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Coffee glossary: 117 coffee terms, with Colorado examples

What the words on a Colorado roaster's bag and menu mean, in plain English.

How to use this coffee glossary

This coffee glossary explains 117 coffee terms you will meet on a bag, a cafe menu or a roaster's website, grouped by topic. Each definition is short and written in our own words from the Specialty Coffee Association, World Coffee Research and Wikipedia, listed under Sources. Where a Colorado roaster we list sells an example, we name it, checked on the roaster's own site on September 27, 2026. Terms with a full page of their own link to it.

The Colorado examples are here for a reason: the quickest way to learn these words is to taste them from roasters in your own state, and every bag bought from one keeps a small Colorado business going. Why local roasters matter.

Roast levels and roasting

Light roast

Coffee taken off the heat around or just after first crack. The beans stay light brown and dry, and the cup is lighter bodied and brighter, with more of the farm's flavor than the roaster's. Kaladi in Englewood sells its Ethiopia Yirgacheffe as a light roast. Light roast, in full.

Medium roast

Coffee roasted through first crack and stopped before second crack. Sugars caramelize further, acidity softens and the body fills out, with some roast flavor alongside the coffee's own. Peregrine in Westcliffe calls Timberline its flagship medium roast. Medium roast, in full.

Dark roast

Coffee roasted into or past second crack, when oils reach the surface and the beans turn shiny. The cup is full bodied and bittersweet, and roast flavor leads. Bindle in Fort Collins sells Jim's Dark Room as its signature dark roast. Dark roast, in full.

Espresso roast

A coffee chosen and roasted to be brewed as espresso. The name describes a purpose, and the roast level varies: Peregrine pulls a medium roast as its house espresso, while Dark Heart in Loveland pulls its darkest coffee. Espresso roast, in full.

White roast

Coffee roasted only briefly and stopped short of a standard light roast, so the beans stay pale. Wagon Coffee Roasters in Denver lists white as its own roast level, beside light, medium and dark, and sells one called Whiteout.

Cinnamon roast

An older name for a very light roast, stopped around first crack, when the beans are roughly the color of cinnamon. Wikipedia's roasting article lists it with American, New England and half city roast as names for the light end of the scale.

City roast

A traditional name for a roast carried through first crack into the medium range. City plus goes a little further. Wikipedia's roasting article lists city, city plus and full city as the traditional names for the medium range.

Full city roast

A traditional name for the dark end of medium, near but not into second crack. Wikipedia places full city plus, just past it, among the dark roasts, and bags that say medium dark sit around here.

Vienna roast

A traditional name for a roast taken just into second crack, with a little oil on the surface. Wikipedia's roasting article groups it with French and Italian roast among the dark roasts.

French roast

A dark roast taken well into second crack, with oily, near-black beans and a smoky, bittersweet cup where the roast outweighs the origin. Camp 4 Coffee in Crested Butte roasts Art of Darkness as a French roast of Sumatra and Costa Rica.

Italian roast

A traditional name for a dark roast, listed by Wikipedia with Vienna and French roast. Wikipedia's espresso article notes that southern Italy prefers darker roasts for espresso and the north slightly lighter ones.

First crack

The popping sound beans make when water inside turns to steam and splits them open, at about 196 °C (385 °F) according to Wikipedia. It marks the start of a very light roast, and every roast level is described relative to it.

Second crack

A second, quieter series of pops at about 224 °C (435 °F), when the bean's structure turns brittle and fractures. Oils rise to the surface around this point. Roasting past it moves a coffee firmly into dark roast.

Roast profile

A roaster's recipe for a coffee: how heat and time are applied through the roast, recorded as a graph of temperature against time, as Wikipedia describes. OZO in Boulder says it tunes a roast profile for each coffee it roasts.

