The Common sense of Coffee beans correctly using Q Grader to Grade Coffee

In the Q Grader course (a professional coffee bean grading course), I found that people can't be 100% objective when grading coffee beans. Everyone's experience of coffee is different, because we have different taste buds, different noses and different brains, so we can't judge the taste of coffee objectively. For example, when I drink the blueberry flavor in a cup of coffee, another person who has never eaten blueberries is likely to come to a completely different conclusion, especially those who live in Ethiopia, where blueberries are not produced at all.

When it comes to blueberries and Ethiopia, we have to admit that today's prevailing coffee bean grading standards prefer beans with floral and fruity flavors, such as dry-processed Ethiopian coffee with strong floral and fruity aromas. so that coffee tastes more like tea. In the process of learning, I noticed that people are more likely to give higher scores to coffee that tastes "fresh", "bright", "floral", "fruity" and "candy".

In one of the articles I shared, Andrew described how people classify coffee beans:

"the ultimate goal of the cup testing of the American Special Coffee Association (SCAA) and the Q Grader grading method used by the Coffee quality Association (CQI) is to standardize the industry's classification criteria for high-quality coffee. And tell people what good washed Arabica beans are-they must have a balanced taste, excellent acidity, rich and complex aroma, rich taste, mellow taste, light bitterness and bright sweetness.

But in fact, what specialty coffee professionals and coffee lunatics think of as good beans may not be what consumers really want. I have seen it countless times in farmers' markets: silky, soft-tasting, chocolate-rich Salvadoran coffee beans are more popular than fresh, fresh, floral Ethiopian beans. Although Ethiopian coffee beans are higher in terms of classification, Salvadoran coffee beans perform better in the market. "

In the face of the gap between the grade and the best-selling level of coffee beans, how should we deal with it? Andrew wrote:

"if we want to expand the audience of specialty coffee, then we must establish a coffee flavor map that belongs only to consumers and memorize their taste preferences. We must abandon the old idea that only we know which coffee beans are better, and you don't need to know too much, and pursue the realm of "Let us provide you with relevant information and help you choose coffee beans that are more suitable for you".

We should realize that providing information to our customers and popularizing coffee knowledge for the public is the key to our success. I have always believed that only customers who understand and love coffee are customers with real purchasing power. Only when the consumer realizes that the taste of the coffee bean is closely related to its origin, and the taste of the coffee beans we provide to him is very suitable for his personal preference, can the consumer really have an extraordinary coffee experience. "

We have to say that Q Grader is a very authoritative coffee bean grading standard, but it is only suitable for internal use in the industry, not suitable for ordinary consumers. In order for our customers to really accept special coffee, we must undertake the important task of education and dissemination, and we must tell consumers that special coffee is actually a common daily necessities, but it is very important to the development of human society and even civilization. After we convey these messages to consumers, we should provide them with plenty of choice. If our education is successful, consumers must make the right choice. This correctness is relative, and it has nothing to do with industry standards, because for consumers, what they like is the right thing.