Coffee Terms: Aged Coffee to Barista

Aged Coffee

• Green coffee stored for three to five years to develop specific flavors.
• High-quality Indonesian beans are selected for aging.
• Aging develops flavors like spice, peat moss, and toasted marshmallow.

Altitude

• The elevation at which coffee is grown.
• Arabica coffees should be grown at high elevations.
• High altitudes slow cherry growth, creating denser beans with complex flavor.

Arabica

• Coffea arabica, a commercially significant coffee species.
• High-quality arabica makes up about 65% of world coffee production.
• Flourishes at high elevations.
• Has more refined flavor, elegant body, and acidity.
• Starbucks only buys and roasts high-quality arabica coffee.

Arrival Sample

• Coffee tasted by the Global Coffee Quality team in Seattle upon arrival from origin.
• Confirms that coffee quality did not suffer during transit.

Barista

• A partner or licensed store associate.
• Responsible for delivering the Starbucks Experience to every customer.

Blending

• Combining two or more coffees to create new flavors.
• Coffees can be blended from one or more origins and roast levels.

Calibrate Shots

• Checking and adjusting espresso-shot quality.
• Ensures the flavor is balanced and sweet.

Coffee Buyer

• The Starbucks Coffee Trading Company (SCTC) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Responsible for global coffee purchasing and negotiating contracts.

Coffee Field

• The permanent location where healthy coffee plants are moved after about a year in the nursery.

Coffee Leaf Rust

• A devastating foliar disease of coffee plants caused by the Hemileia vastatrix fungus.

Coffee Life Cycle

• Takes three years for a coffee tree to mature and produce its first commercial harvest.
• Most coffee trees flower and produce cherries once a year.
• Time from blossom to harvest is about nine months.

Coffee Nursery

• Protective environment for young coffee plants.
• Monitored daily for temperature, water, and pests.

Cupping

• A tasting procedure used by professional coffee tasters.
• Protocol followed to evaluate coffee for consistency of quality.

Dose

• The amount of coffee used to brew an espresso or brewed coffee.

Drying

• Green beans are raked and dried after processing, sometimes still in their parchment layer.

Dry Milling

• The process that removes the parchment layer from the green bean.
• Occurs after coffee has been processed, dried, and rested, before exporting.

Espresso

• Brewed using an espresso machine.
• Hot water under pressure is forced through finely ground coffee.
• Produces a concentrated, aromatic, and flavorful shot of coffee.

Export

• Green beans are bagged and loaded onto a container and shipped after dry milling.
• The journey from origin to the roasting plant takes four to nine weeks.

Extraction

• The process that pulls flavors and aromas from coffee grounds into water.

Flowering

• Coffee tree blossoms once a year, producing white, jasmine-scented flowers.
• Flowers turn into buds that become green and then ripe red cherries for harvest.

Latte Art

• Crafting artistic designs with microfoam and espresso for beverage personalization.
• Relies on how the barista pours the milk foam into the espresso.

Lay Foam

• Pouring milk to create latte art.
• The spout of the pitcher is kept in the center of the cup.
• The remaining milk is quickly poured to "lay" the white foam on top of the brown crema in a circle or "dot."

Long Shot

• An espresso shot made with the same amount of coffee but more water.
• Extracts for longer and is a larger volume.
• Has a thinner body and a less intense flavor.

Master Roaster

• Oversees the roasting process at each roasting facility.
• Ensures seamless roasting operation.
• Highlights the quality of green coffee.
• Equipment runs at its peak.

Microclimate

• The climate of a small area.
• Affects the flavor of a coffee.

Microfoam

• Created when microbubbles are incorporated throughout the milk during steaming.
• Results in a smooth, glossy appearance and creamy texture.
• Necessary for creating latte art.

Natural (Sun-Dried) Processing

• The cherry fruit dries right on the bean.
• Imparts intense, fruity flavors to each bean while diminishing acidity.
• Coffees tend to have a fuller body.

Offer Sample

• Samples evaluated by coffee buyers before purchasing green coffee.
• The Coffee Quality team at SCTC tastes all offer samples from potential suppliers.

Over-Extraction

• Happens when brewing recipes are not followed.
• Coffee tastes bitter.

Picking

• Ripe coffee cherries are picked from the tree.
• Cherries must be picked at peak ripeness.
• Pickers may return to a tree more than once to find ripe cherries.

Post-Roast Blending

• Different green coffees are roasted individually to different roast levels, then blended.
• Used when the blend recipe requires coffees with different roast intensities.

Pre-Roast Blending

• Different green coffees are blended together before roasting.

Preshipment Sample

• The coffee-quality team at SCTC tastes the coffee again before the beans are loaded onto a ship.
• If everything checks out, the coffee is ready to be shipped.

Processing

• The removal of the coffee cherry fruit that surrounds the bean.
• Contributes to the overall flavor of the coffee.
• Includes washed, semi-washed, and natural (sun-dried) methods.

Resting

• Coffee is bagged and stored in a warehouse to rest and allow flavors to develop before it is exported.
• Coffee rests for several weeks up to two months.

Ristretto

• A shot made with the same amount of coffee as a standard espresso but with less water.
• Described as sweeter, syrupy, and with a more intense coffee flavor.

Roasting

• Turns the green bean into brown roasted coffee.
• Requires different time and temperature for each coffee.
• Creates a cup with peak aroma, acidity, body, and flavor.

Seasonality

• Different harvest seasons in different coffee-growing countries.

Semi-Washed Processing

• Often associated with Indonesian coffees, like Sumatra.
• Softens acidity and contributes to a smooth mouthfeel and medium to full body.

Starbucks Coffee Trading Company (SCTC)

• Located in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Buyers work out of this office, tasting all offer and preshipment samples.
• Transportation from origin to roasting plant is also coordinated out of this office.