Fluid bed roasting

Roasting with a stream of hot air that lifts and tumbles the beans, instead of a heated rotating drum. Kaladi Coffee Roasters roasts this way, following the hot air method of engineer Michael Sivetz, and says air roasting gives a better flavor.

Roast date

The day a bag was roasted, when the roaster prints it. Wikipedia's roasting article says roasted whole beans kept cool stay fresh for up to about a month, so the roast date tells you more than a best-by date.

Coffee styles

Single origin

Coffee from one place: one country, region, cooperative or farm, not mixed with coffee from elsewhere. The bag tells you where it grew, and on many bags who grew it. Sweet Bloom in Lakewood sells most of its single origins under the producer's name. See the single origin subscription.

Single origin, in full.

Blend

Coffees from two or more origins roasted and sold together, built by the roaster to taste a certain way bag after bag. Queen City's Belafonte, a double origin, is one; Camp 4's Sledgehammer mixes Sumatra, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Brazil.

Blend, in full.

House blend

A roaster's everyday blend, the coffee its cafes brew most. Switchback in Colorado Springs named its Institute Street House Blend for the street of its original cafe, and Conscious Coffees in Boulder calls its house blend Basecamp.

Espresso blend

A blend built to taste balanced as an espresso shot and under milk. Bindle's Sidekick Espresso combines Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ethiopia Limu, and Conscious Coffees' Mantecca blends Indonesian and Ethiopian coffees.

Decaf

Coffee with most of its caffeine removed before roasting. Wikipedia notes that United States standards require at least 97 per cent of the caffeine to be removed. For the methods, see Swiss Water, Mountain Water and sugarcane process below, and the decaf subscription.

Half caff

A blend of regular and decaffeinated coffee, so each cup carries less caffeine. Colorado has several: Queen City's Day Drinker, Pablo's Slow Roller, Conscious Coffees' False Summit and a half caf blend from Camp 4.

Microlot

A small, separately kept portion of a farm's harvest, from one plot, one picking or one processing batch, sold under its own name. Durango Coffee Company keeps a micro-lot category in its shop.

Seasonal blend

A blend a roaster sells for part of the year rather than all of it. Corvus in Denver sells Orchard Thief as a seasonal blend, OZO in Boulder sells Cozy Cabin, and Color Coffee Roasters in Eagle calls its seasonal blend Primary.

Flavored coffee

Roasted coffee with added flavoring such as vanilla or hazelnut. Tasting notes on an ordinary specialty bag are different: they describe flavors the coffee has on its own, with nothing added. Durango Coffee Company lists a flavored coffees category next to its single origins.

Instant coffee

Brewed coffee dried into a powder or crystals that dissolve in water. Several Colorado roasters sell one: OZO makes a freeze-dried instant from its own roasts, and Loyal, Huckleberry, Middle State and Dark Heart each sell an instant too.

Barrel-aged coffee

Green coffee rested in a used spirits or wine barrel before roasting, so it takes on some of the barrel's aroma. Peregrine in Westcliffe sells a barrel-aged coffee called Colomba's Cask.

Processing

Washed process

Also called wet process. The cherry's skin is removed, the sticky fruit layer is fermented or scrubbed off, the beans are washed, then dried. Wikipedia describes washed coffees as cleaner, brighter and lighter bodied. It uses the most water of the main methods.

Natural process

Also called dry process or unwashed. The whole cherry is dried in the sun with the bean inside, then hulled. It is the oldest method, and the cup runs fuller and fruitier. Dark Heart in Loveland sold three naturals at once when we checked. Natural process coffee, in full.

Honey process

Also called pulped natural. The skin comes off but some or all of the sticky mucilage stays on while the bean dries. Yellow, red and black honey keep progressively more. Durango Coffee Company sells a Red Honey from Las Lajas in Costa Rica. Honey process coffee, in full.

Anaerobic

Coffee fermented with oxygen shut out, in sealed bags, tanks or under carbon dioxide, which changes the microbes and the flavors they leave. Wagon in Denver featured an organic Honduras Anaerobic as a coffee of the month. Anaerobic coffee, in full.

