Coffee bean classification coffee classification coffee sample coffee type

Growing coffee beans may have special place names, or treatment (washed or non-washed), may have a title, or may only have a letter or number after it. In some countries where the coffee industry is nationalised, the grading system seems uninteresting. In Kenya, for example, a bag of coffee might be: water-washed AA, followed by a number to indicate the quality level of the cup. However, it is this ordinary-sounding coffee that most experts agree is one of the best in the world.

Most Caribbean and Central American countries express quality in terms of altitude. For example, the eastern part of Costa Rica produces LGA (Low Grown Atlantic Atlantic low altitude), MGA (Medium Grown Atlantic Mid-Atlantic altitude) and HGA (High Grown Atlantic Atlantic High altitude); West Bank slopes produce HB (Hard Bean hard beans), MHB (Medium Hard Bean Intermediate hard beans), GHB (Good Hard Bean excellent hard beans) and SHB (Strictly Hard Bean very hard beans). Beans are hard, and the higher the altitude, the higher the price. Costa Rica's best plantations mark their bags and elevations, and like Nicaragua, Costa Rica uses the name of the region with the flavor of the country. Guatemala's elevation is relatively vague, from 700 to 1700 meters above sea level: "Good Washed" (good water washed beans), "Extra Prime Washed" (super water washed beans), "Semi Hard Bean (SH)" semi-hard beans, "Hard Bean (HB)" hard beans, "Fancy Hard Bean" super hard beans and "Stictly Hard Bean (SHB)" very hard beans.