Coffee Glossary · Quality
MASL (Meters Above Sea Level)
The standard measure of coffee-growing altitude, and one of quality's strongest predictors. Higher farms are cooler; cooler ripening is slower; slower ripening builds denser beans with more sugars and acids. Rules of thumb: below ~900 m yields soft, mild cups; 1,200 m+ supports genuine specialty complexity; 1,600 m+ (with the right variety) produces the intensity of top Ethiopian and Kenyan lots. Latitude matters too — near the equator, coffee grows far higher. The Bolaven Plateau's 1,000–1,350 m at Laos's latitude places it firmly in specialty territory.
Related terms
SHG / SHB (Strictly High Grown / Strictly Hard Bean)
Altitude-based grade designations used by Central American origins: SHG (Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua) and SHB…
Bean Density
How much mass a coffee bean packs per volume — measured in g/L or judged by feel and appearance (tight,…
Arabica (Coffea arabica)
The species behind roughly 60% of world coffee and nearly all specialty-grade lots. Arabica evolved in…
Cupping
Coffee's standardized tasting protocol: coarse-ground samples steeped in bowls under strict ratios and…
Defects (Green Coffee)
Physical faults in green coffee counted under grading systems like the SCA's: category 1 (primary) defects —…
Grading (Green Coffee)
The classification of green coffee into commercial tiers by measurable criteria — screen size, defect count,…
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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