- Acidity
- The bright, lively, mouth-watering quality of a coffee: citrus, apple, berry. Not the same as sourness from under-extraction.
- Body
- How heavy the coffee feels in your mouth, from tea-like to syrupy.
- Bloom
- The first small pour that wets the grounds and releases CO₂. Fresher coffee blooms more.
- Extraction
- How much of the coffee dissolves into the water. 18–22% is the classic target. Too little tastes sour; too much tastes bitter.
- TDS
- Total dissolved solids: coffee strength. Filter coffee is usually 1.15–1.45%.
- Ratio
- Water to coffee by weight. 1:16 means 16 g water per 1 g coffee.
- Resting / degassing
- Freshly roasted coffee releases CO₂ for days. Most light roasts taste best 7–21 days after roasting; espresso often after 10+.
- First crack
- The popping sound as beans expand during roasting. Light roasts end shortly after it.
- Second crack
- A second, quieter crackle. Beans past it are dark and oily.
- Development
- Time after first crack. More development means more sweetness and body and less acidity.
- Single estate
- All the coffee comes from one farm. Single origin can mean one region or country.
- Micro-lot / nano-lot
- A small, separately processed batch, often a specific plot, variety or process.
- Blend
- Two or more coffees combined for balance or consistency.
- Chicory
- Roasted chicory root, traditionally blended into South Indian filter coffee (often 80:20 or 70:30) for body and bitterness.
- Decoction
- The strong coffee concentrate that drips through a South Indian filter, mixed with hot milk.
- Dabarah & tumbler
- The steel bowl and cup used to serve filter kaapi, pouring back and forth to cool and froth it.
- Channi
- The Konkani/Kannada name for a pour-through coffee filter or strainer.
- SCA score
- A 100-point cupping score. 80+ counts as specialty; 85+ is excellent; 88+ is exceptional.
- Cupping
- The standard way to taste coffee: coarse grounds steeped in a bowl, then slurped from a spoon.
- Parchment
- The papery layer around a washed bean before hulling.
- Cascara
- The dried coffee cherry skin, brewed as a fruity tea.
- Green coffee
- Unroasted beans. Stable for months; roasted coffee is best within weeks.
- Shade-grown
- Coffee grown under a forest canopy. Nearly all Indian coffee is shade-grown, often with pepper, cardamom and oranges.
- FPO
- Farmer Producer Organisation, a cooperative model common in Araku and Koraput.
- GI tag
- Geographical Indication. Monsooned Malabar (2008) and five regional coffees (Coorg, Chikmagalur, Bababudangiri and Araku arabica, Wayanad robusta, in 2019) are GI-protected.
- Crema
- The golden foam on espresso, made of CO₂ and oils. Fresher coffee and robusta give more.
- Channelling
- Water finding a weak path through an espresso puck, leaving uneven extraction. Fix with better distribution and tamping.
- Omni roast
- A roast meant to work for both filter and espresso.
- Screen size
- Bean size graded by sieve holes in 1/64 inch. Bigger isn't always better, but graded lots roast more evenly.