MASL – Altitude

MASL means Meters Above Sea Level. It’s a fancy way of indicating altitude, and with coffee this means how high the coffee is grown. It can be significant because coffee grown at higher altitude is often considered better, though this is far from a rule:  Higher-grown coffee tend to mature more slowly and have a denser bean, which may result in a more even roast. Overall quality, especially acidity, increases with altitude. In South and Central America, coffees are graded and classified based on altitude.

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