Dark Horse Coffee - Dark Horse Coffee

Confused when you go into a coffee shop and want to order a drink? Or when you hear people and experts talk coffee? Below are a few explanations of some of the most common terminologies you will often hear. Study these and impress your friends.

Arabica: A type of coffee, named by the first coffee nation, the Arabs - this is the type of coffee mostly used in good coffee shops especially for making espresso based drinks.

Blend: Coffees from different regions blended together to create a “blend” of coffee. Sometimes there can be up to 9 different types of coffees in one blend.

Bourbon: A type of arabica species, more commonly found in South America, especially in Brazil.

Coffee: Coffee is like a cherry fruit and usually has two seeds inside a cherry type plant.

Mocha: Traditionally coffee from the Yemen city of Mocha, which has chocolate tones.

Peaberry : The presence of a single bean as opposed to double bean inside a coffee cherry fruit.

Robusta: A type of coffee, more commonly used to produce instant coffee and inferior in taste and quality to Arabica. Robusta actually has more caffeine in it than the high quality Arabica used in cafes. Robusta coffee beans tend to be smaller then arabica ones.

Single Estate: Coffee from one “estate” or from a region in a country and not mixed with any other coffee blends.

Barista: Literally a barman, but in coffee, it means the expert that prepares coffee.

Crema: The appearance of a dark/reddish brown thick foam with tiny bubbles on top of a freshly brewed espresso.

Cupping: The art of tasting different types of coffees, usually done by experts before they order their coffees, but coffee clubs now organise cupping sessions.

Double Shot: The presence of a double shot of espresso in your cappuccino or latte. You might want a double shot if you prefer your milk based coffee drink stronger.

Flavourings: Flavour syrup like vanilla, almond, caramel, amaretto - usually it is best to have your coffee flavoured with the type of tastes you find in good coffees.

God shot: What baristas or espresso experts aim for - the perfect espresso - a shot of espresso so good that it must have been blessed by God.

Micro-Foam: The appearance of very tiny milk bubbles on top of properly frothed milk. You need micro-foam for latte art.

Rosetta: The appearance of the shape of a rosetta flower on top of your caffe latte or cappuccino due to the way the frothed milk has been poured into your cup.

Tamper: Usually a stainless steel device used to press coffee grounds firmly into the portafilter when preparing to brew an espresso shot.

The Five M’s: This stands for; Mescla (coffee type or blend), Machina (the type of coffee machine), Machinadosatore (the grinder that grinds the coffee), Mesura (the grammes of coffee used per espresso shot) and Mano (the hand of the barista) - the five M’s are what Italians use to judge a cafe and the quality of coffee it produces.

Affogato: An espresso drink with a scoop of ice cream inside. Sometimes served as a dessert in restaurants and usually offered during summer.

Americano: An espresso drink made with one part espresso and 3 parts of hot water.

Brauner: Austrian version of an espresso, prepared with coffee grounds not as finely ground as an Italian espresso, and served with cream.

Cafe au Lait: Strong coffee traditionally made with a cafetiere and mixed with equal parts steamed milk and poured at the same time into the cup.

Caffe Freddo: The Italian name for a cold iced version of a milk based espresso drink like a cappuccino or latte, more commonly known as a frappuccino.

Caffe Latte: Traditionally an espresso mixed with 3 times it’s size of steamed milk.

Cappuccino: An espresso mixed with equal parts of steamed and frothed milk (1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk and 1/3 froth milk).

Espresso: In general, seven grams of freshly ground Arabica coffee, tamped with 30 pounds or pressure, ground to a precision and brewed at 93C (195 F) with 9 Bars of pressure on an espresso machine that allows about 45ml (1.5 US fl ounce) of coffee to drip through into a cup in about 23-25 seconds, resulting in dark coffee with crema on top.

Espresso Con Panna: An espresso topped with a dessert spoon of whipped cream.

Frappuccino: A cappuccino prepared with ice cubes and blended to produce a crushed ice version of a cappuccino.

Latte Macchiato: The opposite of an espresso macchiato, so a steamed and frothed milk drink “stained” with a shot or two of espresso. You pour the milk drink first into the cup and then pour the espresso into the tall cup.

Macchiato: Also known as espresso macchiato. Macchiato means stained with, so it is a shot of espresso stained with a spoon of frothed milk.

Mocha: also known as Caffe Mocha - an espresso milk based drink made usually with chocolate flavouring like a chocolate syrup or with hot chocolate powder. A mocha is like a cappuccino flavoured with with chocolate.

Ristretto: Italian for “restricted” and in coffee terminology. A ristretto is made with the same amount of coffee as for an espresso but the brewing time is much shorter and if made properly, it should taste sweeter as all the good sweet tones of the coffee are extracted within the first 15 seconds of brewing time.

Wiener Melange: An Austrian version of a cappuccino but served with whipped cream.