Unit 3: Frequently Used Terminology

The Coffee plant is defined as a woody perennial evergreen dicotyledon, belonging to the Rubiaceae family1.

Commercially grown types of coffee are Robusta (Coffea canephora) which accounts for ~20 percent of world production, Arabica (Coffea arabica), ~80 percent and Liberica (Coffea exelsa), with limited market demand for the latter. Other lessor known cultivars are Catimor, Bourbon and Typica which are seldom grown commercially.

Cultivars are varieties produced by agricultural techniques and are not normally found in nature. Most of the known varieties in specialty coffee are really cultivars2.

Varieties are diverse subspecies derived from selective breeding or natural selection of coffee plants2. Examples Name Species Region Comments Blue Mountain C. arabica Blue mountain region, Jamaica unique mutation of Typica variety Arusha C. arabica Mount Meru, Tanzania Typica variety or a French Mission

Shade Grown also referred to as Bird Friendly is coffee grown in the forest which serves as a natural habitat for insects and other animals.

Processing: Drying is the process of removing excess moisture so the beans can be stored. This is done if the beans were processed using the wet method. Once the beans are dried they are known as parchment coffee and are then moved to storage.

Hulling/Milling is the process of removing the outer parchment layer from the bean after drying and can be done either at a hulling station or manually3. The milled beans are now referred to as green coffee.

Parchment skin is what is left once the pulp has been removed completely after the fermentation process has been completed.

Dry Processing involves drying the cherry without removing the pulp4.

Wet Processing involves the floating of the cherry in water, washing and pulping to separate the pulp from the parchment skin5.

1 Coffee Research Institute, 2001, Arabica and Robusta Coffee Plant 2 Wikipedia, List of Coffee Varieties 3 National coffee Association, About Coffee, 10-steps-from-seed-to-cup 4Fintrac, USAID/Honduras, 2000, The US Market for Specialty Coffee 5 CAFÉ Africa Guide, 2014, Trainers Guide, First Edition, Uganda Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries

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Pulping is the process of removing the skin and pulp from the beans before the fermentation process takes place (usually in the wet process). The fermentation process allows for the removal of all the pulp.

Washing is the process of removing the skin of the cherry.

Marketing/Distribution: Barista is a person whose job it is to prepare and serve different types of coffee6.

Brewing coffee determines how the final cup will taste and there are many methods to brewing coffee. Both the type of roast, the type of water, the time taken and the equipment used to brew are important in the final taste of the coffee.

Cupping is the process of testing coffee to determine quality. The coffee is ‘nosed’ then tasted and subtle differences in the characteristics of the coffee are noted7.

Gourmet/Rare Origin/Estate refers to coffees sold at premium prices based on a specific production location and perception of high quality. Examples are: Jamaican Blue Mountain, Hawaiian Kona Fancy, Haitian Bleu, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Kenyan AA.

Grinding allows for different consistencies of coffee to extract the flavor. Beans vary from course to fine, with the finer grinds being the ones that should be prepared quickly, e.g. expresso.

Fair Trade is coffee purchased from a certified “Fair Trade” producer. They buy coffee from producers at a guaranteed minimum price. The coffee is priced at a premium to the consumer based on the Fair trade ethos of providing a living wage to producers and removing the middleman from the marketing/selling of the coffee8.

Rainforest Alliance is a certification system which educates farmers on how to reverse the intensive management systems used when growing industrial coffee hybrids. They work on encouraging sustainable production and harvesting8.

Roasting involves taking the green beans and placing them into a roasting machine at temperatures in excess of 5000F, where they turn brown and produce the characteristic coffee aroma. There are different types of roast which also determine the final taste of the coffee, e.g. medium or dark roast. The beans are then cooled immediately and are now ready for grinding.

Single origin is a label that indicates that the coffee is sourced from one single producer, crop or region in one country. This allows it to be easily traceable. It is a specific coffee, not a blend, and is usually of higher quality9.

Specialty is defined as any quality coffee and includes all coffees in the gourmet, rare origin, estate, Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Single origin, Organic, etc. Specialty coffee can be marketed by country of origin or method of production and is usually of the Arabica variety10. Specialty coffee must also have a rating of over 80 points.

Other:

6 Wikipedia, What is a Barista 7 National coffee Association, About Coffee, 10-steps-from-seed-to-cup 8 Manual for Arabica Cultivation, 2004, Tan Lam Agricultural Product Joint Stock Company 9 The Perfect Daily Grind, 2015, Everything you need to know about single origin coffees 10 Fintrac, FTF EVA, 2017, Value Chain Analysis, COFFEE

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Caffeine is a naturally occurring stimulant occurring in coffee beans. The amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee will vary based on the bean, how it is roasted and brewed. In brewed coffee the average amount of coffee is 95 mg with a range from 75-165mg11.

Decaffeination is the process of removing most of the caffeine from the coffee. Brewed decaffeinated coffee has on average 2 mg of caffeine12.

11 National coffee Association, About Coffee, 10-steps-from-seed-to-cup 12 National coffee Association, About Coffee, 10-steps-from-seed-to-cup

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