The Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene

Whole bean coffee tastes best within the first week after it’s roasted. If it’s ground, coffee goes stale quite fast. After it is ground keep it in an air-tight container, in a cupboard or pantry, away from heat, moisture or direct sunlight. Do not store your coffee in the fridge or freezer it will reduce the quality of the roast and evaporate the oils that contain most of the roast’s flavour.

A stainless steel container used in conjunction with the steam wand to make frothed milk.

Author’s note:
The best steaming pitcher are small containers where one drink is made per container. This will cut down on cost but also to stylize the drink by customer request.

A pipe stem connecting to the top of an espresso machine that is used to provide the steam for frothing milk.

An excessively sharp, biting and unpleasant flavour (For example, vinegar or acetic acid). Soury flavours are sometimes associated with the aroma of fermented coffee. A sour taste is caused by overripe or already fermenting cherries, or by improper fermentation where yeasts and alcohol form vinegar-like acids. Soury flavours are often confused with acidity, which is the slightly tangy sensation associated with light-roasted coffee flavours.

Any espresso drink made with non-fat milk. For example, a skinny latte is a latte made with non-fat milk.

Unblended coffee from a growing region or plantation.

Author’s note:
Single origin can be considered less complex of a roast and tends to be strong to one type of flavour, hence the term single origin.

Author’s note: I don’t currently have a proper description or measurement for a single shot of espresso. Please take this definition with a grain of salt until the redesign.

A serving of espresso is approximately 1 oz. Shots pulled short are less than 1 oz. Shots pulled long are more than 1 oz.

A cup of drip coffee with one or two shots of espresso added. Is also known as a Red Eye.

Shade-grown coffee refers to coffee grown under a canopy of trees. Many of the coffee farms in Latin America have clear cut property of foliage to increase production. Shade grown is the traditional farming method. For generations, coffee shrubs have been planted in the shade of tall trees.

Roasted coffee with burn marks caused by roasting it too hot. Scorched beans may look completely roasted, but are likely to have soury uneven flavour.