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Coffee Terminology
There's a lot of talk about coffee out there (like the stuff on this page), and it's crazy how many contradictions there are. It's frusterating how one experienced professional can tell you something totally contradictory to what another respected coffee guru has said, or even contradictory to what the whole coffee industry says. Like when someone who has incredible talent with coffee says "Sumatra tends to have a really thin body and high acidity" and I think "what?!". Or one coffee guru says that El Salvador typically has very low acidity and another tells you that it typically has a high adicity - they can't both be right. I'm sure there are things that I say that contradict what others have said, but that's just how it goes in this industry. If I write anything that doesn't seem right, please let me know. I think what matters the most is whether or not a professional cares to know their stuff. Most people who work for big coffee companies don't know and don't care. I just think you should be passionate about whatever it is you do. Body refers to the "mouthfeel" of the coffee. You don't really taste the body; you feel it with your tongue and palate, but it really effects your experience. A coffee with a rich body can be very satisfying because it adds "substance". Think about wines, and it becomes clearer: cabernet has lots of body, merlot has medium body, and white wine has a very thin body. Red port wines usually have tons of body. Solids suspended in the liquid, whether coffee or wine, greatly influence the body, as well as oils and gasses, which form very tiny bubbles, which makes the "crema" in espresso. The body of the coffee is not only a result of the natural characteristics of the bean, but also the roast, and especially the method of brewing. Paper filters will filter out much of the solids (mostly proteins and fibers) and therefore cut out much of the body. The reason paper filters were invented was specifically to do so, and have become popular because it makes a cleaner and often somewhat less bitter brew because the solids also carry much of the bitterness. You may have noticed that a french press can give you a much heavier body (this is also influenced by the grind you use) and sometimes a slightly more bitter brew, depending on the coffee you use. Acidity is pretty straightforward. Look it up in your dictionary if you don't know what it means. The main misconception is that some people equate acidity to bitterness. Acidity can make your coffee more sharp tasting, but often it gives it a sour or even a sweet fruity flavor. A very acidic coffee is not necissarily a bitter coffee, but often a very lively and crisp coffee. I don't like to roast acidic coffees dark though, because that can get a little bitter.
Misnomers
There's a ton on misnomers out there when it comes to coffee. It's often hard to say what's a misnomer and what's not, because some things aren't written in stone, and are left to opinion. Generally when people can't agree on terminology, I say go to some authoritative source like the Specialty Coffee Association of America, but coffeegeek.com and sweetmarias.com are both very good for info. It used to bug the tar out of me that "French" means dark in our vocabulary, and "Italian" means really dark, and "Spanish" means charred. I've always thought, "How is that French?" or "How is that Italian?" I've had espresso in northern Italy, and southern Italy in as many cafes as I could and it was always a medium to light roast. So why do we call really dark roast "Italian"?? But we just have to swallow our pride sometimes and use the words people know. However, the line has to be drawn somewhere, otherwise everyone ends up confused. Here's a list of misnomers that grocery stores, restaurants and sadly even coffee shops have put out there, that just need to be corrected, so I can know what you mean when you order, and so you can know what you mean. "Premium Roast" There's no need to bash McDonald's coffee, because I'm sure nobody is convinced it's amazing, and no one expects it to be, but with this choice of words they are playing on a popular line of thought that there is one roast that is the best. People like their coffee at all kinds of roasts, some like it dark, some like it light. Some people don't have a favorite roast. It's just silly to say that there is one roast that's the best, and it also seems limiting to associate your company with a single roast, like the "Starbucks Roast". With all the billions they put into research and development, they should know that different beans are best at different roasts and really, most beans can be good at all kinds of roasts. "Espresso Roast" There is just no such thing as "the Espresso Roast". You can use all kinds of roasts for espresso. I just try to exclude the extremes - really light or really dark. There are espresso blends, and to achieve a good espresso blend, you have to have a good combination of the right beans, each roasted according to how you want the espresso to taste. If a roaster can manage to find the right combination of beans to roast all together in the same batch, (pre-roast blend), then it saves time and it kind of "melds" the flavors together, but usually it's best to roast the different beans at different roasts, and mix them to the right proportions. If someone has sold you "Espresso Roast" in the past, you have been duped by marketing. They cheap-out on the beans and the labor, and slap an attractive name and label on it, and consumers don't know the difference. So... If you want to order some "espresso roast", think about what you actually want. Do you want a blend you can use for your espresso machine, do you want a dark roast, or does the name just sound sexy? "Oily" Coffee You know when you go to the grocery store and you open up the bin of Southern Pecan, Irish Creme, or the Taste of San Antonio, and it smells sweet and looks all oily? Don't let that fool you, an oily looking coffee is not a good thing. The "oil" on flavored coffee beans is not oil, but Propylene Glycol, (yes - the stuff they make make-up and sexual lubricants and artificial smoke out of), with a tiny amount of artificial flavor added. On unflavored dark-roast coffee that's really greasy, there's this stuff called Cafeol (Coffee Oil) which is not really an oil, but a complex mixture of carbs and natural chemicals. This stuff is pretty good - until oxygen gets to it. Then it's very harsh and bitter. Trust me, it needs to stay on the inside of the bean, where it's better protected from the oxygen. If you are still convinced that this beautiful looking stuff is sweet and yummy, all you have to do is get some greasy coffee and rub a paper towel in it, so it gets a lot of it on there, and take it away from the coffee and smell it. It's gross. So don't let your eyes fool you, the sweet smell is from the gasses released from the beans, not from "coffee oil". Practical Application - don't insist on a greasy French roast. Believe it or not, some people do. "Fresh Roasted" Almost anyone who sells coffee says it's fresh roasted. But very few companies actually sell freshly roasted coffee. If you want fresh, just stick to the local, independent guys. For example in the Houston area these guys have freshly roasted coffee: Pax Coffee, Lola Savannah, Java Coffee and Tea, Dunn Bros. and these guys don't: Starbucks, Maxwell House, Folgers, It's a Grind, The Coffee Guy, grocery stores, and just about anyone else who doesn't do in-house roasting. Even if they do, you've got to wonder how long its been sitting around before you bought it. Starbucks puts a date on their bag. That date is 6 months after it was roasted. That's not fresh. Fresh means "just roasted". Many companies don't put any kind of date on their bag. That's concerning. If they ship it in from California, it's not fresh. Really fresh means roasted less than a week ago. I would say 2-3 weeks ago is usually acceptable. If your talking about months, forget it. Just throw it away (or in your garden) and get something fresh. And don't buy 5 lbs and put it in your freezer. Buy 1/2 to 1 lb and keep in in your pantry. People are always trying to make these methods work - vaccum pack, the 1-way air valve, and the freezer. But those are methods of trying to preserve coffee that's not fresh. Just drink freshly (recently) roasted coffee. My coffee will always be as fresh as possible because I don't keep a roasted inventory. When you order it, I roast it up, and get it to you. And if you see a date on my bag, that's the day I roasted it. I'm sure most people know these, but it's worth throwing out there: Java should not refer coffee in general, but only the kind that comes from Java, the island in Indonesia, one of the first places coffee was brought by Europeans for cultivation.
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