Green Coffee Grading Exam

Time: 60 Minutes
Passing Score: 2/3 Samples Graded Correct

In the green coffee grading exam, students receive 3 x 350g green coffee sample kits. These have been picked clean, then tainted with a certain number and type of defects. Your task is to identify the defects iand then the adjusted “equivalent” defect count. Next use SCA rules and label the sample as “specialty coffee,” “premium coffee” or “commercial coffee.” 20 Minutes is allowed for each of three samples and you must grade at least two correctly to pass.

The green grading exam is open book. You are welcome to use the SCA(a) Green Arabica Defect Handbook and any available support materials to help you.  As with the roasted coffee grading exam, this is among the less complicated of Q Grader exams. Yet under pressure, participants tend to over-analyze or over-grade samples. Be careful to not to find defects where there are none. Twenty minutes per sample is a reasonable amount of time, so there is no rush.

Participants also sometimes also find accounting for primary and secondary defects challenging.  This is despite all formulas appearing  in print in the green grading handbook.

When preparing for the exam, get washed green samples from various origins.  If grading is not a regular part of your daily job function, familiarize yourself with the process and standards used by SCA.

To see how grading and the green coffee grading exam works, check out this online Q Grader prep course by Boot Coffee.