How to Talk About Coffee

Note: This is an informational guide.

Coffee has developed a specific vocabulary — words and phrases that, used correctly, signal insider knowledge and, used incorrectly, signal the opposite. The good news is that the vocabulary is small, the concepts behind it are genuinely interesting, and ten minutes of reading this article is enough to use it credibly.

The Words That Matter Most

Extraction

Extraction is what happens when hot water passes through ground coffee and dissolves the flavour compounds out of it. Good extraction means the right amount of the right compounds have been dissolved. Under-extraction (not enough) tastes sour and thin. Over-extraction (too much) tastes bitter and harsh. Everything in espresso technique is about hitting the extraction sweet spot.

How to use it: “This tastes a bit over-extracted to me — slightly bitter on the finish.” You will sound like someone who knows exactly what they’re talking about.

Dialling In

The process of adjusting your grinder and technique to achieve the correct extraction for a specific coffee. Every time you change your beans — new bag, new origin, new roaster — you need to dial in again. It is the thing serious home espresso people spend a lot of time on and enjoy talking about.

Single Origin vs Blend

Single origin coffee comes from one specific farm, cooperative or region. A blend combines coffee from multiple origins to achieve a consistent, balanced flavour. Neither is inherently better — they serve different purposes. Single origins are interesting because they showcase specific terroir and processing. Blends are consistent and often better for milk drinks because they’re designed to balance with milk.

Terroir

Borrowed from wine, terroir refers to the environmental conditions — altitude, soil, climate, rainfall — that affect how a coffee tastes. High-altitude Ethiopian coffee from volcanic soil tastes different from low-altitude Brazilian coffee from flat plains, and terroir is why. Knowing this word and using it correctly is an instant credibility marker.

Processing / Process

After coffee cherries are picked, the bean inside needs to be separated from the fruit. How this is done — washed (fruit removed quickly), natural (dried with fruit on), or honey (partial fruit removal) — profoundly affects the flavour. Natural processed coffees taste fruity and complex. Washed coffees taste cleaner and more consistent.

Cupping

The professional method for tasting and evaluating coffee — slurping it from a spoon in a specific way to aerate it across all the taste receptors. You probably don’t need to cup coffee at home, but knowing the term and that it exists signals serious engagement with the subject.

Flavour Vocabulary That Sounds Natural

Coffee tasting notes can be intimidating — how can someone taste “bergamot and dried apricot” in a cup? The answer is that you can’t always, and nobody expects you to. But having flavour language that goes beyond “nice” and “a bit strong” is genuinely useful.

• Bright — lively, pleasant acidity. Not sharp or sour — vibrant. “This has a lovely brightness.”
• Body — the weight and texture of coffee in your mouth. Heavy body feels thick and coating; light body feels more like water. “Good body on this one.”
• Finish — what you taste after you swallow. “Long finish” means the flavour lingers pleasantly. “Clean finish” means it disappears quickly and leaves nothing unpleasant.
• Complexity — the sense that there is more than one flavour happening, that it changes as you drink it. “There’s a lot of complexity here — I’m getting chocolate up front and something fruity on the finish.”
• Balanced — the highest compliment for an everyday coffee. Means nothing is overdone. “It’s just really well balanced — nothing fighting for attention.”

What Not to Say

• “It just tastes like coffee to me” — this closes the conversation and sounds incurious
• “I can’t really taste the difference” — even if true, this is not interesting to say to someone who can
• “I prefer it stronger” — strength is a function of how much coffee you use, not how dark it’s roasted. Dark roast does not equal more caffeine.
• “Is this fair trade?” — not wrong to ask, but it signals you’re more interested in ethics than flavour, which is fine but not the signal of coffee expertise