A DICTIONARY FOR THE COFFEE NOOB

Coffee is crazy confusing. So, we’ve compiled some coffee-related terms to bring you up to speed on that ludicrous lingo your indie, barista friend uses.

Espresso: describes the common brewing technique in which pressurised hot water is forced through a bed of ground coffee. Basically, any coffee made using a run-of-the-mill coffee machine is an “espresso”. Add milk and chocolate in various proportions to create the standard coffee drink; latte, cappuccino, piccolo etc.

Ristretto: A short shot of espresso coffee made with the same amount of ground coffee but half the water.

Double ristretto: Double the dose of what was previously explained.

Pull: Don’t worry, your barista pals aren’t doing anything naughty when they tell you they’ve spent the whole day pulling. To pull means to pour a shot out of an espresso machine. Get your mind out of the gutter.

Single origin: refers to coffee grown in a single geographic origin. The whole concept is a bit loose because the topographical region can vary in size, from a single farm to a whole country. Basically, single origin is coffee-talk for fancier (and often more expensive) beans.

House blend: The coffee equivalent to ‘housewine’. This term describes your café’s go-to beans.

“Filtered” or “drip-brewed” coffee: technique where hot water is poured onto ground coffee beans, making your steamy cup of Joe. Dripbrewed can refer to both electronic drip brewing, AKA your stereotypical American diner coffeepot, or pour-over brewing, a manual (and much swankier) technique where coffee aficionados pour the hot water into a paper filter. With more control over the process, the traditional pourover brew is touted as a tastier coffee-brewing technique.

Cold brew: a form of brewing using cold water. Coffee grounds are mixed with room temperature water and left to brew. As cold water is less soluble, this process takes a long time. We’re talking up to 24 hours for a single brew.