| AA | Capital letters usually indicate the grade, or size of a bean. E.G. Kenya AA. AA is Kenya’s highest grade involving large beans and a limit on the number of defects allowable per specified unit weight. |
| Acidity | Liveliness, carrying the high notes of flavor in a coffee. When coffee is unripe, poorly roasted or poorly brewed acidity can become overly pronounced becoming tart, sharp or sour, as in vinegar. |
| Arabica | "Coffea Arabica" is the species name assigned to the coffee tree by European botanist Linnaeus. Arabica coffee accounts for 67% of the world's coffee production.. Arabica typically has less caffeine than other commercial species of coffee, popularly referred to as Robusta. Arabica is the starting point for producing good coffee; nevertheless, most Arabicas are no better than Robustas, due to poor production procedures. Arabicas are more expensive to grow than Robusta. |
| Aroma | The smell that is released from freshly ground coffee (dry aroma) and from freshly brewed coffee. |
