Sorting and Grading
Feb
17
Written by:
17/02/2012 4:12 PM
Governments of countries which export coffee usually operate or advise a department or agency which establishes a standard, regulates and monitors the coffee trade, and assesses bean quality through quality control inspectors. In many countries the administrator is a coffee board authority; in others it is an institute, possibly under the control of the ministry of agriculture or of trade and industry.
Origins
Mocha, Santos and Mandheling are examples of trade names which reflect a type of coffee from a particular country or region. For example, Santos is a port where coffee is shipped in from Brazil. These names represent a broad style of flavours, but no consistency of product or traceability and can be sourced from regions the size of Victoria.
Regions
Also referred to as "Single Origins": this represents sub-regions from within a single country. It is used to further differentiate coffees within a producing country and recognising that depending on where it is grown, the type of soil, climate altitude etc, that countries will produce different styles of coffee. It is a more consistent style than a country of origin, but still widely variable and blended.
Grades
Most countries set their own grading standards and meet some of the internationally recognised standards (ie. SCAA & NYBOT), so we see terms such as Grades 1, 2 and 3, Extra Fancy, Fancy, AA, AB, AX and more. Merlo only buys AA or A beans and our Chief Roasters are licensed Q Graders – professional cuppers - so are well qualified to source, test, and grade beans.
Country specific terminology
we see terms such as "SHG" & "High grown" from Central American coffees, which literally refer to the height the coffee is grown at. SHG coffees must be a minimum 1200metres and higher, High Grown, must be 900metres and higher and Central Standard must be 600-900metres.
Brands
Branding in green coffee is very difficult. The best systems are geographic indicators such as Hawaiian Kona, Jamaica Blue Mountain and Kintamani, which make clear determinations on geographic origin, and the processing style to determine a particular GI for a region. Even this still must be tightly regulated, very often by government agencies.