The Cooking Inn : Coffee Terminology S PageSelect an item from the list to go to it's site
Salt:
A basic taste characterized by solutions of chlorides, bromides,
iodides, nitrates, and sulfates of potassium and lithium.
Scorched:
A odor taint that gives the coffee brew a slight aftertaste of
phenolic and pyridine character with an underdevelopment of the
caramelization of compounds. Result of applying too much heat and
charring the surface of the bean during the roasting process.
Secondary Coffee Taste Sensations:
Piquant to nippy, mild to delicate, tangy to tart, soft to neutral,
rough to astringent, hard to acrid.
Sharp:
A primary coffee taste sensation created as acids in the coffee
combine with salts to increase the overall saltiness. Characteristic
found most often in unwashed robusta coffee. Sharp coffee ranges from
rough to astringent.
Smooth:
A moderately low level of oily material suspended in the coffee
beverage. Result of fats in the beans present in perceptible amounts.
Soft:
A secondary coffee taste sensation characterized by an absence of
any predominant taste sensation on any part of the tongue, except for
subtle dryness. Caused by a concentration of salts high enough to
neutralize the acids but not high enough to neutralize the sugars.
Typified by washed arabica coffee from Santos, Brazil.
Soft-Sweet:
A pleasant clean taste. Denotes a smooth cup free of any foreign
flavors. applies particularly to Brazilian coffee.
Sound Cup:
A coffee with no particular positive characteristic and without
negative characteristics.
Sour:
A basic taste characterized by solutions of tartaric acid, citric
acid, or malic acid. The unpleasant acidity of a sour coffee cannot be
confused with the natural acidity of some coffees in which this quality
is prized. Perceived at the tip of the tongue.
Soury:
A primary coffee taste sensation created as acids in the coffee
combine with salts to increase overall saltiness. Characteristic found
most often in unwashed robusta coffees. Soury ranges from hard to acrid.
Spicy:
An aromatic sensation created by a slightly volatile set of
hydrocarbon compounds in coffee's aftertaste that produces sensations
reminiscent of either wood-spice (Cinnamon) or wood-seed (Clove).
Stale:
A taste fault that gives the coffee brew an unpleasant taste. Result
of moisture and oxygen penetrating the bean fiber and adversely
affecting the organic material that remains in the coffee bean,
occurring in the staling process after roasting.
Stewed:
A taste of coffee infusion that has been heated after cooling and
lost its initial aroma.
Stinker:
A coffee with no particular positive characteristics and without
negative characteristics.
Strawy:
A taste taint that gives the coffee bean a distinct hay-like
character. Result of the loss of organic material from the green coffee
beans while in storage, occurring in the aging process after harvesting.
Strong:
Coffee giving a pungent impression in the cup, rich in flavor.
Developed by roasting or having a consistent mouthfeel.
Sweaty:
A coffee probably fading to faded, that has been stored for some
time in less-than-ideal conditions and results in a distinct sweaty
taste.
Sweet:
A basic taste characterized by solutions of sugars (sucrose and
glucose), alcohols, glycols, and some amino acids. perceived primarily
by the tip of the tongue. A trade term to describe coffee free from
harshness of Rio flavor or any form of damage.
Sweetly Floral:
An aromatic sensation created by a highly volatile set of aldehydes
and esters that produce sweet fragrance sensations reminiscent of a
flower.
Sweetly Spicy:
An aromatic sensation created by a highly volatile set of aldehydes
and esters that produce a spicy fragrance sensations reminiscent of a
sweet spice.
Sultana Coffee:
The dried husks of the coffee cherry.
Supplemental Coffee Taste Sensations:
Common to dark roast coffees that are pungent due to bitter
replacing a sweet in the taste modulation ranging form creosol to
alkaline.