From green bean sample to specialty-grade classification.
Green coffee is graded twice before it ever reaches a cup. The first pass is physical: a 350-gram sample is checked by hand, and the protocol allows zero primary defects and no more than five secondary defects. A lot that fails this stage never makes it to the tasting table at all.
The lots that pass move to cupping, where certified graders score aroma, flavour, body, acidity and balance on a 100-point scale — anything below 80 does not qualify as specialty grade, regardless of where it was grown or which variety it is. Grading happens at controlled temperatures and dilution ratios specifically so results are comparable across origins and across time, the same lot cupped in Addis Ababa and in Seattle should score consistently.
For buyers, the practical takeaway is the same as with any commodity: origin and variety tell you what to expect in the cup, but only a documented grading process tells you what you actually bought. A bag labelled with a prestigious origin and no grading paperwork is a claim, not a specification.
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