The Importance of Grading Coffee

Have you ever thought about where your coffee comes from? Before it turns into that delicious tasting drink that usually starts people’s days, coffee is first ground from beans. The type and quality of the beans can vary significantly and it is important to pay attention to which beans are filtering down into your morning latte.

 Like any other natural produce, there are always going to be some beans that are not quite up to scratch due to the growing region, the handling process or the change in seasons. Whilst there is no set standard for coffee grading, there are five grades of coffee beans to indicate imperfections ranging from off-grade to specialty. This classification comes from the number of defects each quantity of beans has and the quality of coffee it produces.

 The grading of coffee is important to farmers, and buyers have equal information about the type of coffee they are buying and where and how they are going to use it.

 Let’s take a brief look at each coffee grade and next time you’re at your local cafe be sure to look for the grade number on the front of the bag of beans.

 Grade 1: Specialty Grade Coffee Beans 

These beans appear to have no major defects such as no insect damage which produces rough or pale coloured beans. There will be minimal colour variance for the type of bean being farmed, processed and packed for the buyer. Good quality coffee will have the optimal acidity, aroma and taste that is minimally affected by the temperature throughout the process. Overall, there will be no more than three defects in each batch.

Grade 2: Premium Grade Coffee Beans 

Similar to its speciality grade counterpart, premium beans must meet a similar criteria, however they have more of a lenience towards the defects with a total of six instead of three.

Grade 3: Exchange Grade Coffee Beans

When the defects range from 7 – 13 they will be grouped into this coffee grade. During the screening level more than half of these beans will be without defect which can often give these beans a bitter taste; some might say this is the perfect taste for coffee!

Grade 4: Standard Grade Coffee Beans

The usual run of the mill beans will be in this grade, nothing special about these beans that usually have anywhere from 24 – 84 defects and will be classified as grade 4, not far behind the lowest grade 5.

Grade 5: Off-Grade Coffee Beans 

The low quality of beans that have nearly 90% defects is reflected in the sale price of these beans. Most avid coffee drinkers will turn their nose up to this grade and claim it is undrinkable. Perhaps it is suitable for those looking for a caffeine hit but don’t mind the bitter and less aromatic flavour of coffee.

It is important to remember that each country has its own grading system and therefore not all grades will reflect the same standard world-wide. However, if you love a daily cup of coffee, knowing the grade of bean you are drinking might just help you to find the perfect cup.