Coffee Roasting & Cocoa Processing
Industry Terms

Browse the list below to find some of the most commonly questioned terms in the coffee roasting and cocoa processing industries. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you still have questions!

Afterburner: A gas burner chamber that uses heat to convert odor and smoke into water vapor and carbon dioxide

Cacao content: The amount of the chocolate product that is made of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter and / or cocoa powder

Catalytic oxidizer: An environmental control unit, commonly used with large coffee roasters, which uses low temperatures to convert volatile organic compounds into carbon dioxide and water for release into the atmosphere

Centrifugal coffee roaster: A roaster consisting of a roaster bowl and lamella ring, which uses centrifugal force to ensure homogenous, gentle roasting

Chocolate liquor: The smooth liquid that forms by grinding the nib of a cocoa bean; one of the three components of cacao (along with cocoa butter and cocoa powder)

Cocoa beans: Seeds from the pod of the Theobroma tree, found naturally in Amazon forests

Cocoa butter: The fat of the cocoa bean and one of the three components of cacao (along with chocolate liquor and cocoa powder)

Cocoa nib: The center part of the cocoa bean

Cocoa powder: The cocoa solids resulting from pressing cocoa butter out of chocolate liquor; one of the three components of cacao (along with cocoa butter and chocolate liquor)

Creosol: A supplemental coffee taste sensation characterized by a scratching at the back of the tongue and caused by the high percentage of phenolic compounds in a dark roast

Green coffee preheating: The process of using heat from the roasting process to preheat the beans to be roasted in the next batch, thereby reducing energy use by 20 percent and increasing capacity by 20 percent — without affecting coffee taste

Heat exchanger: A device that allows for efficient heat transfer between two phases of the coffee roasting process, reducing overall energy usage

Perforated drum coffee roaster: Roaster design that allows for high heat transfer and less energy usage during roasting

Pre-cleaner: A device that cleans and screens coffee beans prior to roasting

Primary coffee taste sensations: Acidy, mellow, winey, bland, sharp and soury

Pyrolysis (also volatization): The stage of coffee roasting during which the coffee beans release their oils and darken in color

Quenching: The process of quickly cooling coffee beans with cold air or water to end the coffee roasting process

Secondary coffee taste sensations: Piquant to nippy, mild to delicate, tangy to tart, soft to neutral, rough to astringent, hard to acrid

Solid drum coffee roaster: Classic coffee roaster design with a large drum and paddle mixer for blending the beans as they roast

Supplemental coffee taste sensations: Pungent taste sensations that occur in dark roasts

Tangential coffee roaster: A roaster with a closed roasting bin that uses tangential air to convectively heat the beans

Thermal oxidizer: A common type of environmental control unit that uses heat to convert volatile organic compounds into carbon dioxide and water for release into the atmosphere

Volatization (also pyrolysis): The stage of coffee roasting during which the coffee beans release their oils and darken in color