What is A
Specialty Cup Score?
The coffee cupping score was developed by the Specialty Coffee Association and goes from 0 to 100. Only coffees scoring 80 points or above get the “specialty coffee” badge of honor. Commercial-grade coffee scores anywhere from 60 to 80.
CUPPING SCORE STEP 1:
VISUAL INSPECTION OF GREEN BEAN
The Graders, known as Q-Graders inspect a sample of 12 oz (350 g) unroasted green beans to see if they contain any defects.
Primary defects are: Sour beans or coffee mold, full black, full sour, dried cherry, fungus damage, foreign matter, and severe insect damage.
Secondary defects are: Partial black, partial sour, parchment, floater, immature or unripe cherries, withered cherries, broken, chipped, or cut beans, and slight insect damage
For coffee to be graded as specialty, its sample must contain zero primary defects and less than five secondary defects.
To put this concept into perspective: In 12 oz, there will be about nine hundred coffee beans. If six are broken ones—you’re out.
Specialty bean rules are very strict.
CUPPING sCORE STEP 2:
THE COFFEE TASTING PROCESS
FRAGRANCE AND AROMA
These may seem like the same thing, however, fragrance refers to the smell of ground coffee when it’s still dry, while aroma stands for the smell that the coffee releases once it has been brewed with hot water.
FLAVOR
This is the most distinct taste of coffee, its overtone flavor or flavors. This is the flavor that you both smell and taste. The higher the quality score, the more well-developed notes of cherry, peach, or even blackcurrant the coffee will present.
AFTER TASTE
This is defined as the length of the flavor once the coffee has been swallowed. The longer the pleasant trail, the better the score. If the q-graders sense abrupt changes after the coffee has been knocked back, they will grade the coffee with a lower score.
ACIDITY
Highly praised coffees are usually not intensely acidic, but the cupping score depends on the coffee variant. Kenyan coffee is expected to be higher in acidity. Sumatran coffee, on the other hand, falls under the lower acidity side of the scale. So if a cup of Sumatran coffee results higher in acidity, it might receive a lower cupping score.
BODY
Think of this as mouthfeel. Some coffees will have a more noticeable viscosity, while others will be more watery. The 5 cups need to show the same consistency in mouthfeel to get a high body quality score
BALANCE
As with life in general, balance is everything. Coffee that creates a joyful equilibrium between acidity, aroma, flavor, and aftertaste will score higher in the coffee cupping process. If any of the traits seem overpowering or too feeble, the q-grader will take the score down a notch.SWEETNESS
Coffee contains sugars naturally. So it’s expected to sense a level of sweetness during cupping. However, this should not explode into something resembling a soda drink. A balanced level of sweetness can earn the coffee up to 2 points on the coffee quality score.
CLEAN CUP
This value refers to the uniformity of taste, from the first sip to the aftertaste. If the Q-graders notice any funny aromas or flavors, even the slightest hint, they will disqualify the cup from getting a clean cup score.
FLAVOR UNIFORMITY
Uniformity of the sample refers to the consistency of the flavor among the five tasting cups. If any of the cups have a noticeably different flavor, the cupping score will be lower.
OVERALL
This is where the graders can show their personal consideration. The more the sample reflects the typical features based on its origin, the higher the coffee score.
DEFECTS (YES, AGAIN)
As with green bean appraisal, the panelists can detract the points during coffee cupping, too. A defect in the cupping can either be a taint or a fault. Every tainted cup will set the score back by 2 points, while a faulty one will set the score back by 4 points.
CUPPING SCORE STEP 3:
THE FINAL SCORE
Five sample cups get a score based on the criteria we mentioned above. The final coffee quality score is the sum of the total score of each cup, minus the defects. Across years of perfecting the cupping methodology, this SCAA cupping protocol has become a meaningful way to describe the quality of a coffee sample. According to this coffee tasting process, we can divide the coffee score in the following ranges:
Association Cup Score Form
COMING SOON
Common Coffees and their Score
Coffee Brand
Allegro Coffee
Barista Prima
Bones
Café Bustelo
Cafe du Monde
Cafe Escapes
Caribou Coffee
Cinnabon
Community Coffee
Death Wish Coffee Co.
Donut Shop
Dunkin Donuts
Eigh O'Clock Coffee
Equal Exchange
Foldgers
Gevalia
Gloria Jean
Green Mountain
illy Coffee
Intelligentsia
Kahawa 1893
Kirkland
Krispy Kreme
La Colombe
Lavazza
Maxwell House
McCafé
Nescafe
New England Coffee
Panera
Peet's Coffee
Revv
Seattle's Best
Starbucks
Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Swissmiss
Tim Hortons
Tully's
Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value
Wide Awake Coffee Co.
Yuban
Drip Coffee Cup Score (Black)
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
