"Terroir" as typically defined is a mythical concept introduced by feudal French wine makers to justify their price fixing schemes. We're really trying to avoid

"Terroir" as typically defined is a mythical concept introduced by feudal French wine makers to justify their price fixing schemes. We're really trying to avoid importing the term into the coffee industry since it has the effect of locking producers into "their terroir" instead of acknowledging all the variables they can control (through hard work that deserves compensation) to create high quality coffee. See Lucia Solis podcast for expert commentary. But yes, latitude, altitude, and all the other inputs make a difference (in addition to the genetic variation that does exist -- I mean no one is surprised that you can get different types of apples or organes?) But recent studies have also revealed the variations in microbial community present on coffee plants in different regions. And besides agronomy or roasting, coffee processing can have a huge effect on flavor. Fermenting the beans -- whether in whole cherry with or without oxygen, pulped in tanks with yeast or bacteria, or all the other things producers are experimenting with these days-- fermentation is like an enormous sound equalizer board for dialing up and down various flavors.