6 August 2026 · 4 min read
when we write «a score of 84» or «specialty from 80», behind those numbers is not someone's taste «by eye» but a standardised protocol — cupping — and people with special certification. let's look at how coffee is graded professionally and why those numbers can be trusted.
what cupping is
cupping is the standard tasting procedure for assessing coffee quality. the main idea is to remove brewing variables (method, barista, «eyeballed» grind) from the equation so you compare the BEAN itself. so cupping is always done the same way, by a protocol, and usually with several samples side by side — for comparison.
how it's done
simplified: an equal dose of freshly ground coffee (the same coarse grind) goes into identical cups, is filled with hot water at a standard ratio and left to steep. a «crust» forms on top. the taster first smells the dry coffee, then the wetted grounds, then «breaks the crust» with a spoon (the moment of most intense aroma), skims the foam — and tastes, loudly «slurping» from the spoon to spray the coffee across the mouth. scoring happens gradually as the cup cools, because different qualities reveal themselves at different temperatures.
the scoring criteria (the sca scale)
each sample is scored on a set of attributes, each giving points, and the sum forms a result on the 100-point sca scale. the main criteria:
- aroma (dry and wet)
- flavour
- aftertaste
- acidity (its quality, not just intensity)
- body
- balance
- sweetness
- cup cleanliness
- uniformity (whether all cups of a sample are alike)
- overall impression.
defects (off-tastes, taints) subtract points. a result of 80+ = specialty; we take from 84.
who a q-grader is
a q-grader is a taster certified by the coffee quality institute (cqi) after a demanding exam of dozens of stations: recognising tastes and aromas, sorting by acidity/sweetness, «blind» cuppings and so on. the certification has to be renewed periodically. that's exactly why a q-grader's score means roughly the same thing across the world — a shared «language of quality».
why a buyer should know this
so you understand that behind the word «specialty» and a score sits a real, repeatable procedure, not marketing. and so you can taste more attentively yourself: at home you can do a simplified cupping — brew 2–3 different coffees identically side by side and score acidity, sweetness, body, aftertaste in turn. it's the fastest way to train your palate (see the tasting and flavour-wheel article).
in short
cupping is a standardised tasting that removes brewing variables and lets you honestly compare beans; sca scores are built from specific attributes; a q-grader is a certified professional with a shared «language of quality». behind the number «84» sits exactly this — which is why it can be trusted more than pretty words on a label.