The Coffee Belt is the imaginary line that wraps around the globe and houses all of Africa’s, South America’s, Central America’s, and Asia’s best coffee-growing regions.
The continent that any given coffee is grown in has a remarkable affect on the coffee’s flavor profile, and the profiles vastly differ from each other from continent to continent. Flavor profiles also differ from region to region within a continent, and even from farm to farm within any given region! However, there is usually a basic foundation of terms one can use to describe a particular region’s coffees.
This quick guide can serve as a basic overview of how coffees taste from region to region:
Central America
Costa Rica – medium body, citrus, nutty
Guatemala – can be spicy, smoky, chocolate, earthy or delicate, floral, fruity, sweet
Honduras – crisp, light-bodied, nutty, spicy
Mexico – light/medium bodied, milk chocolate, bright, lively, fruity
Nicaragua – mild acidity, vanilla, hazelnut, chocolate, pear
Panama – zesty, lively, spicy, lemongrass, herbal
El Salvador – pretty similar to Nicaraguas
South America
Bolivia – medium body, caramel, chocolate, can be flowery and fruity
Brazil – medium/full body, low acidity, milk chocolate, fruity
Colombia – medium body, medium acidity, fruity, nutty
Ecuador – light/medium body, medium acidity, caramel, fruit, nutty
Peru – medium body, medium acidity, spice, nutty, chocolate, earthy
Africa and Arabia
Burundi – full body, low acidity, grassy, chocolate
Congo – full body, low acidity, intense, chocolate, nutty, tobacco, vanilla, earthy, spicy
Ethiopia – the birthplace of coffee and the most diverse region in the world, it’s very hard to find terms that can accurately describe this country’s coffee; they can have full body, chocolate, cherry, creamy, earthy, blueberry or medium body, flowery, herbal, nutty
Kenya – full body, zesty, citrus, floral, herbal
Rwanda – medium body, chocolate, floral, nutty
Tanzania – medium body, woody, earthy, spicy
Uganda – full body, chocolate, creamy, vanilla
Yemen – full body, chocolate, winy
Zambia – medium body, tangy, citrus, caramel, bittersweet
Zimbabwe – medium body, woody, low acidity, herbal, vegetal, spicy
Indonesia and Asia
Bali – full body, low acidity, creamy, nutty, chocolate, vanilla, earthy
Flores – full body, low acidity, floral, earthy, woody, syrupy sweet
India – full body, spicy, medium acidity, tropical fruit; monsooned Malabars are very intense, full body, tobacco, low acidity
Java – full body, chocolate, nutty, low acidity, creamy
Myanmar – medium body, medium acidity, similar to Brazils
Papua New Guinea – full body, medium acidity, fruity, earthy,
Sumatra – full body, intense, earthy, woody, gritty, low acidity
Sulawesi – full body, low acidity, herbal, spicy, woody
Timor – full body, low acidity, floral, woody, earthy, herbal
Islands and Others
Australia – medium body, medium acidity, mild, juicy, syrupy
Dominican Republic – medium body, medium acidity, mild, sweet, caramel,
Hawaii – medium body, low acidity, creamy, vanilla, brown sugar
Jamaica – medium body, low acidity, tobacco, mellow, sweet
Puerto Rico – medium body, low acidity, smoky, creamy, buttery, nutty, sweet
