our selection of single origin coffee beans here.
Specialty coffee
Coffee that scores 80 points or higher on a 100-point scale, recognized for its high quality. A term for top-tier coffee that meets strict standards for quality, traceability, and sustainability.
Varietal
A varietal is a specific type of coffee plant within a species, like Bourbon or Typica.
Aerobic fermentation
A processing method where coffee ferments while exposed to oxygen, often producing clean and bright flavors.
Anaerobic fermentation
A coffee processing method where beans ferment without oxygen, often creating unique fruity or wine-like flavors.
Coffee process
The method used—like fermentation, drying, and milling—to turn freshly harvested coffee cherries into green coffee beans ready for roasting. Different processing leads to very different taste profiles.
Dry milling
The stage after drying where coffee parchment or husk is removed to reveal green beans.
Gilling basah
Also known as wet-hulling, a unique Indonesian method where beans are hulled while still wet, this results in low acidity and bold, rustic taste characteristics.
Honey processed
A method where some sticky fruit mucilage is left on the bean while drying, adding sweetness and body. This method is known for producing coffees with balanced sweetness, fruity notes, and smooth texture.
Natural processed
A coffee processing method where whole coffee cherries are dried in the sun before beans are removed.
Pulped natural processed
A hybrid process where the skin is removed but some mucilage is left to dry with the bean. This method creates flavors that balance the clean qualities of washed coffee with the sweetness of naturals.
Washed processed
For this processing method, coffee is fermented in water to remove mucilage, then washed clean before drying. A widely used method that highlights acidity and clarity in the cup.
Wet polished
A mechanical cleaning step that removes silver skin, giving beans a smooth, polished look.
Aeropress
A portable brewing device that uses air pressure to push hot water through coffee grounds. Popular for travel and home use, known for its versatility.
Bloom
The initial release of gas when hot water first touches fresh coffee grounds. Pre-wetting coffee grounds during brewing helps release CO₂ and improves extraction.
Brew temperature
Brew temperature is the water temperature used when making coffee. The ideal range is usually between 90–96°C, which helps bring out the best flavors without burning or under-extracting the beans.
Brew time
Brew time is how long water stays in contact with coffee grounds. Different methods, like espresso or French press, have different ideal brew times.
Chemex
A glass pour-over brewer shaped like an hourglass.
Conical burr grinder
A conical burr grinder uses a cone-shaped burr and a ring burr to grind beans, creating uniform coffee grounds with less heat buildup, which helps preserve flavor.
Cupping
A standardized method of tasting coffee to evaluate flavor, aroma, and quality. Cupping is used by professionals and coffee enthusiasts to compare and judge consistency of coffees side by side.
Degassing
The natural release of carbon dioxide from freshly roasted coffee beans. Degassing is an important step that affects flavor, since excess gas can disrupt extraction and crema.
Drip bag coffee
Drip bag coffee is a convenient way to brew fresh coffee without needing a machine. It comes in a small filter bag filled with ground coffee that you place over your cup, then pour hot water through.
At Micken Coffee, we prepare our drip bag coffee using freshly roasted coffee beans, then grind and seal to keep the flavors bright and clean. It’s perfect for home, office, or travel—just add hot water. Curious how to brew it perfectly? See our guide and video instructions here. Check out our selection of drip bag coffee here.
Drip coffee machine
An automatic coffee maker that drips hot water over grounds and collects brewed coffee in a pot.
Espresso machine
A machine that forces hot water through finely ground coffee at high pressure to make espresso.
Extraction
The process of dissolving flavors from coffee grounds into water during brewing. Extraction is a key step that determines taste, strength, and balance in the final cup.
Flat burr grinder
A flat burr grinder uses two flat, facing burrs to crush coffee beans into even grounds. It’s known for producing consistent particle size.
Flow rate
The speed at which water passes through coffee grounds during brewing. Flow rate affects extraction: too fast can lead to weak coffee, too slow can cause bitterness.
French press
A brewing method that uses the immersion method, where coffee grounds are steeped in hot water before being separated by a plunger.
Ibrik
Also known as cezve, where a small pot used to prepare traditional Turkish coffee by simmering fine grounds in water, often with sugar.
Immersion
A brewing technique where coffee grounds are fully soaked in water for a period before separating them. Brewers like French press or Aeropress use immersion to achieve rich, bold flavors.
Percolation
A brewing method where water relies on gravity or pressure to pass water through coffee grounds.
Pour-over
Pour-over is a manual brewing method where hot water is slowly poured over coffee grounds in a filter, allowing more control over flavor and clarity.
Siphon coffee maker
A brewing device that uses heat and vacuum pressure to move water and extract coffee. This brewing method combines immersion and percolation.
Mokapot
A classic Italian stovetop coffee maker that uses steam pressure to brew strong, espresso-like coffee.
V60
A cone-shaped pour-over coffee brewer designed by Hario. The V60 is popular with specialty coffee drinkers for its clarity and ability to highlight delicate notes.
Cup of Excellence (COE)
An international competition that recognizes and awards the highest quality coffees from around the world.
CVA
CVA (Coffee Value Assessment), a system by the SCA to evaluate coffee quality which focuses on measuring value across the coffee chain, not just flavor. This helps producers, buyers, and roasters assess coffee with more context and transparency.
SCA
SCA (Specialty Coffee Association), a global organization that sets standards and provides education for the specialty coffee industry.
Q-grader
A certified professional trained to evaluate and score coffee quality using SCA standards. Recognized globally, Q Graders help maintain consistency and credibility in specialty coffee.