I became a licensed Q Arabica Grader 5 years ago. My reasons for going through the certification process at the time have somewhat changed from my current need for the license today. However, I still think the fundamental need for this qualification in our industry is highly important, I am just not sure it is reaching the correct part of the supply chain.
The Q Arabica Grader certification was created as a way to create a higher standard and common language for the coffee community and to promote coffee quality worldwide. It is an extremely valued programme within the specialty coffee community and has created a way for the industry to communicate coffee quality effectively and in a standardised way.
The programme itself is a 6-day course that will see you undertake 19 individual assessments, the course is broken down into two parts, review and exams. This includes cupping protocols, olfactory analysis, gustatory sensory analysis, organic acid identification, triangulation skills, roasted sample identification, green coffee grading and supply chain knowledge. It was one of the most gruelling weeks of my career but also one of the most rewarding.
The price tag is high at around £2000 and the pass rate is low so, if you are considering the programme I would recommend at least a couple of years of experience in the industry in a position where you know your way around the cupping table and the SCA cupping form and protocols. There are currently around 7000 licensed Q graders in the world but I often wonder how many of these are coffee producers.
I can communicate coffee quality very well and I do owe this in some part to undergoing the Q Arabica certification process. My job is to purchase green coffee for a medium size roastery and I spend most of my days analysing coffee quality, this can be in the form of sample assessment or production QC. I also provide feedback and grade assessments for a few smaller importers that we have established long-term relationships with. The Q grader certification for me was a way to validate that I was communicating coffee quality to an industry-standard meaning the feedback I am providing is accurate but this is where it stops. It is not something I would regard to be the most important achievement of my coffee career although it plays a part, I believe most people who roast and sell coffee successfully do so without the qualification and will continue to do so.
Gaining the License doesn’t automatically make you a great buyer, roaster or superior cupper and it certainly doesn't mean that you are an expert, it does mean you should be able to effectively communicate coffee quality with other coffee professionals. It is a slight irritation of mine when I am introduced as the Q grader and as far as I am aware the majority of people have no idea what that is…
The place I think the programme would see the most impact is coffee-growing countries and communities. I believe it is fundamental for the people who are growing the coffee to be able to assess their work in order to understand how to improve quality. I know this is something some parts of the industry are working very hard on but I would like to see more being done to make this a reality. We can't really create equity in the industry when we are the ones being paid to grade a producer’s coffee. This should be a process that is done throughout the coffee harvest and not after the fact, as once the coffee is processed, dried and milled nothing can be done to improve quality until next year. Qualified graders need to be on the ground providing valuable feedback at important stages throughout the harvest and who better to do this than the producers themselves?
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that it isn’t important to have licensed Q Graders at the consumer end of the supply chain, it is certainly important but, we need the system to be spread evenly throughout the supply chain for it to benefit everyone. I will continue to calibrate every 3 years because it is important to me and my continued development but I consider myself very fortunate…
Cheers
Burts.