This coffee glossary defines around two hundreds of words in the coffee lexicon, and it’s growing up. Most of our articles link to specific terms in this dictionary, so it’s easy to find the reference immediately. You can also search for a specific term, if this is easier for you.
The glossary is split in a few sections for easier browsing:
A cuban espresso is an espresso beverage that is sweetened with sugar. For a traditional cuban espresso, the sugar needs to be natural, brown, demerara sugar. Cuban espresso can be prepared with an electric espresso machine or by using a …
The café Romano is an espresso beverage with a squeeze of lemon juice added that is served with a lemon wedge. Although the name suggests the café Romano comes from Rome or even Romania, it is in fact of American …
Pour over coffee is a type of filter coffee that is brewed manually, using a pour over coffee maker. Some popular pour over coffee makers are the Chemex, the Hario V60 and the Kalita Wave. A pour over coffee maker …
The latte macchiato is a coffee beverage that is similar to the caffè latte and is a longer version of the caffè macchiato, also known as the espresso macchiato. These three beverages are often confused for one another. As with …
Irish coffee is a coffee cocktail or coffee liquor made of black coffee, sugar and whiskey and topped with cream. Although the modern Irish coffee as we know it today was created sometime in the 20th century, likely in the …
The iced mocha is a variant of the iced latte and another beverage that would fall into the bracket of iced coffee. As with hot lattes and hot mochas, the iced mocha differs to the iced latte in that chocolate …
An iced latte typically refers to a beverage that is prepared with freshly brewed, hot espresso and chilled milk over ice. This drink is very typical in the United States. An iced latte is not prepared using steamed, micro foamed …
The flat white is a milk based espresso drink that is comparable to the latte. It is typically served in a smaller cup than a latte and is prepared using a double shot of espresso. Therefore the beverage is more …
The espresso macchiato is a coffee espresso drink with a small amount of steamed milk, usually as foam, on top. The word “macchiato” in Italian means stained or spotted. The espresso macchiato, therefore, means “stained espresso”, due to the milk …
Espresso con panna means “espresso with cream” in Italian. As the name suggests, the beverage consists of a single or double shot of espresso topped with whipped cream. Some other common variations of this name would be the café Vienne …
The café au lait is a beverage that stems from the same tradition as the café con leche of Spain and the milchkaffee of Germany. The name café au lait is a French term that means “coffee with milk”. It …
Caffè Mocha is a variation of the caffè latte, which is similarly prepared with espresso coffee and steamed milk but has the addition of chocolate, normally in the form of cocoa powder. The classic mocha is then topped with cappuccino …
Caffè Latte is a drink commonly prepared with one third espresso and two thirds steamed milk. The name is a portmanteau of the Italian words Caffè, which means coffee, and Latte, which means milk. Internationally, the name is commonly shortened …
Joshua Spink is an Irish opera singer and writer. His specialist topics are coffee, food, wellness and culture. His love for coffee comes from growing up in his parent’s coffee shop and working as a barista for several years in …
A long black is a style of coffee, most commonly found in Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. It is now becoming available in the UK, predominantly in London. A long black was supposedly created in Italy to please American tourists …
Surface area is the measurement of the total area (faces or curved surface) of a solid figure. Surface area is normally talked about in coffee brewing in regard to grinding coffee. The purpose of grinding coffee is to increase the …
Coffee tamping is the action of compacting ground coffee in an espresso portafilter with a tamp, prior to brewing. A tamp can be either handheld or attached to the espresso machine. A handheld tamp normally has a wooden handle and …
