Culture & craft

A trained coffee professional who pulls espresso, dials in grinders, steams milk, and runs the bar at a café: Italian for "bartender."

The standardized industry method for tasting and evaluating coffee: small bowls of coarsely ground coffee, hot water, a spoon, and a scoring form.

Decorative patterns (hearts, rosettas, tulips, swans) poured into the surface of an espresso drink by streaming microfoamed milk through the crema.

The act of compressing freshly ground coffee evenly into the portafilter basket before pulling an espresso shot, typically with about 30 lb of force.

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg's term for a community-anchor space, neither home (first place) nor work (second place), like a neighborhood café.

Cafés specializing in Yemeni and Arabian coffee traditions, often serving qishr, qahwa, and adeni shai alongside specialty espresso, frequently open late.