Carbonic maceration

A fermentation method borrowed from winemaking: the coffee fruit ferments under carbon dioxide, which stops normal respiration and shifts the mix of microorganisms. Wikipedia describes a Thai trial where a semi-carbonic version outscored a pulped natural comparison.

Co-fermented coffee

Coffee fermented together with something added, such as fruit or a separate culture, during processing, to shape its flavor. Color Coffee Roasters in Eagle sells a honey processed co-ferment from Colombia in its Artist Reserve line.

Wet-hulled

Known in Indonesia as giling basah. The parchment is stripped while the bean is still wet, then the bean is dried, a response to rainy harvests. Wikipedia describes the cup as low in acidity and heavy in body, with spicy, earthy notes.

Fermentation

In coffee processing, the stage where microbes break down the sticky fruit layer around the bean. Wikipedia gives published times of about twelve to thirty-six hours for washed coffee, and warns that unwatched fermentation turns coffee sour. Changing it creates anaerobic and co-fermented lots.

Mucilage

The sticky, sugary layer of fruit between the cherry's skin and the bean's parchment. Washed processing removes it, honey processing leaves some or all of it on, and naturals dry with it inside the whole fruit.

Parchment

The thin papery hull around each coffee bean inside the cherry. Washed and honey coffees are dried in their parchment, which is then removed at the mill before export. Under it sits an even thinner silver skin.

Swiss Water Process

A decaffeination method using water and no added chemical solvent. Caffeine is filtered out of a coffee extract, and that caffeine-free extract then draws caffeine from the next batch of beans. Wikipedia dates it to 1988 in British Columbia. OZO, Kaladi and Camp 4 sell Swiss Water decaf.

Swiss Water Process, in full.

Mountain Water Process

A decaffeination method sold as a water process. Ampersand in Boulder sells an organic Mountain Water Process decaf, and Conscious Coffees' Downshift decaf, from Peru and Honduras cooperatives, carries a Mountain Water Process lot code.

Sugarcane decaf

Decaf made with ethyl acetate, which roasters label as sugarcane process. Wikipedia calls direct ethyl acetate extraction the commonest solvent method, sold as natural decaffeination. Switchback and Dark Heart both sell a sugarcane decaf from Colombia.

Washing station

A central wet mill where many small farmers bring their cherries to be sorted, pulped, fermented, washed and dried. Many Ethiopian lots carry a washing station's name: Danche appears at Huckleberry, Novo and Sweet Bloom.

Origins

Ethiopian coffee

Arabica from Ethiopia, where the plant grows wild in its native forests. Sold by region, such as Yirgacheffe, Sidama, Guji and Harar, washed or natural. At least 15 roasters we list sold one when we checked. Ethiopian coffee, in full.

Yirgacheffe

A coffee region in southern Ethiopia whose name Ethiopia has trademarked, counted within the wider Sidamo area. Colorado roasters selling a Yirgacheffe include Kaladi, Color, Conscious Coffees and Peregrine, and OZO's Banko Gotiti comes from there.

Sidama

A region of the Ethiopian highlands, also written Sidamo, grown at 1,500 to 2,200 meters. Wikipedia describes its coffee as balanced, with berry and citrus notes and bright acidity. Conscious Coffees sells a Sidama both natural and washed.

Guji

A southern Ethiopian coffee area that Wikipedia counts within Sidamo and lists among the country's best-known coffee names. Peregrine sells an Ethiopia Guji Kercha natural and Conscious Coffees an Ethiopia Guji natural.

Harar

A coffee from Ethiopia's eastern highlands, one of the oldest still produced. It is dry processed, sorted largely by hand, and described by Wikipedia as fruity and winey with medium acidity and full body.