Terroir

• A French term meaning “soil, land.”
• Includes the soil and microclimate unique to a growing location.
• Determines the type of coffee tree varietal that can be planted.

Under-Extraction

• Occurs when recipes are not followed.
• Coffee tastes sour and unbalanced.

Washed Processing

• Increases the coffee’s acidity, or tanginess.
• Gives coffee a clean finish.

Yield

• The amount of coffee cherries a tree or farm produces.

100 Million Coffee Trees

• Initiative begun in 2015 to combat coffee leaf rust in Latin America.

Agronomist

• An expert in coffee agriculture and processing.
• Works collaboratively with farmers and suppliers globally.

Agronomy

• The science of soil management and production of crops in fields.

Bloom

• White, jasmine-scented flowers appear on the coffee trees.
• Replaced by clusters of green cherries.

C.A.F.E. Practices

• Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices, a holistic program created by Starbucks.
• Was created in partnership with Conservation International.
• Is one of the coffee industry’s first sustainability standards verified by third-party experts.

Coffee Buyers

• Purchase coffee "transparently" at prices based on quality.
• Offers sellers reliability and price stability.

Coffee Estate

• Farms on more than 50 hectares of land.
• Can support coffee farming and processing in one location.

Cooperatives

• Associations of smallholder coffee farmers who organize into groups to promote and sell their coffee.
• Can include 100–15,000 farms.

Core Collection

• The 100 most genetically diverse strains of arabica coffee in the world.
• Sourced more than 50 years ago from Ethiopia.
• Starbucks uses the strains at Hacienda Alsacia to study genetic diversity in arabica.

De-pulping

• The process of removing the outer fruit from the coffee bean.

Drupe

• A fruit with an outer skin, pulpy middle layer, and hard inner shell enclosing a single seed.
• A coffee cherry is a drupe.

Ethical Sourcing

• Ensuring a product is acquired in a responsible, sustainable way.

Farmer Support Center (FSC)

• Starbucks offices support coffee farmers and their communities.
• FSC agronomists and quality experts work with farmers to develop better coffee.
• There are currently nine FSCs in key coffee-growing regions.

Fermentation

• The processing stage in which the sticky pulp is loosened from the coffee beans by natural enzymes while resting in tanks.

Fly-Crop (Mitaca)

• A second yearly coffee harvest following the main harvest.
• Occurs in a handful of equatorial countries, including Colombia and Kenya.

Global Farmer Fund

• A $50 million commitment by Starbucks to provide financing to coffee farmers.

Green Bean

• The unroasted coffee bean (seed).
• Most coffee cherries have two flat-sided beans inside.

Hacienda Alsacia

• A working coffee farm in Alajuela, Costa Rica, purchased by Starbucks in 2013.
• Is the site of Starbucks Global Agronomy Research and Development Center.

Harvest

• When ripe cherries are picked from the trees.
• High-quality arabica cherries are often picked by hand.

Heirloom

• "Old-time" varietals passed down over generations.
• There are thousands of heirloom varietals growing in Ethiopia.

Honey Processing

• A variation of the pulped natural method.
• Skips the fermentation step.
• Leaves the mucilage on the parchment to dry with the bean.
• Classified by color.

Hulling

• The parchment is removed from the beans after coffee rests.
• Leaves the green beans in their final state before roasting.

Mucilage

• The sweet, sticky honey like substance that coats the green coffee bean.

Open Source

• Starbucks shares the latest research, tools, best practices and resources with growers around the world.

Outer Skin

• The outermost skin of the coffee cherry.

Parchment

• The thin white parchmentlike layer of the bean.

Peaberry

• A single, round bean found in 5–10% of coffee cherries.

Pruning

• Cutting off branches from a coffee tree.
• Farmers may prune the trees to 5–6 feet to increase productivity and ease harvesting.

Pulp

• The thick sweet layer just under the outer skin.

Pulped Natural Processing

• Shares characteristics of both the washed and natural processes.
• Cherries are de-pulped and partially demucilaged, with some mucilage left to dry on the parchment.

SCS Global Services

• The third-party verifier for C.A.F.E. Practices.
• Promotes environmental stewardship and social responsibility through certification and auditing.

Seasonal Workers

• Workers who follow the ripening fruit from farm to farm throughout harvest season.

Selective Harvesting

• Harvesters revisit the same tree several times to ensure they pick only the ripest cherries.

Self-Pollinating

• A flower that pollinates itself to produce a cherry.
• The coffee tree is self-pollinating.

Semi-Washed (Wet-Hulled) Processing

• Used primarily by smallholder farmers on the islands of Indonesia.

Shipping Container

• Coffee is loaded onto cargo ships in 20-foot containers for shipping.

Silver Skin

• A thin, almost translucent final protective layer on the green bean.

Smallholder Farms

• Coffee farms between two and five hectares in size.
• Most of the coffee Starbucks sources is grown here.

Starbucks Global Agronomy Research & Development Center

• Located on the Hacienda Alsacia farm in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
• Devoted to helping coffee farming communities mitigate climate change and support long-term crop stability.

Sustainable Coffee Challenge

• A call to action led by Conservation International.
• Promotes efforts to make coffee the world’s first sustainable agricultural product.

The Starbucks Foundation

• Supports farming families through vocational training and increased access to clean water, sanitation and health services.
• Promotes leadership opportunities for women, helping break down barriers to education and increasing economic opportunities.

Varietal

• Coffee made from a single cultivar of coffee tree.
• Also used to describe coffee from a single region or country.

Washed (Wet) Processing

• Used most widely throughout the world.
• Requires access to clean water.

World Coffee Research

• A nonprofit organization creating the future of coffee.
• Focuses on the genetics, molecular biology, and sensory science of coffee