Coffee quality grading-coffee bean grading

There is no internationally accepted standard for coffee quality grading, and the grading methods in each country are different. Therefore, coffee classification is based on a number of characteristics applicable to each producing country. Samples of coffee beans taken from a bag are judged according to the standards of the country of production, and these samples are rated according to the evaluation. Most coffee grades are characterized by:

Appearance (size, uniformity, color), number of beans missing in the sample, cup quality, including taste and alcohol, and roasting of the coffee beans. Grading and terminology vary from country to country, so coffee quality standards relate only to the type of coffee produced in that country, and it is difficult to know the true quality of coffee without familiarity with a country's original classification standards. But at least there is a fixed reference between countries: coffee beans are sized using standardized sieves, so buyers don't have to look at how big or small the beans are from the producer's point of view.

A coffee bean may have a special name, or treatment (washed or unwashed), or it may have a title, or it may simply have a letter or number after it. In some countries where the coffee industry has been nationalized, the grading system seems uninteresting. Kenya, for example, a bag of coffee may be washed AA, with a number indicating a grade of 1/10 cup quality.

Most Caribbean and Central American countries express quality by elevation. Like Costa Rica's Eastern District produces LGA kLaW Graven Atlanti. MGA(Medium Graven Atlantic). Atlantic Mid-Altitude), HGA( High GraumAtlantic High Altitude); West Coast Slopes produce HB (Hard Bean), MHB (Medium Hard Bean), GHB(Gaad Hard Bean) and SHB(Strictly Hard Bean). The harder the beans, the higher the altitude at which they are grown, the higher the price. Costa Rica's best plantations label their bags with an altitude, and like Nicaragua, Costa Rica uses exotic regional names. Guatemala is labeled more vaguely at altitude, ranging from 700 to 1700 meters:"Good Washed,""Extra Good Washed,""Prime Washed,""Extra PrimeWashed,""Semi Hard Bean(SH),""Hard Bean (HB),""Fancp Hard Bean," and "Strictly Hard Bean(SHB)."

National classification system

Countries such as Brazil have made clear labels for different coffee qualities. Each coffee bag is classified according to the variety of coffee or according to the name of the port of shipment (Santos, Parana, etc.). Then there are the cases of deficient beans, such as NY(meaning "we count the number of deficient beans in a way that the American countries can understand") and Standard 3(meaning "12 deficient beans per 300 gram sample"), which also include stones and twigs. The Brazilian classification system also includes bean size, color, density, shape, roasting potential, cup quality, processing method, age and lot number of coffee trees.

Ethiopia is simply ranked by processing method, place of origin, and a ranking number from 1 to 8 (each number representing the number of beans lacking points). Indonesia has changed the Dutch classification system in the last year or two. Now R(Robosta) is Robersta, A(Arabica) is Arabica, WP(Wet Processed) is water washing, DP(Dry Processed) is dry processing, divided into six grades, 1 and 2 are high, 3 and 4 are intermediate, 5 and 6 are low. AP behind the grading number indicates that after polishing, L,M and S represent the size, medium and small of the beans. For example:"R/DP Grade2L" refers to dry processed large grain premium Robusta beans;"A/WP Grade 3/AP" refers to intermediate washed and polished Arabica beans.

Most coffee exporting countries establish or commission a department to establish standards to regulate and monitor the coffee trade, with inspectors controlling coffee quality. Many countries have established coffee sectors directly, while others have created associations under agricultural or business sectors.

Coffee Bean Grading Noun

The following terms may have different meanings from country to country, but they are generally accepted definitions that help people identify one coffee bean sample from another.

Black Bean: Pest-damaged beans, dead fruits falling to the ground before harvest, decomposed beans, beans with over-ripe fruits, contaminated with foreign substances such as metals. Golden Bean: The size of a bean is between a medium bean and a soybean.

Broken Bean: An overdried, brittle bean that breaks into pieces easily when shelled.

Brown Bean: Used in Arabica coffee beans to indicate overripe, overfermented, underfermented (pale brown), or dirty, unwashed coffee

Discolored Bean: Any coffee bean with an abnormal color (green, blue beans in Arabica, khaki, light brown, light yellow beans in Robusta), which may indicate poor processing or not very good taste.

Elephant Ear: An abnormal coffee cherry with a large bean half surrounded by a small bean. The two beans can be separated during roasting without spoiling the taste.

Elephant Bean: Commonly known as the Malagojipe variant, the world's largest coffee bean. Good baking, soft flavor, generally regarded as valuable beans. But because economic profit is small and disappear gradually, do not confuse with elephant ear bean.

Floater: Bean that ripens, overripens, or browns by floating on the surface of the water due to its low density when washed.

Foxy Bean: Coffee beans that are slightly red from overripening, yellow, frost-damaged coffee beans that are overfermented (delayed de-pulping).

Hard Bean: A very common Arabica coffee bean, which is low in altitude for some countries that produce the best quality "extra hard beans." Don't confuse it with "hard" flavors.

Hull Coffee: Dry-processed coffee beans that remove the coated dry fruit before removing the shell.

Natural Bean: refers to dried processed coffee beans.

Pale: Yellow-colored, derived from immature or drought-affected coffee cherries that do not achieve a satisfactory dark color during roasting. The presence of gray beans can spoil the flavor of a batch of coffee.

Endocarp Parchment: The protective membrane or coat surrounding the coffee bean within a coffee cherry. For seed germination, the membrane must be intact, i.e.,"skinned."

Peaberry: A small coffee cherry with only one small round bean inside (abnormal). Beads of the same kind are sorted together and they sell for a higher price than regular beans, even beans from the same tree.

Pod: Coffee beans that are still surrounded by dried pulp after peeling, belonging to the under-sized beans in the sample.

Pulper-Nipped: Coffee beans that are crushed by the peeling machine are bitten when peeled, which will reduce the quality.

Quaker: Similar to a gray bean, although the term is sometimes used interchangeably with a gray bean, it is not caused by the ripening of the fruit.

Ragged: Coffee beans that are stunted by drought.

Stinker: Coffee beans that are over-ripe, over-fermented, or affected by pests. Bean aroma is generally rancid, moldy smell. Generally, the naked eye cannot distinguish it. When it passes through the ultraviolet light of the electronic grading machine, it appears red, which will affect the whole batch of beans.

Strictly Hard Bean(SHB): The quality of Arabica coffee grown at very high altitudes, with high density and aroma.

Strictly High Grown(SHG): Different classification term, basically the same condition as the very hard bean.

Triage: Lowest grade coffee beans, not exported, discarded.

Unwashed: Dry processed coffee beans.

Washed: coffee beans washed.

Yellow Bean: In the Arabica variety, the yellow color of coffee beans caused by excessive drying.