Insights from a Specialty Coffee Expert: Coffee Q Certification & Cupping Explained
- What’s a Q Grader? Like a wine sommelier, but for coffee.
- Q certification process: It’s tough! See what it takes and why it’s important for the coffee industry.
- Q&A with Stephanie, our in-house coffee expert, and her favorite morning coffee
Have you ever thought about how specialty coffee gets its name? Or how experts determine the quality of coffee beans?
Coffee Q graders help to maintain the highest standards of quality that impacts every step of the coffee supply chain—from the farmers to the consumers.[1] Thanks to the coffee Q grading process, people can trust the quality of the coffee and make it consistent across the industry.
Stephanie Hoffman, our Director of Quality Assurance and R&D, knows. Read on to get all your burning questions answered—including decoding the world of coffee Q Graders and why their role is so important in the specialty coffee industry.
Meet Our Bulletproof Coffee Expert
Here’s a little background on Stephanie: She has a Master of Science (M.S.) in Food Science from Colorado State University and has over 14 years of experience in food safety, quality control and food production. She’s also a Certified Q Arabica Grader and is one of two Certified Q Graders at Bulletproof. Her favorite product (other than our coffee) is Unflavored Collagen Peptides. She adds them to her coffee every morning!
What Is a Coffee Q Grader?
Like the world of wine has Master Sommeliers, coffee has its elite group known as Q Graders. This certification, where “Q” stands for quality, is the top standard for evaluating coffee worldwide. While it started as a way for coffee farmers to assess their beans, now it’s a highly respected qualification for professionals throughout the coffee industry. It’s given by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA).
Becoming a Q Grader isn’t easy. The certification process tests each person’s ability to detect various aromas, flavors and acidity levels through comparative coffee-tasting sessions. They need to recertify every few years to keep their skills sharp. Those who make the cut earn the right to assign the point scores you see on coffee packaging. It’s their way of telling you just how good that coffee is.
How to Become a Certified Coffee Q Grader
First, you need to sign up for sensory and coffee classes as prep courses. Once you’re ready to get certified, you must complete and pass 6 full days of testing. The first few days are filled with training and practice, and the second half is packed with around 20 different sensory and knowledge-based tests.
More From Bulletproof
Key Tests and Skills in Coffee Grading
- Coffee Cupping Skills: Looks at intensity, acidity, flavor, body and aftertaste.
- Sensory Skills: Evaluates tastes and aromas and identifies defects in coffee.
- Triangulation: Finds the odd cup out in sets of three.
- Olfactory Skills: Recognizes different smells commonly found in coffee.
- Green Coffee Grading: Scores the quality of coffee beans before they’re roasted.
Candidates have to rate coffee on things like how acidic it is, how it feels in your mouth, what flavors you pick up and how long the taste sticks around. There’s a tricky Triangulation test where you have to find the one cup that’s different out of three. It’s all about being consistent and precise with your taste. Another one is on the fragrance of wet and dry grounds and there’s a final test on green coffee specifically. Think of it like getting a PhD in coffee.
Coffee Grading System
Any coffee that is ranked above 80 points is considered “specialty coffee.” The gold standard.
80-84.99 – Very good
85-89.99 – Excellent
90-100 – Outstanding
At Bulletproof, our coffee beans typically score a rating of 82-84, because clean, delicious beans make a better brew.
Q&A With a Certified Coffee Expert
Q: What’s a fun fact from your class?
A: “I learned a ton of interesting vocab to help better describe the coffee. At first, I went into it thinking it “smells or tastes like coffee,” but by the end of the training the coffee was “delicate, juicy, citrusy, etc.”
Q: Why was it important to you/ Bulletproof to get certified?
A: “Since Bulletproof only buys and sells specialty coffee, it’s important to have an in-house tasting expert to confirm we are buying, roasting, and selling only top-shelf coffee that meets our quality expectations.”
Q: Which Bulletproof coffee is your favorite and why?
A: “The Original because it’s a great balance of chocolatey notes with some light acid. It’s not too heavy, not too light. Just a good, clean-tasting coffee!”
Whether you’re a coffee connoisseur or simply enjoy your morning brew, you can trust that each cup of Bulletproof coffee has been carefully evaluated to meet the highest standards of flavor and quality—and the intricate process behind every sip. Check out all Bulletproof coffee here.
Sign up for early access to sales, product launches, the latest Bulletproof news and more!