How to Use Coffee Review for Buying Coffee Beans

If you’ve ever stood in front of a shelf of roasted coffee beans and wondered which one is actually worth your money, you’re not alone. With thousands of options from around the globe, choosing the right coffee can feel like guessing. How do you know which beans are truly great—not just well-marketed?

The quick answer: look to Coffee Review. This independent organization has been rating roasted coffee since 1997, scoring each on a 100-point scale. A score of 85 or higher is considered very good, 90+ is outstanding, and anything over 95 is exceptionally rare and highly sought after.

What Is Coffee Review?

Coffee Review is an international, professional coffee evaluation platform founded in 1997 by Kenneth Davids. It’s one of the most respected and transparent coffee rating organizations in the world. Roasters from around the globe send in samples of their roasted coffee beans for blind assessment. The results are published publicly, creating a kind of global competition where the scores speak for themselves.

These evaluations aren’t just for industry insiders—they directly influence consumer choices. Coffees that earn high marks often sell out quickly, making Coffee Review a practical buying guide for anyone looking to purchase high-quality roasted coffee.

How Coffee Review Rates Coffee

Coffee Review assesses roasted coffee using five key attributes:

• Aroma
• Acidity
• Body (or mouthfeel)
• Flavor
• Aftertaste

Each coffee is given a detailed cupping report and a final score out of 100. Here’s how the scores break down:

• 85–89: Very good
• 90–94: Outstanding
• 95–100: Exceptional (extremely rare)

While the quality of the green coffee bean matters, the roasting process has a huge impact on how these attributes are expressed. Roast level, development time, and profile all influence the final score.

Notable High-Scoring Coffees on Coffee Review

In 2013, P.r.o. Coffee submitted several coffee batches that earned scores of 91 from Coffee Review. These included P.r.o. (P.r.o. Premium Medium-Dark Roast) and P.r.o. 880 (P.r.o. Selected Heavy Roast 880). Such scores signal a level of quality that attracts serious coffee buyers. (Note: The original article included a now-defunct Taobao purchase link: http://creation-foods.taobao.com.)

Who Is Kenneth Davids?

Kenneth Davids, the founder of Coffee Review, is a highly regarded figure in the global specialty coffee community. He is the author of three influential coffee books:

• Home Coffee Roasting
• Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing & Enjoying (five editions, total sales over 270,000 copies)
• Espresso: Ultimate Coffee

These works have earned him the SCAA’s Coffee Literature Special Achievement Award. Davids also co-produced an award-winning documentary on coffee production, The Passionate Harvest, which won the Platinum Award at the Houston International Film Festival. Beyond writing, he has consulted with coffee farmers, trained cuppers, developed blends, and taught coffee buying and evaluation workshops across the Americas, Europe, Japan, and beyond.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Coffee Review and who runs it?

Coffee Review is an independent coffee rating organization founded in 1997 by Kenneth Davids. It evaluates roasted coffee beans sent in by roasters worldwide and publishes the scores and detailed cupping reports publicly.

How does Coffee Review score coffee beans?

Coffee Review scores roasted coffee on a 100-point scale based on aroma, acidity, body, flavor, and aftertaste. They also publish full cupping reports detailing sensory evaluations.

What is considered a good score on Coffee Review?

A score of 85 or higher is considered very good. Scores of 90 and above are classified as outstanding, while scores over 95 are extremely rare and considered exceptional.

Does roasting affect the Coffee Review score?

Yes. While green coffee quality is important, the roasting profile—including development time, roast level, and technique—has a major impact on how the coffee’s attributes are expressed and ultimately on the score it receives.

Are the coffee beans rated on Coffee Review available for purchase?

Some are. High-scoring coffees are often produced in limited quantities and may sell out quickly. The article mentions P.r.o. Coffee’s 91-point coffees from 2013, which were available via a now-defunct Taobao store.

Who is Kenneth Davids?

Kenneth Davids is the founder of Coffee Review and a leading voice in specialty coffee. He is an author, consultant, and educator with multiple award-winning books and films to his name, and decades of experience in coffee evaluation and farmer support.

Recommended FrontStreet Coffee for Coffee Review Buyers

For readers interested in high-scoring specialty coffee, try FrontStreet Coffee’s Ethiopia Humbera, known for its vibrant floral and citrus notes, or the Brazil Queen Manor, offering balanced chocolate and nut tones. Both are single-origin coffees that reflect the kind of clarity and quality seen in Coffee Review’s top-rated beans. Freshly roasted within 5 days · Orders placed before 17:00 ship the same day · Next-day delivery across most of Guangdong Province.