The Coffee Grading Guide
It's not uncommon to see Supremo or AA printed on coffee bags, but what do these labels really mean? Would you consider Excelso or AB, which are defined as lower grades of coffee?
In this article, we look at what grading actually means and when it is best to ignore it.
What Is Coffee Grading?
Coffee grading is a way of assessing the quality of raw coffee beans before they are exported. There is no uniform grading system worldwide, but rather different grading systems for different coffee producing countries.
This means that different regions use different criteria for grading coffee, and sometimes the same meaning is presented in different terms. According to the ITC, coffee is usually graded and classified according to the following criteria.
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Although there is no standardized grading scale, there is a recommended approach. The SCA, the Fine Coffee Association, has a standard for determining the grade of raw beans, which it describes as "a quantifiable method of quality identification and a scientifically verified definition of the grade or grade of coffee.
The SCA's criteria include the proportion of defective beans and the water activity of the beans. They also outline the environment in which the coffee should be graded, including appropriate light sources and the size of tables.
Although many producing countries follow the SCA standards and have refined their protocols in the light of experience, not every producing country has an entity that regulates coffee exports.
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Ecuador, for example, does not have an entity that can establish a grading basis. Most Ecuadorian exporters follow the standards of neighbouring Colombia, and grading is done directly according to the SCA agreement without any fine-tuning, although it is the responsibility of the quality control room exporter.
Although grading is usually defined by the percentage of defects and related variables, an important consideration is the size of the beans, which are simply sieved using different sized screens.
It is generally accepted that larger beans are better graded, but this is not true, as there are many exceptions to this rule, especially as the size of the beans varies from variety to variety.
The size of the beans is useful for determining the consistency of batches of coffee and helps to ensure consistency in roasting and ultimately in the quality of the product.
It also helps to ensure consistency in roasting and ultimately produces a better quality finished coffee, but bean size alone is not a sufficient indicator of quality.
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How Does The Grading System Work?
The SCA standard recommends that a sample of 350 grams of coffee beans be graded and that the beans are passed through a series of sieves or screens to determine the size of the batch.
The size of the beans is important as consumers generally consider larger beans to be of better quality.
Commercial grade coffees are often blended into recipe beans and then roasted, so bean size is important as different sizes of beans will transfer different levels of heat when roasted.
Although the sieve size used in each production country or region is the same, the terminology is different. For example, very large coffee beans are called supremo in Colombia and AA in Africa.
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Areas Where Size Grading Does Not Apply
Ethiopia is graded differently from other countries because there is a lot of wild coffee and the beans are usually small in size.
If you look at the beans in Ethiopia, you will see that they are generally smaller, so the size of the beans does not affect the quality of the coffee in Ethiopia, and the beans are much smaller than in other countries.
The reason for the smaller beans is due to the growth factor, as there are many what are known as native varieties in Ethiopia, which is a quality that has not yet been defined, and almost all Ethiopian coffee is grown by small farmers, while there is also a variety of wild Arabica.
Compare espresso coffee with Kenyan coffee, which also has a lot of wild Arabica, and Kenya and Tanzania are very strict about grading size, but use a different method to Izabian.
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In Kenya, the coffee must be graded according to the size of the beans before being sent to auction, and then according to density. In Ethiopia there is no such grading, the graded beans are simply placed in a container. Before entering the auction, the beans are cup-tested by a national cup tester and then given a grade based on the flavour profile measured by the cup. It is not just the size or density of the beans that are cupped, but the flavour profile that is graded.
Even without looking at the area of wild coffee, there are some problems with grading by bean size.
Some coffees grown at higher altitudes, such as Colombian Nariño, tend to have a very distinctive cup profile and smaller screen size. Obviously, it is not just the altitude that affects this, but also the latitude of the plant, the mineral content of the soil, and the climate.
Therefore, in addition to the size of the beans, the various grading systems also use other methods to assist in their judgement, and these grading methods are agreed upon between the exporter and the buyer.
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Each customer is free to request the production method of the raw coffee beans, and there are often more stringent grading and packaging regulations for boutique grade batches, which require the experience of both the exporter and the buyer, as well as more effort to control the quality.
When it comes to bean defects, although standards vary from country to country, the guidelines developed by the SCA are important and can be used as a communication tool, as they are based on long term research and experience, and relate to specific defects that often occur in a particular region, which may be caused by local handling methods, varieties, which can affect the flavour quality of the coffee.
How Does Grading Affect The Price?
Grading has a direct impact on price, and Andre says that buyers often buy coffee based on grading criteria, rather than on cupping samples.
"Last year I bought Colombian coffee and I cupped several Supremo and Excelso samples, and I found that many of the smaller grades had more complex cupping flavours, and I ended up going for the smaller Excelso because they had more flavour than the larger Supremo.
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"But usually we ask the supplier to send us some samples, such as the better quality Supremo because we usually use Supremo in the recipe structure. If it's for a commercial blend, we ask for a specific size of a bean or a specific planting altitude, and these are usually raw beans that have been bought in a few years ago.
Andre also considers the price of coffee in Kenya and Tanzania, saying: "I find that usually buyers of commercial beans will pay more for larger beans and less for smaller ones. And they are willing to pay more for pearly beans. If it's a boutique coffee buyer, it's all about the cup and the flavour, so it doesn't matter if the bean size is big or small.
Coffee grading is a difficult area to standardize in the coffee industry, even more so when different countries use different grading systems, but grading should not be the only basis for judging quality.
When you are shopping for coffee, you can dig deeper and find out what you are looking for through cupping, and by being open between samples, you may find a flavour you like in an unexpected cup.
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