About Coffee - information you need to 'smoke' your way in cafe

There are basically two types of coffee bean

Arabica - grown at higher altitude, lower caffeine, more acidity, more expensive.
Robusta - grown at lower altitude, higher caffeine, more bitter and full bodied, cheaper.
'Blend' - When you see the word blend, it usually means that the coffee powder is made of both types of coffee bean.

Different types of preparations

There are 3 main types of making coffee:
plunger - coffee powder is soaked and pour off with a filter.


drip - coffee is placed on the filter and hot water is poured, - coffee drips.



espresso- hot water forced under pressure through finely grounded coffee.

What's in the menu?

Espresso - simply a shot ( small cup ) of espresso.

Americano - espresso with hot water, or simply diluted espresso.

Macchiato (Italian word for marked) - espresso with a teaspoon of milk (not steamed milk though) and a smalll 'spot' of foam.

Cappuccino - 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 froth.

Cafe Latte ( Latte -Italian word for milk) - 1/3 espresson, about 1cm of froth, about 2/3 ( steamed milk)

Cafe Au Liat (Au Liat - French for with milk) - similar to latte.

Mocha - latte ( 1/3 espresso, 2/3 steamed milk) with a chocolate syrup.

In Australia or New Zealand, it is common to see descriptions such as flat white, long black.

Long Black - double shot of espresso with hot water. Stronger version of Americano.

Flat White - rather similar to latte but usually does not hold froth. 1/3 espresso, 2/3 steamed milk)

Frappuccino - a registered trademark of Starbucks. (frappé in italian means milkshake) . Usuall refers to ice blended beverage. Coffee bean and Tea leaf also have their series of ice blended drink.


There are of course tons of permutation , some with local flavours - moccaccino, teh-cinno, milo-cinno ...

Describing your coffee drink

There are times when you need to describe your coffee drink. Here is the 2As and 1B guide in describing your coffee:

Acidity - A tart, tangy taste experienced mainly on the tip and side of the tongue. Acids in the coffee combines with the sugar your have added to create this kind of sweetness. It should be refreshing; if not, you can describe it as sour.

Aroma -Smell of the coffee. When it lacks aroma, due to insufficient roast, you can describe it as beany.

Body - thickness, heaviness, richness of a coffee. Bitter - Tasted at the back of your tongue. Dark roast coffee are intentionally bitter. But over extraction can cause bitterness too.