Vocabulary, certifications, industry actors

26 expert answers. Click any question for the full answer. — 26 questions.

• What is basic barista vocabulary?

  Barista vocabulary is a precise technical lexicon centred on espresso extraction. Three terms sit at its core: dose (mass of ground coffee loaded into the portafilter, in grams), yield (mass of the liquid in the cup) and channeling (the extraction fault where water carves a preferential path). Toget

• What is the Bird Friendly coffee label?

  Bird Friendly is the most rigorous sustainability certification in the coffee world for biodiversity. Created by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) in the United States, it certifies coffees grown under diverse natural shade — a tree canopy of at least 40% coverage and 11 metres minimum he

• What is a coffee blend?

  A coffee blend is an assembly of beans from two or more different geographic origins, crafted by a roaster to create a coherent, stable and reproducible aromatic profile from one season to the next. Unlike single origin coffees which celebrate the uniqueness of a terroir and harvest, a blend seeks b

• What is a lot or microlot in coffee?

  A coffee lot is a homogeneous quantity of green coffee from the same origin, processed identically and presenting a coherent sensory profile. A microlot is a very small lot — generally fewer than 20 bags of 60kg (less than 1.2 tonnes) — from a specific plot, selective harvest or experimental process

• What is the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI)?

  The Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) is an American non-profit organisation founded in 1996 whose primary mission is to improve coffee quality and the lives of the people involved in its production. The CQI is best known for its Q Grader programme — the world's most recognised professional coffee tast

• What is the Cup of Excellence?

  Cup of Excellence (COE) is the most rigorous international green-coffee quality competition, launched in 1999 in Brazil and now run by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence. Winning lots — all blind-scored above 86 points by an international jury — are then auctioned online, often at record-setting pri

• What does dialing in mean in espresso?

  Dialing in refers to the iterative adjustment process of all espresso preparation parameters — primarily grind size, dose, water-to-coffee ratio and extraction time — to achieve the optimal sensory profile of a given coffee on a given machine and grinder. It is a daily practice in specialty coffee b

• What is direct trade in coffee?

  Direct trade is a specialty-coffee sourcing model in which roasters negotiate straight with producers or cooperatives — with as few intermediaries as possible — on the basis of cup quality. There is no single label; rather, a cluster of practices (origin visits, transparent prices above the market,

• What is the Fair Trade label?

  Fairtrade (certified fair trade) is a certification system born in 1988 in the Netherlands with the Max Havelaar label, federated since 1997 under Fairtrade International (FLO). It guarantees producers a floor price, a cooperative development premium and audited social and environmental standards —

• What is the International Coffee Organization (ICO)?

  The International Coffee Organization (ICO) is the intergovernmental body created in 1963 under the United Nations to administer international coffee agreements. It brings together the governments of coffee-producing and consuming countries, collects and publishes global production, export and consu

• What is organic coffee certification?

  Organic coffee certification guarantees that coffee was grown without synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilisers, herbicides or GMOs. In Europe, the reference framework is EU Regulation 2018/848 on organic production; in the United States, it is the USDA Organic standard. A certified organic coffee

• What is a Q-grader?

  A Q-grader is a professional coffee taster certified by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), the American non-profit that created the credential in 2004. Q-graders master the standardised SCA sensory protocol for Arabica coffee and are the only licensed assessors whose 100-point cupping scores — incl

• What is Rainforest Alliance certification?

  Rainforest Alliance is an international NGO founded in 1987 in New York, whose coffee certification — recognised by its green frog logo — guarantees farming practices that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. In 2018 Rainforest Alliance merged with UTZ, another major sustainab

• What is relationship coffee?

  Relationship coffee describes a form of coffee sourcing in which the roaster (or importer) maintains a direct, lasting and evolving relationship with the producer — beyond a simple commercial transaction. Unlike direct trade, which focuses on buying without intermediaries, relationship coffee emphas

• What is an SCA cupping scoring sheet?

  The SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) scoring sheet is the standardised evaluation form used during cupping to score a coffee out of 100 points. It contains 10 sensory attributes, each scored out of 10: fragrance/aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, uniformity, clean cup, sweetness a

• What does single origin mean in coffee?

  A single origin coffee is one whose beans all come from the same identified geographic source: a country, region, cooperative, farm or even a specific plot. It is the opposite of a blend, which mixes coffees from several origins. The term single origin is a traceability commitment: the buyer knows w

• What is the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)?

  The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is the international non-profit trade body for specialty coffee, formed in 2017 by merging the American SCAA (founded 1982) with the European SCAE (founded 1998). It authors the cupping protocols, technical standards and certification programmes that roasters,

• What is third wave coffee?

  Third wave coffee is a movement born in the early 2000s in the United States that treats coffee as an agricultural product of origin, much like fine wine or craft chocolate. Its hallmarks are farm-level traceability, lighter roasts that let terroir speak, precise brewing methods and a professionalis

• What is the UTZ label and is it still relevant?

  UTZ was a Dutch agricultural sustainability label founded in 1997, specialising in coffee, cocoa and tea. In 2018, UTZ merged with Rainforest Alliance to create a unified new Rainforest Alliance label, active since 2020. The UTZ label as such no longer exists — but its standards and database of cert

• What does 'Controlled Fermentation' mean in professional coffee terminology?

  In professional coffee vocabulary, 'controlled fermentation' refers to a post-harvest process in which fermentation is rigorously managed — duration, temperature, pH, and microbial populations are continuously measured and adjusted. This precision allows the aromatic profile of the coffee to be stee

• What is a barista?

  A barista is a coffee professional specialised in preparing and serving coffee — primarily on espresso machines but also across manual filter methods. The word comes from the Italian barista (the person behind the bar) and, in today's specialty world, refers to a technical craft supported by SCA cer

• What is an Authorized SCA Trainer (AST)?

  An Authorized SCA Trainer (AST) is an instructor accredited by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) to officially teach Coffee Skills Program (CSP) modules. This annually renewable accreditation identifies professionals qualified to transmit international specialty coffee standards — from introduc

• What is the Coffee Green Book or Arabica Green Coffee Defect Handbook?

  The Arabica Green Coffee Defect Handbook — commonly called the Coffee Green Book — is the global reference manual published by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) for identifying and classifying defects in green arabica coffee. It defines two defect categories (primary and secondary), counting eq

• What is WCE (World Coffee Events)?

  WCE (World Coffee Events) is the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) entity dedicated to organizing global coffee competitions. It oversees the industry's most influential championships — World Barista Championship, World Brewers Cup, World Latte Art Championship, and others — and sets the rules that

• What is the World Barista Championship?

  The World Barista Championship (WBC) is the annual global barista competition, held since 2000 under the Specialty Coffee Association. Within a strict 15-minute routine, each competitor serves four espressos, four milk beverages and four signature drinks to an international panel of sensory, technic

• What is the World Brewers Cup (WBrC)?

  The World Brewers Cup (WBrC) is the annual global manual-filter coffee competition organised by World Coffee Events (WCE), the competition arm of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). Competitors prepare filter coffees (V60, Chemex, Aeropress, Kalita, or any manual method) in front of a panel of c