Kenya coffee

Arabica from Kenya's central highlands, grown mostly by smallholders in cooperatives, known for intense flavor, full body and the SL28 and SL34 varieties. Seven roasters we list sold one when we checked. Kenya coffee, in full.

Colombian coffee

Coffee from Colombia, which Wikipedia describes as mild and well balanced. Colombia is the largest arabica producer, most of it grown in the coffee growing axis, and its coffee has protected designation of origin status in the European Union. Colorado shelves carry many.

Brazilian coffee

Coffee from Brazil, the world's largest producer, grown mainly in Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Espírito Santo. Most Brazilian arabica is natural processed. Wagon's Be The Wagon and Ampersand's Minas Gerais are Colorado examples.

Guatemalan coffee

Coffee from Guatemala, grown since the 1850s and long Central America's top producer. Huehuetenango is a well-known region: OZO sells a Huehuetenango lot and Conscious Coffees one from the Rio Azul cooperative there.

Costa Rican coffee

Coffee from Costa Rica, grown in provinces such as San José, Alajuela and Heredia. Wikipedia puts it at under 1 per cent of world production. Kaladi sells a Tarrazu from Hacienda La Minita, and Durango buys direct from Las Lajas.

Rwandan coffee

Arabica from Rwanda, first planted in the early 1900s. After 1994, Wikipedia notes, investment in washing stations and farmer training helped rebuild the industry. Sweet Bloom and Queen City both sold a Rwanda when we checked.

Sumatra

An Indonesian island where smallholders use wet hulling, which Wikipedia links to low acidity, heavy body and earthy notes. Camp 4 uses Sumatra in Sledgehammer and Art of Darkness, and Conscious Coffees sells a Sumatra Gayo.

Kona

Coffee grown on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the Kona districts of Hawaii's Big Island. Only coffee from those districts may be called Kona, and Wikipedia calls it one of the most expensive coffees. Wagon sells a 100% Kona.

Mocha (Yemen)

Coffee from Yemen, named for the port of Mokha, which shipped coffee from the 15th to 17th centuries. The word later became the name of a chocolate coffee drink. Kaladi sold a limited release Yemen Mokha Hiwari when we checked.

Bean basics

Arabica

Coffea arabica, the coffee species behind nearly all specialty coffee. Wikipedia says it was likely the first coffee species cultivated and grows wild in the forests of southern Ethiopia. It is the dominant species in world production.

Robusta

Coffea canephora, the second main coffee species. Wikipedia describes its beans as lower in acidity, more bitter, more woody and higher in caffeine than arabica. Most of it goes into instant coffee, and nearly all of it is dry processed.

Variety

A distinct type of coffee plant within a species, such as Bourbon, Typica or Geisha, each with its own yield, disease resistance and cup potential. World Coffee Research keeps a catalog of them. Bags sometimes say varietal for the same idea.

Geisha

Also Gesha. An arabica variety from Ethiopia's Gori Gesha forest, made famous by Panamanian farms at auction and known for floral, jasmine and tea-like flavors. Huckleberry, Peregrine and Wagon sold one when we checked. Geisha coffee, in full.

Bourbon

World Coffee Research calls it one of the most important arabica varieties. It is named for the island of Bourbon (now La Réunion), where French missionaries planted it from Yemen in the early 1700s. World Coffee Research rates its cup quality at high altitude as very good.

Typica

One of the oldest arabica varieties, carried from Ethiopia to Yemen, India and Java, and from there around the world. World Coffee Research notes very low production and high susceptibility to coffee leaf rust, but good cup quality.

Caturra

A natural mutation of Bourbon found in Brazil between 1915 and 1918. It grows compact, so farms can plant more trees closer together. World Coffee Research rates its quality potential as good and its leaf rust resistance as very low.

Pacas

A compact natural mutation of Bourbon found in 1949 on a farm of the Pacas family in El Salvador. Color Coffee Roasters sells a Honduras Natural Pacas from producer Mario Mejia.

