On nearly every one of our product pages, one line keeps coming back: 83, 85, 86.75, 88. That is the SCA score. It appears everywhere in specialty coffee, usually without explanation, as though everyone already knew how to read it. Here is what it actually measures.
A score awarded blind, by trained tasters
The score comes from a protocol established by the Specialty Coffee Association. A lot is roasted neutrally, then tasted using a standardised method known as cupping. The cups are prepared identically, served unlabelled, and evaluated by certified tasters called Q Graders, who are trained and regularly re-assessed.
Each judge scores several criteria separately: aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, uniformity between cups, cleanliness, sweetness, and a share of overall appreciation. Defects lose points. The total is expressed out of 100.
The important point is that the score does not reward intensity. A powerful coffee does not automatically outscore a delicate one. What is being judged is the quality of execution: cleanliness, consistency, coherence of the whole.
What each band means
The usual reading is as follows.
- Below 80: the coffee is not a specialty coffee. That covers the vast majority of coffee produced worldwide, the kind found on supermarket shelves.
- 80 to 84: specialty coffee. The cup is clean, free of defects, with an identifiable character.
- 85 to 89: excellent. The coffee has a clear signature, often tied to a variety, an altitude or a particular process.
- 90 and above: exceptional. These lots are rare, often sold at auction, and measured in tens of kilos.
A two-point gap looks tiny on a scale of 100. In reality it is considerable, because all of specialty sits within a twenty-point band. Between an 83 and an 86, the difference in the cup is plain.
In our selection
Our scored coffees range from 81 to 88 points. Blue Mountain from Jamaica is the highest in the selection at 88. Yellow Bourbon from Peru follows at 86.75, then Geisha at 86.5. Those three make up most of our exceptional coffees.
Lower down the scale sit coffees that are anything but secondary. El Triunfo decaf is scored 83, which is remarkable for a decaffeinated coffee: the decaffeination process almost always costs a few points.
What the score does not tell you
This is the most useful part to remember. The score measures quality, not taste. It does not tell you whether you will enjoy the coffee.
A floral Ethiopian at 86 and a woody Indonesian at 86 are opposite cups. If you are after roundness and chocolate, the second will suit you better, whatever the score. That is why our product pages also list aromatic notes, body, acidity and intensity: those are the details that point you towards a flavour.
The score says nothing about freshness either. It is awarded to the green lot, before roasting. A coffee scored 88 but ground three weeks ago will give a worse cup than a freshly prepared 83. On that front, our storage guide matters more than the rating.
Finally, it says nothing about the processing method, which shapes the final profile enormously. That is the subject of our article on washed, natural and wet processing.
How to use it in practice
Treat the score as a floor of confidence, not a ranking. Above 84, you know the lot is clean and well made. From there, choose on aromatic notes and processing, not on a tenth of a point.
And if you are starting out, begin with a washed Latin American coffee around 85: it is the most legible profile for learning to spot acidity, body and length. Our Coffees of the Americas collection gathers nine of them.