The Vocabulary of Coffee

Next to oil, coffee is the most widely traded commodity. The consumption of coffee is about 400 billion cups a year and continues to grow. Like any other popular commodity, coffee has its share of controversies.

Over the years and across the globe, controversies over coffee have arisen. It had been called the drink of the devil, the drink that caused men's impotence, an evil brew and many other expletives. Over a cup of coffee literary masterpieces, national testaments and oratories were created, medical advances and huge business deals that have changed the course of history have all been conducted. All of these advances, of course, were not due to the coffee, but are perhaps indebted to it.

Coffee is surely more than a simple beverage. The world loves it, and for good reason.

Fine coffee, like wine, takes special preparation. Coffee is the antithesis of wine, but it requires the same amount of dedication, specialized processes and cultivation. Wine relaxes the body and tends to slow the mental processes. Coffee has quite an opposite effect. Coffee is calming, rather than intoxicating. It stimulates the senses, rather than dulling them. Someone once said that "It cheers the spirit without making one mad."

Coffee requires blending and brewing, along with various other preparations that go into creating wine and other excellent beverages. There is also an entire vocabulary associated with coffee. If you wish to be truly familiar with your friend "coffee", here are some of the terms that you must know:

Coffee Acidity

Carrots and coffee have nearly the same pH. Acidity in coffee contributes to its special liveliness, color and brightness.

Arabica Coffee

Arabica is one of the primary types of coffee. The other is Robusta. Coffee Arabica contains less caffeine, but it is harder to cultivate as it grows best at altitudes between 3,500 to 7,000 feet. It has a superior full bodied taste compared to Robusta and is consequently more expensive.

Bourbon is an African variety of Arabica coffee. The cultivation was not seriously pursued for some time because, although it has delicious character and taste, crop yields are smaller than the other Arabica varieties. The growing popularity of coffee, however, has increased the cultivation of this wonderful bean.

Unique Blends

Blending coffee is much like artists mixing colors on their palettes. Coffee blenders take beans grown from various coffee growing regions, mix them to craft a taste that is special and cannot be achieved with coffee of single origin.

Body or Feel

The "body" of the coffee is a term used to describe the way it feels in the mouth. The body may be thin, delicate, light, syrupy or buttery.

Decaffeinated Coffee

When the caffeine content of the coffee beans is minimized, it's called "decaffeinated" or "decaf" coffee. There are several processes that may be used to reduce the caffeine content in coffee including chemical, carbon dioxide and water system procedures. Regardless of the decaffeinating process used, efforts are always made to preserve the delicious natural flavors of the coffee bean.

Grades of Coffee

This is a classification of the beans by their density and size. The highest grade is known as premium and is sold at a higher price.

Methods of Processing

Processing is the separation of flesh from bean. There are two types of coffee processing: washed and dry. When coffee is processed using the dry method, the cherries are spread across the ground and allowed to dry in the sun. Several times each day, the beans are raked to ensure even drying. After two to three weeks, the dried flesh will crack and falls off of the bean. This method of dry processing gives a syrupy texture and an earthy flavor to the coffee.

The washed processing is a method of cutting the skin off the coffee bean and allowing it to stand so that it ferments until the skin can be easily washed off with water. After that step, the beans are dried. This kind of processing sustains the natural flavors in the coffee.

Now that you're more familiar with coffee vocabulary, go ahead and impress your friends with this newfound knowledge. Over coffee, of course!

Article Source: Main Articles

Writer Benedict Neel is a columnist for numerous Internet magazines, on leisure centres and leisure guide issues.

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