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rounding up in any case. Thus if you have two partial black beans, you would end up with zero partial black defects. If you have four partial black beans, you would have one full equivalent partial defect. Finish this process for each primary and The decisions made by a Licensed Q Grader on the grading and cupping forms can effect the value of a farmer's coffee for better or worse. secondary defect. Total the columns and you have your final defect count. Currently, according to the SCAA and CQI, specialty grade coffee should contain no primary defects and no more than five secondary defects. While the defect types, causes, remedies, and visual appearances are static and will not change, the industry's decision on what is permissible for specialty coffee standards may. What this grading system allows for is a comprehensive means for understanding the backstory of their coffee throughout their supply chains. A competent grader can isolate actionable issues and approach responsible parties in order to remedy and add value to the final product for all of those involved. How to Grow While getting started on the path towards becoming a competent green coffee grader and cupper is simple, growing these skills on your own can be next to impossible! It is essential to create a plan not only for practice, but also for ensuring that what you are finding in your samples is what you say it is. Here are a few recommendations for those who want to take steps in order to grow their skills: • Training/Workshops—There is nothing better than working side- by-side with subject-matter experts in order to refine skills in a reliable classroom environment. • Read—Learn about the Specialty Coffee Association of America, Green Coffee Association, Coffee Quality Institute, and other industry bodies that are involved with the development and implementation of standards. • Pursue the Q-Grader License—The CQI Q-Grader Exam is an intensive certification program that brings students through an increasingly difficult series of sensory and organoleptic exercises to test their threshold for discerning minute differences between coffees. It functions to certify the taster's sensory capabilities, calibration at the cupping table, and accuracy in grading green and roasted coffee. It is a deeply satisfying experience that yields tangible and valuable results! Read more about the Q Coffee System at coffeeinstitute.org. Bottom Line Ultimately, having a deep understanding of how coffee moves through its value chain and how green coffee grades and specifications play a role in classifying, discussing, valuing, and improving coffees, is essential to fully appreciating and addressing the challenges that specialty coffees face before they land on any bar and certainly before they arrive in a customer's cup. Pictured: Charley Requadt, InterAmerican Coffee, Inc. Classification Aid courtesy of Todd Arnette, Williamsburg Coffee & Tea. Coffee as a product and an industry is organic, dynamic and massive in scale, and as such, imperfect by its very nature. It is for these reasons that our ability to understand not only coffee itself, but the entire system in which it moves and exists is absolutely critical to our ability to serve the future of our trade. Behind Every Great Cup. Great coffee starts with clean equipment. Visit our new site to see how far we've come! www.urnex.com Specialty Cleaning Products for Coffee & Espresso Equipment. www.baristamagazine.com 75