Learn How To Make Coffee Like Your Fave Barista

You know you can count on your morning latte to wake you up, but do you actually know anything about how it’s made? You’re not alone in just settling for a basic brew. Though coffee culture can be *a tad* egotistic – side eye to the beanie-wearing, mustache-having bar bros – leaning into the origins of your A.M. cup can be super satisfying, and paves the way to explore your palette and passion for coffee. Do you like a coffee with a heavy body? Big fan of microfoam? Is the bag of beans you have single-origin?

Whether you’re trying to perfect your go-to café order or just learn more about the craft, keep this quick guide in your back pocket for all things coffee. We’re breaking down some common terms to help you get the *best* benefits from your brew.

🔥 Hot tip: When in need, hit "CRTL F" on your keyboard to search for a specific term you need to know.

Coffee Beans + Types of Roasts

Single origin: Coffee bean labels reading “single origin” just mean that the beans are sourced from a singular, traceable producer, crop, or region around the world. This makes identifying the best parts of your brew easier, even if single origin coffees come from different regions.
Blend: Coffee blends are essentially the opposite of single-origins – blends include beans from multiple farms or regions, instead of just one. The benefit of a blend is the different flavors included can balance each other out for the optimal taste.

Coffee beans are roasted after getting harvested to evoke their beloved flavors and aromas. Each roast is distinctive from the other, and you’ve probably heard of light, medium, and dark roasts. But what do they mean? It all has to do with the roast time and temperature, which also affect the caffeine content and taste of your coffee.

Light: Light roast coffees are roasted for a shorter amount of time at a lower temperature than medium or dark roasts. The result is a denser, more flavorful coffee. (There are more flavors in coffee than just… coffee? Yes, we’ll break that down in a sec.) It’s a common misconception that light roasts have more caffeine than dark ones – but the two contain about the same levels.
Medium: Medium roast coffees are the Goldilocks of the three main roasts. They’re roasted at a moderate temperature and time for a more balanced flavor, and contain the most caffeine.
Dark: Dark roasts stay in the roasting process for the longest time and heat up at the highest temperatures, too. This longer process results in a less creamy, more robust coffee brew.

The Espresso Shot

Whether made by man or machine, espresso is crafted by forcing hot water at a high pressure through a puck of very finely ground coffee beans. The product is a super concentrated dose (or shot) of coffee! There are three parts of an espresso shot to note:

Heart: The heart of an espresso shot is the very bottom layer and is the most bitter element. When made correctly, the heart will be a dark brown hue.
Body: The shot’s body lies in the middle layer and retains a medium brown color.
Crema: Crema is the lightest layer of an espresso shot, which floats on top. Crema contains the most complex flavors and aromas of espresso.

Types of Coffee Drinks

The types of espresso drinks you can order from Starbucks or your favorite local café are categorized by the espresso-to-milk ratio.

Latte: 1:2 espresso to steamed or cold milk
Mocha: 1:2 espresso to steamed or cold milk with a dose of chocolate syrup
Americano: 1:1 espresso to hot or cold water
Cappuccino: 1:1:1 espresso to steamed milk to milk foam
Cortado: 1:1 espresso to steamed milk
Flat white: 1:4:1 espresso to steamed milk to light milk foam
Lungo: A lungo is a type of espresso shot that uses more water, so it’s pulled longer. It’s more subdued in flavor than a regular espresso shot.
Ristretto: Ristretto shots are quite the opposite from lungo – it uses less water and is pulled in a shorter time than a regular shot. It has the strongest flavor of the three.

Different Brewing Methods

There are tons of coffee brewing methods – each one has its own result in flavor, so you can dial in on your preferred brew. Here are a handful of the most popular methods:

Espresso machine: Espresso machines automatically push hot water at a high pressure through pucks of finely ground coffee for strong shots that can be used to make lattes or enjoyed alone.
French press: French press coffee is made by combining water and grounds in a vessel to make a brew, then the press separates the ground material from the brew from pressing down on a filter. It’s best served fresh, and you can make French press coffee in big batches, or single-serve amounts.
Siphon: A siphon or vacuum brewer brews coffee by heating up and cooling down water vapor from a lower vessel that rises to the upper vessel, which cycles back through the maker as brewed coffee. It can be pretty involved, so if you’re looking to prep a quick cup, this option might not be the best brew for you.
Aeropress: The aeropress utilizes pressurized air to force water through coffee grounds, similar to an espresso machine. The brew won’t be as strong, but it’ll still have a bolder taste than drip coffee.
Percolator / moka pot: A percolator, or moka pot, works by heating up water in a lower chamber that travels up through coffee grounds that get brewed up to a top chamber. Traditional percolators are made to be used on the stovetop, but you can find electric ones that make your coffee brewing ritual a whole lot easier.
Pour over: Pour over brews entail manually pouring hot water over coffee grounds that flows through a filter into a vessel at the bottom. There are pour over containers you can get to brew large batches of coffee, or attachments that go over the top of your mug for a single serving.

Coffee Tasting

Tasting coffee is more involved than tasting your go-to burger or pasta dish. The flavor notes are definitely complex and can sometimes be perceived as yucky. But once you learn to properly taste a cup of coffee, the easier it’ll be to identify the qualities you like and the ones you don’t.

There’s a short list of steps that baristas and coffee connoisseurs use to taste coffees:

Smell: Smelling your coffee before ingesting it helps prepare the palette for what’s to come, plus your nose can actually identify a lot more notes than your mouth can.
Slurp: We know slurping your drink isn’t super welcome in traditional dining situations, but it’s helpful in the coffee tasting sense. Slurping allows the coffee to reach every part of your palette for you to taste all of its flavorful nuances!
Analyze: Think about what you experience as you taste the coffee. Is it acidic? What notes do you get? Below are a few terms most commonly used to describe coffee.

You can analyze the taste of coffee by these terms:

Body: A coffee’s body primarily relates to its texture. So, does it feel more bold and heavy, or light and weak?
Acidity: Acidity can be perceived as sharpness or dryness among the tongue and palette. There are tons of different acids that can be found in coffee, but the main thing to note are their effects on tasting.
Sweetness: Think of coffee sweetness like a scale. The brew can either be smooth (sweeter) or harsh (less sweet). It’s all about what you can distinguish!
Finish: The coffee’s finish relates to the feeling and taste it leaves after you’ve consumed the brew. Maybe there are some stronger flavor notes or acidic sensations that shine through once you’ve finished it!
Aroma: Aroma in coffee just means how it smells. Some coffees give off sweet, fruity smells, while others have more robust, darker chocolatey ones.

How do you like your coffee? Let us know @BritandCo.

Header photo by Marina M / PEXELS