Barista Terminology: Lingo To Brew Coffee Like a Pro

Baristas have their own language that might sound like magic spells or mantras. However, it’s not magic at all – just science and knowledge.

As a coffee shop customer, you might know many terms related to coffee recipes (latte, cappuccino, Americano) or the size of coffee (tall, grande, venti). But backstage is a totally different world where you, as a barista, must know the parts of an espresso machine, elements of your workstation, coffee tools, and coffee preparation terminology.

Here at Barista Training Academy, we have collected a decent vocabulary of the most common barista terms that might be very handy every time you hear a new word. Even if you haven’t got your barista gob yet, it’s a good idea to get acquainted with these coffee terms because you’ll need to memorize them anyway in your barista job.

This coffee glossary will also help you as a new barista.

Barista Terminology:

Acidity – 1) a coffee quality that makes coffee bright, bubbly, pleasantly tart to taste; it distinguishes high-quality coffees from bland, tasteless coffees; the level of acidity is often used to describe coffees during coffee cuppings; 2) literally the level of acids in coffee (pH). In coffee, it’s about 5 pH.

Affogato – an espresso served with a scoop of ice cream.

Aeropress – a patented coffee brewing device that has consisted of a chamber for coffee, a filter cap where a paper filter is placed, a plunger. After the coffee is brewed, it’s being pushed through a chamber with the plunger resulting in a strong concentrated coffee drink.

Aeration – the first stage of milk steaming, also known as “Stretching,” when the air is introduced into the milk with a loud paper-tearing sound. During this stage, the milk increases 50% of its initial volume.

Arabica – a coffee tree species that makes about half of the coffee produced globally; has more acidity and less caffeine than Robusta; considered to be better quality, more flavorful, aromatic, and pleasant to drink; it’s more difficult to cultivate and more expensive.

Aroma – a sensation produced by freshly brewed coffee; coffee aroma includes more than 800 aromatic compounds.

Backflushing – the process of cleaning an espresso machine when you insert a blind portafilter and start hot water in cycles to remove any coffee leftovers from inside the group heads.

Balanced – a term that describes a harmonious combination of various coffee characteristics.

Basket – a filter basket for coffee that is inserted into a portafilter.

Bland – a description of coffee that lacks acidity, brightness, or any other characteristics that make it interesting.

Blend – a combination of several single-origin coffees.

Blind basket – a portafilter basket with no filter holes used for full backflushing.

Body – a mouthfeel sensation of physical coffee characteristics: thickness, richness, texture.

Boiler – the main part of an espresso machine used to heat the water for espresso extraction. Espresso machines can have one or two boilers.

Burrs – elements of a burr grinder that look like two disks with sharp cuts on them.

 

Barista Terminology Continued:

Caffeine – a chemical derived from certain plants that have a stimulating effect. Coffee trees produce caffeine as a natural pesticide against insects.

Cezve – a pot with a handle used to make Turkish coffee on hot sand.

Cherry – a coffee tree berry resembling a cherry when ripe; each coffee cherry has two seeds inside, collected manually by coffee farmers.

Crema – a thin layer of brown foam on the surface of a freshly brewed espresso shot made of carbon dioxide bubbles attached to coffee oils during the extraction process.

Cupping – a process of coffee tasting to evaluate coffee beans. The professionals use spoons to sip coffee and spit it into a cup.

Decaf – a coffee with reduced caffeine levels, which was extracted from green coffee beans with the help of special solvents.

Demitasse – a small 3 oz. Cup used to serve espresso.

Distribution – a process of smoothening the mound of coffee grounds after dosing it into a basket and before tamping.

Doppio – a portion of double espresso (50-60 ml (1.7 – 2 oz).

Doser – a part of a coffee grinder, a chamber that collects coffee after grinding.

Dosing – a process of placing coffee grounds into a basket. To brew a double espresso, you need to dose 20 g (0.7 oz) of coffee grounds.

Drip coffee – a coffee brewing method where coffee grounds come in contact with water not under presser but by water slowly dripping through coffee grounds and paper filter into a cup.

 

 

Barista Terminology Continued:

Emulsifying – the second stage of milk steaming, also known as “Texturing,” when the milk starts spinning and gets hotter.

Espresso – 1) a coffee brewing method with an espresso machine; 2) a coffee drink extracted under pressure with an espresso machine.

Etching – a latte art technique of drawing patterns with the help of a sharp-pointed tool.

Chai – a common tea beverage made from black tea, milk, and spices.

Dialing-in – a process of adjusting the size of the coffee grind to reach the optimal espresso shot quality.

Degassing – a natural process when roasted coffee beans release carbon dioxide.

Dried coffee – a coffee processing method when ripe coffee cherries are sundried right after picking.

Extraction – a process of removing coffee solubles, oils, and flavors with the help of hot water and in the course of any brewing method.

