Glossary of Espresso and Coffee terminology
Burrs
The part of the grinder that does the grinding. Burrs are either a cone and collar or a pair of flat discs that break down coffee beans in stages resulting in a relatively evenly ground coffee.
Dialing In
The process of narrowing in on the ideal parameters to extract a given coffee. This involves determining the dose and yield (ratio) as well as shot time, PI time, and any profiling. This can sometimes feel like chasing your own tail.
The most important thing to know is that it is best to change a single variable at a time. Espresso is quite complicated and changing multiple variables (especially when you are new to the hobby) can lead to sometimes confusing results.
Dose
The amount of dry coffee beans used for a brew. Usually expressed as a weight in grams.
EY (Extraction Yield)
A way to represent the amount of coffee extracted during brewing/pulling a shot. If you enjoy some light mathematics, you can derive EY by obtaining a TDS measurement and plugging it (and the needed variables) into this formula:
Extraction Yield % = Brewed Coffee (g) x TDS (%) / Dose (g)
Hopper
That big thing on top of your grinder designed to act as storage for unground beans. Box it away unless you’ve found your one perfect, unbeatable forever coffee.
PI (Pre-Infusion)
Saturating a prepared puck with water at very low pressure prior to the full desired brew pressure being applied. General consensus is that pre-infusion promotes a more even extraction. The length of PI varies from machine to machine, with some allowing manual control of differing degrees during this stage of extraction.
If your machine offers any control over Pre-Infusion it is definitely worthwhile experimenting with. It can help round out a coffee extraction.
Another hotly debated topic in this wonderful hobby.
Ratio
Refers to the relationship between the weight of ground coffee used and the weight of the final resultant brew. Usually formatted as: Dose (grams) : Yield (grams)
A 1:2.5 ratio would refer to a shot where there is 2.5x brewed espresso as there was dry coffee
RDT
Ross Droplet Technique. Adding a very small amount of water (usually with a small spray bottle) to your beans before grinding to eliminate some static. Only applicable to single dose grinding.
Retention
Ground coffee that remains inside your grinder and does not exit through the chute. Some of this coffee fills up dead space inside the grinder, never to be seen again. Some, however, just remains in the exit chute until more coffee is ground, exiting with your next grind. If you swap out coffee often, purging a few grams of beans before grinding your dose is a way to prevent old coffee and new mixing.
Shot Time or Brew Time
The time (in seconds) taken to pull your shot. The point at which you start timing the shot is one which is often debated. The important thing is consistency. Shot times can then be used to dial in your grind and fine tune your extractions.
Single Dose Grinding / Single Dosing
Weighing out and grinding exactly the amount of coffee beans needed to pull one shot or produce one batch of brewed coffee.
This is partly to avoid coffee beans going stale in the hopper in a home environment. The more compelling reason to single dose is that you can rotate different coffees rather than drinking 200g of a roast (or whatever will fit in your hopper) before being able to try something else or drink some decaf.
WDT
Weiss Distribution Technique. Using fine prongs to more evenly distribute the ground coffee in your basket, while also breaking down any clumps caused by static or other dastardly forces. Some recommended tools to use for WDT:
Unfurled paper clip, blunted sewing needle, acupuncture needles
All of these can be fitted into handles of various types such as bits of cork, erasers, pieces of wood or metal or 3d printed contraptions.
Yield
The wet weight of the extracted coffee.
Common Shorthand/Acronyms
A non-exhaustive list of commonly used acronyms and alphanumeric shorthand on the EAF Discord server
General Terminology
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 3WC | Third Wave Coffee |
| AA | Kenyan coffee grade (large screen size) |
| AB | (1) A/B comparison; (2) coffee grade below AA |
| ACE | Alliance for Coffee Excellence |
| AE | AliExpress |
| BANA | Bean Addicts Non Anonymous |
| CM | Carbonic Maceration (processing/fermentation) |
| COE | Cup of Excellence |
| CQI | Coffee Quality Institute |
| CSP | SCA Coffee Skills Program |
| CVA | Coffee Value Assessment |
| DB | Dual Boiler |
| DBM | Dual Boiler Machine |
| DP | Double Picked (green coffee sorting) |
| DT | Direct Trade |
| EAF | Espresso Aficionados (Discord/community) |
| EP | European Preparation (green coffee sorting) |
| ESP | Baratza model variant shorthand (Encore ESP) |
| EY | Extraction Yield |
| FT | Fair Trade certification |
| FTO | Fair Trade Organic certification |
| GBW | Grind-by-Weight (grinder feature) |
| GE | Gesha/Geisha (variety shorthand) |
