Acidity

Pleasant and positive primary taste that is perceived, with greater or lesser intensity, in Arabicas. This feature disappears with an intense roasting. Along with flavor, aroma and body, it is one of the main parameters used by professional tasters in the sensory evaluation of coffee.

Almacafé

Almacenes Generales de Depósito: Almacafé was created as an entity specialized in providing logistics and quality control services to the coffee chain. It also provides storage services to third parties. (almacafe.com.co)

Almond

Word that means coffee ready to be roasted.

Altitude

A factor of great importance for the crop, since bean quality is higher as the altitude is greater; in high regions, the fruit ripens more slowly and its quality is better.

Americano

Espresso made with much more water than a normal one. Americano has a higher caffeine content than a short one like a ristretto, for example. A short coffee drink lacks the amount of water needed to dissolve the caffeine contained in the 7 grams of ground coffee in the filter; however, with all the water of an Americano, virtually all available caffeine is dissolved.

Arabic

Word that stands for the Arabica coffee species. It is also the name that in some regions is given to parchment coffee.

Aroma

A mix of pleasant smells that, in addition to producing a good sensation, can inform about the botanical variety of the coffee used, processing method, etc. / The coffee aroma does not require further illustration. The characteristic smell of roasted coffee is well known. The power of the aroma of the drink is so noticeable that even many people think it is more pleasant to smell coffee than to drink it.

Aroma in roasting

The coffee aromas unfold under the effect of heat. A complex phenomenon of mutations between proteins, acids and carbohydrates causes the emanation of many aromas (up to a thousand different aromatic compounds can be counted). These aromatic notes belong to families of very different aromas, such as empyreumatic, floral, woody, spicy, fruity, balsamic, etc. These notes are volatile and fragile. After roasting, coffee should be packed very quickly, preferably in metallic containers (a system that allows better preservation of aromas).

Aromatic

Of very pleasant smell.

Arroba

Unit of measurement of weight equivalent to 12.5 kilograms. It is used in coffee marketing in Colombia.

Bitter

Primary taste of coffee because of caffeine and other substances. It is pleasant within certain limits. Usually caused by excess roasting.

Bitterness

Basic taste perceived in the back of the tongue.

Calendar or civil year

Period between January 1 and December 31.

Coffee adulteration

The action of mixing coffee with foreign substances

Coffee year

One-year period between October 1 and September 30 of the following year.

Commercial agriculture

Agriculture dedicated to exploitation of agricultural products in order to sell them in the domestic/ external market and earn an income greater than that necessary for subsistence of farmers and their families.

Cooperative

An association of people with common purposes and aspirations, whether they are wage earners or small producers, who organize themselves voluntarily to achieve certain services in production, credit and consumption.

Crop year

For countries of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the period of largest crop. In most of these countries, it coincides with the coffee year.

Decline

Prices are said to decline when they fall slowly.

Early warnings

Analyses of weather forecasts, continued diagnosis of CBB and rust, and use of flowering records.

Fertilizers

Elements or substances that increase fertility of soil where the coffee tree grows and favor normal development of the plant.

green manure

Plants whose decomposition produces natural nutrients for crops. Green manures decompose on the surface of tropical soils as organic matter to increase fertility and microbial activity and improve soil physical conditions.

In bulk

Large quantity in a single mass, unlike green coffee in bags, roasted coffee in cans, and soluble coffee in jars.

Mites

Group of arachnid arthropods of small size, from 0.1 mm to 3 cm long. Some attack plants; others are parasites that transmit diseases.

Nursery

Place where the sprouts coming from the germinator are grown, in bags, grouped in beds and partially exposed to the sun until they develop sufficiently for their definitive transplantation to the field. The nursery allows to take care of the plants in their most delicate stage and to make a good selection of the seedling that is going to be taken to the field.

Organic fertilizers

Decomposed organic materials used to improve soil of coffee trees. In Colombia, coffee pulp plays a key role in this regard.

Pile up (“arrumar”)

To conveniently place and distribute the load of coffee in a warehouse.

Red spider

This insect is a microscopic pink or dark brown spider. It is 1 mm long and oval. It attacks the tree foliage by making cuts on the upper face of leaves. When drying, the wounds are colored, giving the attacked leaves an opaque reddish color, typical of the attack of this insect. The red spider appears especially in dry seasons.

Self-sufficiency agriculture

Exploitation of land for the sole purpose of providing food to the farmer. In a broader sense, agriculture whose produce is only for consumption by a group, town or country, having null or low sales capacity in foreign markets.

Submarginal agriculture

Agriculture that does not manage to cover production costs.

Technical advice

Advice to the departmental coffee grower committees and coffee growers themselves, mainly in aspects related to plant health, disease diagnosis, crop management, and coffee wet milling.

Trees (shade for coffee plantations)

Temporary/permanent shade is used in coffee plantations. The first is intended to protect coffee trees during the first years of life. The second will remain for the rest of the coffee plantation’s life. Shade is artificial when shade trees are planted on purpose, and natural when spontaneously grown trees are used.

Unwashed Arabica

Commercial classification for export coffees from Bolivia, Brazil, Ethiopia and Paraguay.

Water

97-98% of a cup of coffee is water. For this reason, quality and purity of the water to be used is very important, for it not to cloud or modify the organoleptic characteristics of coffee.

Weeds

Plant species that live with the crops. A large number of these plants interfere with the planted species affecting yields. However, another considerable number have characteristics that distinguish them as useful species, since they conserve soil and do not profusely develop their foliage and radical systems.