Coffee Glossary

The common name for Coffea eugenioides, an ancient East African coffee plant believed to have produced the modern Arabica plant. The plant is tricky to grow and produces a small yield. In the cup, eugenioides is distinguished by its low acidity and bitterness, and it can vary greatly in flavor from farm to farm or plot to plot.

A coffee sorting standard that allows for a maximum of 8 primary defects per 300 grams in a screen size of 15+.

A rare, controversial, pest-and-disease-resistant and coffee reclassified as a variety of Liberica in the early 2000s but believed by some to be its own species. Excelsa coffee originated in Central Africa and accounts for only about 1% of the world’s coffee. When roasted with care, Excelsa can offer up notes of peanut butter, cocoa, and dried fruit in the cup.

The process of shipping coffee from the producing country to the consuming market, typically after dry milling and sorting.

Extraction is the process of dissolving soluble compounds from ground coffee into water

The price paid to coffee farmers for their crop, before transportation, processing, or export costs are added.

The chemical (microbial) process during which sugars in the mucilage of the coffee cherry are broken down, shaping the flavor of the beans.

Nutrients added to the soil to produce healthier, higher-yield coffee harvests. Which type of fertilizer is used in coffee planting will impact its certification e,g. Organic.

Led by coffee producers/processors, floating is the process of submerging harvested coffee cherries in water to separate ripe cherries (which sink) from underripe or defective ones (which float — called “floaters” in industry parlance).

FOB is an international trade term indicating that the seller (FOB Destination) is responsible for delivering coffee to the shipping vessel, and the buyer (FOB Origin) assumes responsibility once the beans are loaded.