| HB | Hard Bean (high-altitude designation) |
| HS | H&S Coffee Roasters |
| HU | High Uniformity (SSP burr type) |
| KWF | Kalita Wave filter code prefix |
| LM | La Marzocco (brand shorthand) |
| LPE | Low Pressure Extraction |
| LU | Low Uniformity (burr type shorthand) |
| MASL | Meters Above Sea Level |
| MM | Moccamaster (brand shorthand) |
| MP | Multi Purpose (SSP burr type) |
| ND | Niche Duo (informal shorthand) |
| NZ | Niche Zero (informal shorthand) |
| OPV | Over Pressure Valve |
| PCS | Preliminary Crushing System (pre-crush stage before burrs) |
| PF | Portafilter |
| PI | Pre-infusion |
| PID | Proportional–Integral–Derivative controller |
| PLA | Polylactic Acid (3D printing filament) |
| PO | Pour-over |
| POB | Pour-Over Burr (Kinu M47 burr set) |
| POS | Point of Sale |
| PSPH | Pull Soft / Pull Hard (espresso profile shorthand) |
| Q | Q Grader (licensed coffee quality grader) |
| RA | Rainforest Alliance certification |
| RDT | Ross Droplet Technique |
| RNG | Random Number Generator |
| RoR | Rate of Rise (roasting) |
| SBDU | Single Boiler, Dual Use |
| SCA | Specialty Coffee Association |
| SCAA | Specialty Coffee Association of America (legacy name) |
| SCP | Specialty Coffee Professional (informal) |
| SDRM | Monolith grinder/burr configuration shorthand |
| SHB | Strictly Hard Bean (high-altitude designation) |
| SHG | Strictly High Grown (high-altitude designation) |
| SLS | Selective Laser Sintering (3D printing) |
| SO | Single Origin |
| SOUP | Spro Only Unpressurized (backronym for “soup” brew method popularized by Lance Hedrick) |
| SSP | SSP Grinding Solution (burr manufacturer) |
| T-90 | CAFEC filter paper code |
| T90/2/6 | CAFEC filter paper code variant |
| TAM | Total Addressable Market |
| TDS | Total Dissolved Solids |
| TPC | The Picky Chemist coffee roaster |
| TP | Triple Picked (green coffee sorting) |
| TWC | Third Wave Coffee |
| UC | Ultrasonic cleaner |
| UC | Undercounter (equipment category) |
| UL | Ultra Light |
| ULC | Ultra Low Contact (Decent espresso profile shorthand) |
| ULF | Ultra Low Fines (burr/grinder shorthand) |
| ULR | Ultra Light Roast |
| UTZ | UTZ Certified (now part of Rainforest Alliance) |
| WDT | Weiss Distribution Technique |
| Yeet | fast-extraction shot/profile slang |
Popular Equipment Models
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 102HU | SSP 102mm High Uniformity burr set |
| 064s | Timemore Sculptor grinder model |
| 078s | Timemore Sculptor grinder model |
| 1203 | Ditting grinder model |
| 1403 | Ditting grinder model |
| 807 | Ditting grinder model |
| A4Z | Femobook grinder model |
| AP | AeroPress brewer |
| B75 | Timemore flat-bottom dripper model |
| BDB | Breville Dual Boiler espresso machine |
| BES870 | Breville Barista Express model |
| BES878 | Breville Barista Express model |
| BES920 | Breville Dual Boiler model |
| BES990 | Breville Oracle Touch model |
| CBS | Fetco batch brewer series prefix |
| CT2 | Strietman manual lever espresso machine model |
| CWT | Bunn brewer model prefix (commonly CWTF) |
| DE1 | Decent Espresso machine model |
| DF54 | DF-series grinder model |
| DF64 | DF-series grinder model |
| DF64E | DF-series grinder model |
| DF64P | DF-series grinder model |
| DF83 | DF-series grinder model |
| DR100 | Mazzer grinder model |
| E20 | Agtron color meter model |
| E55 | Starseeker electric grinder model |
| E80 | Mahlkönig grinder model |
| EK43 | Mahlkönig grinder model |
| EK43S | Mahlkönig grinder model |
| F18 | Sanremo espresso machine model |
| F5 | Fiorenzato grinder model |
| F64 | Fiorenzato grinder model |
| F71 | Fiorenzato grinder model |
| F83 | Fiorenzato grinder model |
| FB80 | La Marzocco espresso machine model |
| GCP | Gaggia Classic Pro espresso machine |
| GB5 | La Marzocco espresso machine model |
| GS3 | La Marzocco espresso machine model |
| ICB | Bunn brewer line |
| J90 | Jura espresso machine model |
| K30 | Mahlkönig grinder model line |
| KB90 | La Marzocco espresso machine model |
| KBGV | Moccamaster brewer model |
| KBGT | Moccamaster brewer model |
| L100 | Roest roaster model |
| LMLM | La Marzocco Linea Mini espresso machine |
| M-Basic | Agtron color meter model |
| M01 | Timemore hand grinder model |
| M47 | Kinu hand grinder model |
| MVP | Synesso espresso machine line |
| ORB | OXO Rapid Brewer |
| P01 | Lagom grinder model |
| P64 | Lagom grinder model |
| P80 | Lagom grinder model |
| P100 | Lagom grinder model |
| R1 | Aillio Bullet roaster model |
| R2 | DiFluid refractometer model |
| SD40 | Turin / Solo-style grinder model |
| SD50 | Turin / Solo-style grinder model |
| SD64 | Turin / Solo-style grinder model |
| Strada | La Marzocco espresso machine line |
| TB3 | Bunn tea/coffee brewer model |
| V60 | Hario V60 dripper |
| X1 | La Marzocco Strada X1 espresso machine model |
| X64 | Mahlkönig grinder model |
| Z1 | Zerno grinder model |
| Z2 | Zerno grinder model |
| ZM | Mazzer grinder model |
| ZP6 | 1Zpresso manual grinder model |