Growing regions
A regional name on a bag can be five different kinds of thing, and how much it tells you depends on which. The regions here are sorted by that, before anything is said about their coffee.
Most of these records are short on purpose. A region gets a written guide only where CoffeeHQ has read documents about that region itself; otherwise the record says what the name is and sends you to the country's entry in the world coffee atlas, which carries what is documented. No record gives an altitude, a boundary or a taste that a source does not.
Registered indications and denominations
A name on a public register, with a defined area, rules for using it and a body that enforces them. A rule in a denomination, such as a minimum altitude, is a condition for using the name and not a description of every farm.
- Huila
Colombia
A department of Colombia. Its coffee name, Café del Huila, is a denomination of origin declared in 2013, held by the Colombian State and administered by the growers' federation.
- Antigua
Guatemala
A denomination of origin entered in Guatemala's intellectual property registry in 2008, as an application published by the European Union in 2026 records. The national coffee association also markets it as one of eight regional names.
Has a written guide
- Tarrazú
Costa Rica
A canton of Costa Rica and, as a coffee name, one added in June 2022 to the geographical indications protected under the European Union's agreement with Central America. A national denomination of 2019 is reported at second hand.
- Aceh (Sumatra)
Indonesia
Aceh is a province. The registered name is Kopi Arabika Gayo, a geographical indication granted in Indonesia in 2010 and entered in the European Union's register in 2017.
Has a written guide
- Cerrado Mineiro
Brazil
A denomination of origin registered in Brazil in 2013, after an indication of provenance in 2005, covering 55 municipalities of Minas Gerais.
Names owned as trademarks
A name somebody owns and licenses. A trademark controls who may use a word in a market; it does not define a boundary on the ground.
Administrative units
A state, province, department, county, district or canton. Its boundary is real and has nothing to do with coffee: it says where a coffee was grown and promises nothing about it.
- Nyeri
Kenya
A county of central Kenya, one of the country's 47. As a coffee name it has no definition beyond the county boundary in any document CoffeeHQ has read.
- Central Highlands (Vietnam)
Vietnam
A grouping of five provinces, as the USDA's attaché lists them. It is not a coffee denomination.
- Minas Gerais
Brazil
A Brazilian state. Several registered indications lie inside it; the state's own name is not one of them.
- Espírito Santo
Brazil
A Brazilian state. Two registered indications carry its name: one for conilon covering the whole state, and one for the arabica of its mountains.
Has a written guide
- Kilimanjaro
Tanzania
A region of northern Tanzania, named by the USDA's attaché among the places arabica is grown. No document read defines it as a coffee region.
- Chikmagalur
India
A district of the Indian state of Karnataka, with no coffee denomination in any document CoffeeHQ has read.
Customary and trade names
An everyday name with no boundary anybody is responsible for. Two sellers may mean different places by it.
- Sul de Minas
Brazil
The everyday name for the south of Minas Gerais. No register defines it; the registered indication inside it is Mantiqueira de Minas.
- Mogiana
Brazil
An older, looser name with no legal boundary. Its registered form is Alta Mogiana, an indication of provenance granted in 2013.
- Rwenzori
Uganda
A mountain range on Uganda's western side, used as a coffee name. No document CoffeeHQ has read gives it a boundary as a coffee region.
- Haraaz
Yemen
A trade name for part of Yemen's western mountains. None of the sources read for Yemen defines it.
Looking for a region that is not here?
Many well-known names have no record because the country's entry is the better place for them. Search for the name and you will be taken to the entry that explains it. To practise telling these kinds of name apart, try the exercise What kind of thing is this regional name?