Earthy is a taste characteristic that resembles fresh earth; it can either be a positive characteristic or a defect.

Filtered coffee – any coffee brewing method uses a paper filter, such as “Drip coffee.”

Flavor – the description of coffee aroma and taste; coffee flavors can be chocolaty, fruity, nutty, earthy, etc.

French press – a coffee brewing pot with a plunger that separated coffee grounds by pressing them to the bottom; patented in Italy in 1929.

Fair-trade coffee – coffee purchased from farmers according to fair trade standards: transparency, fair prices, sustainability.

Frothing – a milk-steaming process that consists of two stages: aerating and emulsifying.

Barista Terminology:

Gasket – an espresso machine element; a rubber band placed in a groove in the group head under the screen.

Grinding – a process of breaking roasted beans into tiny particles with a grinder's help before brewing.

Grinder – a coffee shop equipment used to grind coffee; can have a doser or be doserless; can have blades or burrs.

Grouphead – an element of an espresso machine exterior that delivers water from inside the machine into a portafilter basket.

Hopper – an element of a grinder that holds coffee beans before grinding. It’s recommended not to store beans in a hopper but constantly replenish the contents.

Jug – a tiny spouted pitcher used to extract espresso into it and then pour into a latte.

 

 

Barista Terminology:

Knock box – a dedicated bin to dispose of used coffee grounds; usually has a bar across to strike a portafilter on it.

Kopi Luwak – one of the most expensive coffees in the world due to its unique production process; the cherries of this Indonesian coffee are being digested and then discharged by a local civet.

Lungo – a “long” shot in Italian; an espresso drink with a longer extraction time than a regular espresso resulting in a weaker and less concentrated shot.

Matcha – a powder from green tea leaves sometimes used to make tees, lattes, or desserts.

Mocha – 1) An espresso drink with chocolate; 2) the oldest coffee from Yemen.

Microfoam – steamed velvety milk comprised of tiniest bubbles; used for latte art.

Naked portafilter – a bottomless portafilter with no spouts used to evaluate espresso consistency, crema, and other issues.

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Terminology Continued

 

Organic coffee – coffee that holds a certificate proving it was grown without using chemical additives, pesticides, or herbicides.

Pitcher – a stainless steel vessel with a spit and a handle used to steam and pour milk.

Polishing – a process of swirling the steamed milk to get a uniformed velvety, silky milk texture.

Portafilter is a removable part of an espresso machine where the coffee grounds are measured and dosed; it consists of a handle, a filter holder, a filter basket, and spouts.

Pour-over – a coffee brewing method that involves pouring hot water manually over coffee grounds. Basic manual brewers: Chemex, V60, Kalita Wave, Kone, etc. The ideal coffee to water ratio is 60 g of coffee per 1 liter of water. Also, see “Drip coffee.”

To Pull – a verb used to describe the process of extracting a shot of espresso. It goes back to the times when all espresso machines had levers that needed to be pulled.

Puck – compressed coffee grounds in a filter basket.

Pump – an inside element of an espresso machine that creates 9 bar pressure to extract espresso.

Ristretto is a “short” shot in Italian; an espresso drink takes less extraction time than a regular espresso, resulting in a stronger and more biter shot.

Robusta – a coffee tree species that have less acidity and more caffeine than Arabica; considered to be lower in quality and is used to produce instant coffee or coffee blends; it’s easier to cultivate, and it’s less expensive.

 

Barista Terminology:

Single-origin – coffee sourced from one particular region comes unblended.

Shot – one serving of espresso (one-shot is 25-30 ml (0.84 – 1 oz).

According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America Standards, specialty – exceptionally high-quality single-origin green coffee beans meet with a score of 80 or more.

Steam wand – an exterior element of an espresso machine that looks like a metal arm. The steam comes out through the holes on the steam wand tip and froths the milk.

Tamper – a basic barista tool used to compress coffee evenly in a coffee basket after leveling; consists of a handle and a flat round metal base.

Tamping mat – a silicon or rubber cushion attached to a table's edge, used to place a portafilter for coffee tamping.

To Tamp – an action of compressing coffee grounds in a portafilter basket with a tamper's help to ensure even distribution of grounds for uniform water flow.

Varietal – a variety of coffee plants, some are typical for certain regions; others grow worldwide; the best known Arabica varietals are Typica, Bourbon; the other varietals are cross-bred from Typica and Bourbon: Caturra, Catimor, Gesha, Maragogype, Pacamara.

Washed coffee – coffee beans that underwent wet coffee processing method; the ripe coffee cherry is de-pulped and soaked or fermented in its own juice, then washed and dried.

Yield – the percentage of the ground coffee dissolved in the water; all caffeine, coffee solubles, oils, and flavor extracted into a cup.

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