SL28

An arabica variety selected in Kenya in the 1930s at the Scott Agricultural Laboratories. World Coffee Research rates its cup quality potential at high altitude as exceptional. It now grows in Latin America too: Peregrine sells an SL28 natural from El Salvador.

SL34

A Kenyan variety selected in the late 1930s from a single tree on the Loresho Estate in Kabete. World Coffee Research rates its cup quality as exceptional but notes it is highly susceptible to coffee berry disease.

Peaberry

A bean from a cherry where only one seed developed, so it grows round instead of flat on one side. Wikipedia puts peaberries at around 5 per cent of the harvest and links them with Tanzania and Kona.

Coffee cherry

The fruit of the coffee plant, ripening bright red to purple, which holds two seeds: the coffee beans. Processing is everything done to get the beans out of the cherry and dry them.

Green coffee

Unroasted coffee beans, the form coffee is traded and shipped in. Wikipedia notes green coffee keeps far better than roasted, which is why coffee is roasted close to where it is drunk. Conscious Coffees sells organic green coffee to home roasters.

Whole bean coffee

Roasted coffee sold unground, to be ground just before brewing. Wikipedia's roasting article says ground coffee is best used right away while whole beans stay fresh far longer, which is the case for grinding at home.

Whole bean coffee, in full.

Ground coffee

Coffee ground by the roaster before it ships, ready for a given brewer. It is convenient but goes stale faster than whole bean. Camp 4 grinds its 1 lb bags to order.

Degassing

Roasted coffee releasing carbon dioxide formed during roasting. Wikipedia notes that bags with one-way valves let the gas escape without letting air in. The same gas helps form crema on an espresso.

AA grade

A size grade, used for Kenyan and Tanzanian coffee among others. Wikipedia explains that green coffee is sorted over screens by bean size and grades are written as numbers or as letters such as AA. Pablo's sells a Kenya Kiambu Ndumberri AA and a Tanzania AA.

Brewing

Pour over

Brewing by hand, pouring hot water over ground coffee in a filter cone so it drips through into a cup or carafe. Wikipedia treats it as the manual form of drip coffee. The pour speed and grind are the brewer's to control.

Drip coffee

Coffee made by letting hot water seep through ground coffee and a filter, by machine or by hand. Wikipedia notes that the used grounds stay in the filter while the brewed coffee collects in a carafe or pot below. Automatic coffee machines and hand pour overs both work this way.

French press

A brewer where coffee steeps in hot water for a few minutes, then a mesh plunger presses the grounds to the bottom. Wikipedia notes it is compact and portable, a camping favorite, which suits a Colorado trailhead.

AeroPress

A manual brewer invented by Alan Adler: coffee steeps in a cylinder, then a plunger pushes it through a paper or mesh filter. The pressure lets it brew a concentrated shot or a regular cup. Sweet Bloom's founder won the 2013 U.S. AeroPress Championship.

Chemex

An hourglass-shaped glass pour-over brewer invented by Peter Schlumbohm in 1941 and made in Chicopee, Massachusetts, used with a thick paper filter. Wikipedia notes it is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Moka pot

A stovetop brewer that pushes hot water up through ground coffee using steam pressure, making a strong, concentrated coffee. It is named for the Yemeni port of Mokha and was popularized in Italy by Alfonso Bialetti from 1933.

Cold brew

Coarse ground coffee steeped in room temperature or cold water for 12 to 24 hours, then filtered into a concentrate you dilute with water or milk. Novo and Dark Heart both roast a blend for it.

Brew ratio

The weight of coffee to the weight of water in a brew, written as a ratio. Changing it changes strength. Weighing both, rather than scooping, is the simplest way to make the same cup twice.

Bloom

The first small pour of hot water over fresh grounds, which makes them swell and bubble as carbon dioxide escapes. Brewers wait a short time before pouring the rest so the gas does not push water away from the coffee.

