Fear not, if you don’t know the difference between medium roast and dark roast or a macchiato and a mochaccino. Here’s a coffee cheat sheet for busy moms – a quick reference guide to help you quickly learn to decrypt words related to coffee.
Difference between light, medium and dark roast
Light roast – light brown, no oil, retains coffee bean flavor, have the highest acidity.
Interesting light roast by Kicking Horse.
Medium roast – balanced in acidity and body, darker brown compared to light roast, little oil, balanced flavors of the coffee beans and tastes of the roasting process.
A sample medium roast coffee by Caribou.
Dark roast – dark brown (almost black), lots of oil on the surface, low acidity, flavors of the roasting process overpower the character of the original coffee beans.
Check out dark roast coffee from Koffee Cartel.
What’s the difference between Arabica and Robusta coffee?
Arabica coffee – grow best on steep slopes and cloud forests with plenty of rainfall and shade to help with the growth. It has superior flavors.
Robusta coffee – extremely hardy coffee shrubs that grow on lower altitude, below 3,000 feet elevation, need less rain and is cheaper than Arabica coffee.
Read NCA’s Coffee Around the World.
A few types of coffee you should know
Espresso – strong black coffee (no sugar, no milk) served in a tiny cup, usually a single or a double shot. A double shot is called doppio. In Italy, this type of coffee is simply “un caffe” or “un caffe normale.”
Cappuccino – 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, and 1/3 frothed milk.
Latte – same as cappuccino but milkier.
Macchiato – a single shot of espresso with a drop of steamed milk. When ordering in Italy, you’ll say “un caffe macchiato.” In Germany, if you say macchiato, it usually means latte macchiato, a glass of steamed milk with a shot of espresso. You’re essentially drinking warm milk flavored with a little coffee.
Mochaccino – mocaccino, marocchino or cafe mocha are the same thing. It’s a shot of espresso with foamed milk and sprinkles of dark chocolate powder on top.
Just get a Nespresso or a Keurig if you can’t be bothered with memorizing the types of coffee listed above, or you want a good cup of coffee at home without having to do much.
