I would personally like to see a complete shift in the direction of utilising the full scale.
I have always felt that the grading system is a little too narrow to create any real distinction between quality levels.
Obviously, a higher scoring coffee would indicate better quality and this is true however, I think everyone who works in specialty coffee would like to see the producers rewarded for their hard work in creating coffees of real distinction and it would be a shame if the people qualified to assess coffee were somehow bound to a range in fear of loosing their license (or worse) being seen to be rewarding coffees out of calibration with their peers, especially if the coffee warrants the high grade.
I think there is a shift coming from within, and the SCA have just published a (White Paper) last week, detailing the importance and value of specialty coffee cuppers across the complete value chain, I will link this below for reference.
The current cupping protocols have evolved from there intended purpose through the growth of specilaty coffee and this needs to be reflected in the way we communicate quality moving forward. I think it will have great benefits for both the consumer and the producer if we give the coffees the grade they deserve, and who knows - we might see a 100 point coffee in the future.
Do you think there are enough coffees graded at 92 (or whatever the applicable number) to constitute an informal shift of the grading curve?
Meaning, if graders only ever grade up to 92 then has 92 become the new perfect score?
Hi Matthew,
Great question.
I would personally like to see a complete shift in the direction of utilising the full scale.
I have always felt that the grading system is a little too narrow to create any real distinction between quality levels.
Obviously, a higher scoring coffee would indicate better quality and this is true however, I think everyone who works in specialty coffee would like to see the producers rewarded for their hard work in creating coffees of real distinction and it would be a shame if the people qualified to assess coffee were somehow bound to a range in fear of loosing their license (or worse) being seen to be rewarding coffees out of calibration with their peers, especially if the coffee warrants the high grade.
I think there is a shift coming from within, and the SCA have just published a (White Paper) last week, detailing the importance and value of specialty coffee cuppers across the complete value chain, I will link this below for reference.
The current cupping protocols have evolved from there intended purpose through the growth of specilaty coffee and this needs to be reflected in the way we communicate quality moving forward. I think it will have great benefits for both the consumer and the producer if we give the coffees the grade they deserve, and who knows - we might see a 100 point coffee in the future.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/584f6bbef5e23149e5522201/t/642b53fe8a680f219eb88dab/1680561150312/SCA_CuppingWhitepaper_V5.pdf
Thanks for taking the time to comment. It is really appreciated.
Burts