Coffee Glossary · Coffee Basics
Arabica (Coffea arabica)
The species behind roughly 60% of world coffee and nearly all specialty-grade lots. Arabica evolved in Ethiopia's highland forests and demands altitude, mild temperatures, and care in return for aromatic complexity, sweetness, and acidity that its hardier cousin Robusta cannot match. It is self-pollinating — which kept varieties like Typica and Bourbon genetically stable for centuries — and vulnerable to leaf rust, berry borer, and heat, which is why breeding programs cross it with Robusta-derived resistance (as in Catimor). All Volcana Coffee Arabica grows at 1,000–1,350 m on the Bolaven Plateau.
Related terms
Robusta (Coffea canephora)
The second commercial coffee species: higher-yielding, disease-hardy, caffeine-rich, and traditionally traded…
Green Coffee
Coffee in its internationally traded form: the dried, milled seed of the coffee cherry before roasting,…
MASL (Meters Above Sea Level)
The standard measure of coffee-growing altitude, and one of quality's strongest predictors. Higher farms are…
Coffee Cherry
The fruit of the coffee tree — a small drupe that ripens from green through yellow to deep red (or…
Peaberry
A natural mutation in which a cherry develops one round seed instead of the usual two flat-faced beans —…
Reading up before buying? Volcana Coffee exports SGS-inspected specialty Arabica and Fine Robusta from the Bolaven Plateau, Laos — and we're happy to walk new importers through every term on a real offer sheet.
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