TL;DR for Roasters
- →Cupping is a controlled experiment: fixed dose, grind, water, and timing so coffees compare fairly.
- →A Q score sums ten categories — fragrance, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, uniformity, clean cup, sweetness, overall.
- →80+ is specialty. 85+ is excellent. 90 is rare. Treat anything scored 90+ on a sales sheet with healthy suspicion.
- →Score inflation is real. A score is only as honest as the palate and incentives behind it.
- →We publish component scores, not just totals — you can see where a coffee earns its number.
- →The score gets you to the table. Your own cupping closes the deal. Samples are free.
The Protocol
How a cupping actually runs
Sample-roast the coffee light, within 24 hours of cupping. Grind just before water hits. Standard ratio — about 8.25 grams per 150ml — with water just off the boil. At four minutes, break the crust with a spoon and smell. Skim, wait, then slurp hard off the spoon at descending temperatures: hot, warm, and near-cool, because faults hide in hot coffee and show as it cools.
Five cups per coffee, not one. Uniformity across cups is itself scored — a single sour cup out of five points to a defect problem in the lot, and no average can hide it.
The ten Q categories
Each scored up to 10 points; the sum is the cupping score you see on our lot pages.
Defects found in the cups subtract from the total. 80+ qualifies as specialty grade.
The Credential
What a Q Grader is
A Q Grader is a cupper certified by the Coffee Quality Institute to score arabica against the standard consistently — calibrated to other Q Graders around the world. The exam runs across roughly twenty sensory tests over multiple days: triangulations, acid identification, olfactory work, and cupping calibrated against reference scores. Most candidates don't pass on the first attempt.
Sam was one of the first 325 people in the world to earn the certification. Every lot Keffa publishes a score for was cupped under that standard — the same QC workflow from pre-shipment sample to landed spot check.
Using Scores
How to actually use a cupping score
- 1.Use it to shortlist, not to buy. An 86.5 and an 87 are the same coffee until you cup them against your menu.
- 2.Ask who cupped it and when. A fresh-crop origin score can drop a point by the time the container lands. We re-cup on arrival.
- 3.Read the components. Two 86-point coffees can be opposites — one earns it on acidity, the other on body. The total hides what the breakdown shows.
- 4.Score inflation is real. If every lot on a list is 88+, the list is telling you about the seller, not the coffee.
In Stock
Cup our scores against your palate
Washed Sidama
Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, Bensa
Floral | Lemongrass | Green Tea | Peach
Washed · In Stock
WUSH WUSH
Oromia, Hambela
Sangaria | Fruit Bomb | Floral | Sweet Finish
Natural, 120 hours dry Fermentation! · In Stock
Natural ARDI
Sidama, Damo
Clean Strawberry | Peach | Sweet Finish
Natural · In Stock
Common Questions
Cupping & Q Grading FAQs
What is coffee cupping?
Coffee's standardized tasting protocol: fixed dose, grind, water temperature, and timing, so that the only variable in the cup is the coffee itself. Cuppers smell the dry grounds, break the crust at four minutes, then slurp at descending temperatures, scoring ten categories on a 100-point scale.
What is a good cupping score for green coffee?
80 or above qualifies as specialty grade. 84–86 is solid commercial specialty; 86–88 is genuinely excellent; 90+ is rare enough that you should ask who scored it and how. If every coffee on a price list scores 88 or higher, that tells you about the seller, not the coffee — score inflation is real.
What is a Q Grader?
A cupper certified by the Coffee Quality Institute to score arabica consistently against the global standard, calibrated with other Q Graders worldwide. The exam runs about twenty sensory tests over multiple days, and most candidates don't pass the first time. Sam was one of the first 325 people in the world to earn it.
Should I buy green coffee based on cupping score alone?
No. Use scores to shortlist, then cup samples against your own menu and roast style. Two coffees with identical totals can be opposites in the cup — one earning its number on acidity, the other on body. That's why we publish component scores on every lot, and why samples are free.