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As opposed to a single origin coffee, a blend is when multiple coffees are mixed together to create a specific flavor profile. While traditional first and second wave coffee roasters tend to focus on coffee blends, GGET features mostly single origin coffees.

A blade grinder is a coffee grinder that utilizes a single spinning blade to shatter the whole bean coffee into uneven chunks. While this type of device can be acquired for very little money, it is incapable of matching the quality of a well-tuned home burr grinder, or even coffee ground recently by your friendly GGET barista in their shop.

A burr grinder is a coffee grinder that utilizes two sharp burrs to reduce coffee to a more precise particle size. The distance between the conical or flat blade burrs determines the coffee’s grind size, which determines what brewing method it is most suitable for. Typically, an espresso grind represents the finest (smallest) grind and larger batch brews will be the most coarse.

While any burr grinder should be a significant upgrade over any blade machine, Baratza makes the only home burr grinders we would recommend or sell.

The cherry is the flesh of the coffee fruit. Coffee cherries can be a delicious caffeinated treat when eaten fresh, while the dried fruit (cascara) has become a popular tea alternative.

Cupping is a standardized way of tasting coffee to assess its quality.

The process involves measuring a small amount of ground coffee in a bowl and adding water just off a boil. The grinds that accumulate at the top of the cup are then “broken” and skimmed off.

When the coffee begins to cool, cuppers use spoons to slurp the brewed coffee off the top while noting its sweetness, acidity, body and complexity. While it might not be an ideal method for brewing coffee for casual consumption, its a perfect way to assess several coffee at once.

“Dark roast” is a term that will mean different things in different contexts. For our purposes, we define a dark roast as any roast where the primary qualities can be pinned on overt roast-related flavors such as char, ash, or burnt flavors.

Espresso is a method of brewing coffee that produces a very concentrated beverage. Brewed using high pressure, a great and balanced espresso requires great coffee, a lot of technical skill, and very finely tuned machines.

Espresso is the base for most popular modern coffee drinks such as cappuccinos, lattes, americanos, and cortados.

In coffee processing, fermentation refers to the step after depulping during the washed process when the coffee is left to sit for a time to allow the mucilage to break down. After fermentation, the broken down mucilage is washed away.

Filter coffee generally applies to any coffee brewing method that is not espresso, though there are some other brewing gimmicks that land somewhere on the spectrum between espresso and filter coffee.

Filter coffee is brewed at a much lower concentration than espresso and requires much longer to percolate, and tends to showcase the more delicate flavors of unique coffees when consumed without cream or sugar.

At GGET, we prepare our filter coffee in small batches using vintage Fetco 2032 drip coffee machines that we salvage off eBay.

Green coffee is coffee before it has been roasted.

After pulping, honey processed coffees leave some or all of the mucilage on during drying. This results in more body, mellower acidity, and a flavor profile that can verge on funky. The term “honey process” originated as a very specific style of preparation in Costa Rica, but has increasingly been used as a catch-all for any coffee dried with its mucilage left intact. Honey processed coffees will rarely find themselves on the GGET menu.

“Light roast” is a term that will mean different things in different contexts. For our purposes, we define a light roast as any roast where the roast is stopped before developing deeper chocolate-y or caramelized flavors.

Milling is the act of removing the dried skin from the green bean. After traveling through the wet mill and being dried the coffee is typically held in silos with its papery parchment layer still clinging to the bean. This resting state is often called “pergamino”.

After the milling is completed and parchment has been removed, the coffee is often sorted one last time for defect before it is packaged and shipped to its destination as “green coffee”.

Mucilage is a sticky substance that coats the seeds of a coffee cherry just below the layer of fruit pulp. During processing, this layer of sweet, sticky goo may be washed off completely, partially, or entirely left intact before drying. How much mucilage is left on (if any) is a major factor in determining a coffee’s flavor profile.

Naturally processed coffees are harvested and immediately dried with the cherry left on. As the cherry dries and decomposes around the seed, it imparts wilder, funkier, and fruitier flavors to the coffee seeds. While this style is popular, it would be unexpected for GGET to carry this style because it tends to be quite inconsistent.

Pulping, ironically also known as depulping, is the process by which the coffee cherry is removed from the parchment coffee, usually using a mechanical depulping machine. After pulping, the coffee is fermented to break down the sticky sweet mucilage still clinging to its exterior.

A single origin coffee is a coffee that comes from one farm, cooperative, or region. Sometimes a single origin will consist of coffees from hundreds of smallholder farms (like most Ethiopian coffees), while other times it is coffee that comes from just one larger farm. GGET tends to favor single origin coffees as they usually offer the most unique expressions of coffee flavor.

A coffee “variety” refers to its genetic subspecies. Similar to wine (or tomatoes, apples, peaches, or any other fruit), different varieties will display different flavor characteristics. While coffee consumers are usually unaware of a coffee’s variety, it tends to be one of the single biggest factors that influences its flavor.

Washed coffee typically refers to a process in which the cherry is mechanically removed and the coffee undergoes fermentation to break down its mucilage. Washed coffees are associated with clean, vibrant flavors and make up the vast majority of the coffees GGET carries.