The Classics tend to manifest full body, bright acidity and clean and straightforward cup presence. These are the coffees that provide what North Americans tend to consider normal within their cup of coffee.

The most beloved of these types of coffee are balanced, yet powerful. This means they are strong in all respects. They present a vibrant acidity as well as a full body and complex flavor. As a norm they are all grown at high altitude, even though many factors such as latitude, cloud cover, moisture and such can create coffees which will mimic what comes natural to the classic high mountain grown. When coffee is grown at lower altitude, it tends to show by way of a softer and sweeter taste, with a lighter and brisker acidity and lesser body.

The classics taste is based in part on its brightness and clarity of flavor which is achieved during the wet processsing of the coffee cherry. Most of all the latin american coffees are wet processed, with the exception being the dry and semi dry processed coffees of Brazil.

Generally speaking, the bigger classics of Latin America are the finer Costa Ricans, Guatemalans and Colombians, all full bodied and with a rich acidity content. The best of the Guatemalans are generally a bit more intriguing and complex than the Costa Ricans, which are most famous for the clarity they present. It is generally believed that the difference stems from the varietals or cultivars which are planted in each country, whereas in Costa Rica growers plant alot of the newer Caturra arabica and in Guatemala they tend more towards the older Typica and Bourbon arabica cultivars. In Colombia, coffee is remarkably consistent, mostly owing to the Coffee Federation and its standards. They also concentrate on growing Bourbon and Typica, but with the work of the federation, have created strains of these which are more resistance to pests, provide more yield and carry a magnificient quality of taste, owing much to the valid fame of their cup quality.