Grind size

How fine or coarse coffee is ground. Espresso needs a fine grind, drip a medium one, and French press and cold brew a coarse one. A grind that is too fine or too coarse for the brewer throws off the cup.

Extraction

How much of the coffee's soluble material the water dissolves during brewing. Too little tastes sour and thin; too much tastes bitter and dry. Boxcar in Boulder says learning to brew at altitude pushed its founder to study extraction.

High-altitude brewing

Brewing where water boils below 212 °F. Wikipedia's page on high-altitude cooking says boiling point drops about 1 °F for every 500 feet, to about 198 °F at 8,000 feet. Boxcar developed its own brewing method, the Boilermakr, around the problem.

Cafe drinks

Espresso

A concentrated coffee made by forcing hot water under high pressure through finely ground coffee. Wikipedia gives a serving of about 25 to 30 ml pulled in about 25 to 30 seconds. It is the base of most cafe drinks.

Crema

The layer of fine, tan foam on top of an espresso. Wikipedia explains it forms when water under high pressure dissolves carbon dioxide made during roasting, and that Gaggia's machines of the 1940s marketed espresso as crema caffè because of it.

Ristretto

A short espresso, pulled with the same amount of coffee but less water, about half the volume of a normal shot by Wikipedia's account. The article notes that exact sizes and proportions vary from cafe to cafe.

Lungo

A long espresso, pulled with more water, about double to triple the volume of a normal shot. It is not the same as an americano, where water is added after the shot.

Doppio

A double espresso, made with about 14 grams of ground coffee. Wikipedia notes that a true single is rare in cafes, where a single espresso is half of a doppio.

Americano

An espresso topped up with hot water, at about 1 part espresso to 3 or 4 parts water by Wikipedia's account. It keeps espresso's flavor in a longer, lighter drink.

Macchiato

An espresso marked with a spot of milk, most of the time foamed. Macchiato means stained or spotted in Italian. It has the highest ratio of espresso to milk of the milk drinks.

Cortado

A Spanish drink of espresso with about the same amount of warm milk, steamed but not frothy. The name comes from cortar, to cut. Wikipedia notes it is served all over Spain and that the ratio varies by region.

Cappuccino

Espresso with steamed milk and a thick layer of foam, smaller than a latte and topped with thick macrofoam rather than fine microfoam. Wikipedia traces the name to the Capuchin friars and the color of their habits.

Flat white

Espresso with steamed milk and only a thin layer of microfoam, with more espresso to milk than a latte. Cafe owners in Australia and New Zealand both claim to have invented it.

Latte

One or more shots of espresso with plenty of steamed milk and no thick foam cap, in a larger cup than a cappuccino. Blue Sparrow in Denver pours its Headliner Espresso across its milk drinks.

Mocha

A latte with chocolate added, also called a mocaccino. Wikipedia notes it is commonly served warm in a glass. The name comes from the Yemeni port of Mokha, an early center of the coffee trade.

Nitro cold brew

Cold brew served from a tap infused with nitrogen, which gives it a creamy texture and a foamy head like a stout. Blue Sparrow in Denver lists nitro cold brew on its menu.

Trade and sourcing terms

Specialty coffee

Coffee valued for distinctive quality. Wikipedia gives the long-used definition: 80 points or more on the Specialty Coffee Association's 100-point cupping form. The SCA now describes it more broadly, as coffee people find special for its flavor, its story or its sourcing.

Third wave

A term for the coffee movement that treats coffee like a craft product, with a focus on quality, single-origin farms and lighter roasts. Wikipedia credits the term to writing in 1999 and 2003.

Direct trade

Buying coffee through a direct relationship with the farmer or producer group. Wikipedia notes there is no single standard, so it means what each roaster says it means. Durango Coffee Company buys direct trade lots from Las Lajas in Costa Rica.

Fair trade

Coffee certified to fair-trade standards, which set better trading conditions for farmers and ban child and forced labor. Ampersand in Boulder launched as a 100 percent Fair Trade and organic roaster.

Organic

Coffee certified as grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Conscious Coffees' whole lineup is organic. Dark Heart says all its coffee comes from farms that meet organic standards, though some small farms cannot afford certification.

Bird Friendly

A Smithsonian certification for shade-grown coffee that keeps habitat for birds. Ampersand in Boulder sells Bird Friendly coffees, including a Peru that also carries the Regenerative Organic label, and Kaladi keeps a Bird Friendly category in its shop.

Rainforest Alliance

A sustainability certification covering farm practices, workers and the environment. Like other certifications, it describes how the coffee was grown, not how it was roasted. OZO in Boulder says many of its lots carry Organic, Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance certification.

Regenerative Organic Certified

A certification that adds soil health, animal welfare and farmworker fairness to organic standards. Ampersand in Boulder sells coffees from Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Nicaragua with this label, including the Colombia it calls its darkest coffee.

B Corporation

A certification for companies that meet standards for social and environmental performance across the whole business, not one product. Because it certifies the company, it covers everything from sourcing to how staff are treated. Conscious Coffees in Boulder is a certified B Corporation.

Cooperative

A group of farmers who pool processing, milling and selling. Kenya's industry is built on them, and Conscious Coffees has bought from cooperatives such as Maya Vinic in Chiapas since 2001.

Q Grader

A coffee taster certified to grade and score coffee to a shared standard. Wikipedia's cupping article names Q Graders as the professionals who cup, and the SCA's physical assessment includes a practical exam within the Q Grader course.

Tasting

Cupping

The standard way to taste coffee side by side: hot water poured over grounds in bowls, a deep sniff, then a loud slurp from a spoon. Peregrine cups every batch, and Middle State aims to carry what it finds on the cupping table into the cup.

Coffee Value Assessment

The Specialty Coffee Association's system for evaluating coffee, built from four parts: physical, descriptive, affective and extrinsic assessment. It records a coffee's attributes rather than relying on a single score.

Acidity

The bright, tangy quality in coffee, like biting an orange, by Wikipedia's cupping description. Wikipedia's roasting article describes it as highest in light roasts and muted by darker roasting, and its Ethiopia article calls Sidamo coffee's acidity bright and crisp.

Body

The weight and texture of coffee in the mouth, from thin and tea-like to heavy and syrupy. Dark roasts, naturals and wet-hulled coffees run heavier; washed light roasts run lighter.

Sweetness

The sense of sugar in black coffee. Wikipedia's roasting article explains that sugars in the green bean caramelize during roasting, which is where caramel notes come from. Cuppers note sweetness as its own attribute, according to its cupping article.

Aftertaste

Also called finish. The flavor that stays after you swallow, one of the attributes cuppers record alongside body, sweetness, acidity and flavor. Wikipedia's roasting article notes that dark roast flavors linger on the tongue longer than light roast flavors.

Aroma

The smell of brewed coffee, the first thing a cupper records after a deep sniff. Fragrance is the smell of the dry grounds before water goes in. Wikipedia's cupping article lists a whole vocabulary of aroma descriptors, from ashy to animal-like.

Tasting notes

The flavors a roaster prints on the bag, such as chocolate, citrus or berry. They describe what the coffee resembles; nothing is added. Our packing slip carries the roaster's tasting notes with every bag.

Bitterness

A sharp, lingering taste. Wikipedia describes robusta as more bitter than arabica and dark roasts as bittersweet, so bitterness rises with both. Brewing too long or too fine pulls more of it into the cup.

Sources

Definitions are written in our own words. Colorado examples come from the roasters' own pages as summarized on our roaster profiles, checked on September 27, 2026. They are local favorites we list; a listing does not mean the roaster is part of the club.

By Joe McRose, Fourteener Coffee Club. Updated September 2026.