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Trade · Rule

Green coffee grading standards

How green coffee is graded for sale – who grades it, how a sample is checked for defects, bean size and moisture, and how national export grades, exchange grades and specialty grading differ.

Source-checkedby Coffearium verification pass· Last source-checked 16 Oct 2026· Prepared with AI assistance· 16 sources (11 tier A)· 2 contested· Updated 16 Oct 2026
Reading depth
Contents
  • Green coffee is graded on a sample of the lot – 300 g in Brazil, 350 g in the SCA physical assessment, 500 g for Colombian export coffee.4,8,5
  • Defects are counted bean by bean and converted into “full defect” equivalents; the SCA splits them into category 1 and category 2 defects.8,9
  • Screen numbers name the round-hole diameter in 64ths of an inch, so screen 18 is 18/64 in (7.14 mm).8,4
  • The International Coffee Organization (ICO) asks members not to export arabica with more than 86 defects per 300 g, or coffee below 8% or above 12.5% moisture by ISO 6673.3
  • Coffee delivered against the ICE arabica contract is graded by three licensed graders; it may hold at most 15 full imperfections below its growth’s basis and must pass a cup test.1

What grading is for#

Green coffee is bought and sold long before anyone roasts it. A grade tells the buyer what the coffee is like without seeing the whole lot. A lot is a batch of coffee from one origin and process, traded as a unit. The grade summarises a sample: how many beans are defective, how large the beans are, and how moist they are.8,4

Several bodies set grading rules. Producing countries set export grades; Brazil’s agriculture ministry and Colombia’s national coffee committee are examples.4,5 The International Coffee Organization (ICO) sets a voluntary minimum for exports.3 Futures exchanges grade the coffee that may be delivered against their contracts.1,2 The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) describes a physical assessment of green coffee for specialty buyers.8

Grading here means a judgement on a sample. The machines that sort beans by size, weight and colour belong to the dry mill, and are described under grading and sorting.

How a sample is graded#

The sample. A fixed weight of green coffee is taken from the lot. Brazil uses 300 g, the SCA 350 g, and Colombian export rules 500 g.4,8,5

Defects. A grader spreads the sample on a black mat and looks at every bean.8 Defective beans are picked out and grouped by type. Some defects matter more than others. One full black bean counts as one full defect, but five broken beans are needed for one.8,9 The total of these “full defects” is the defect count of the lot.

Size. The sample is shaken through a nest of screens with round holes. Each screen number names its hole diameter in 64ths of an inch.8 Flat beans are sized on round holes, peaberries on oblong slots.4 A peaberry forms when one ovule develops instead of the usual two.6 The result is the share of the sample, by mass, left on each screen.8

A · A nest of screens123456B · Round hole and slot78910

A · A nest of screens

  1. Sample in. The SCA uses a sieving method to record the bean size distribution.8
  2. Large round holes. Flat beans too wide to pass stay here. The SCA lists screens 13 to 19 as the most used.8
  3. Smaller round holes catch smaller flat beans.4
  4. Slotted holes catch peaberries; Brazil sizes them on oblong holes.4
  5. Pan. Whatever passes the smallest screen.
  6. Shaking. The result is the percentage of beans by mass on each screen.8

B · Round hole and slot

  1. Round hole. Screen 13 has a 13/64 in hole; screen 14 is 14/64 in.8,4
  2. Flat bean resting across a hole it cannot pass.
  3. Slot. For oblong holes the size is the slot width.4
  4. Peaberry held by a slot.4
Sizing green coffee: an exploded nest of screens and two close-ups of the openings. Schematic, not to scale.

Moisture, colour and odour. Moisture is read with a meter calibrated against ISO 6673, a method that measures loss in mass at 105 °C.8,5,12 Colour is matched to named categories, from blue-green to brownish.8 A foreign or mouldy smell can rule a lot out entirely under the Brazilian regulation.4

The cup. Many systems also taste the coffee. Colombian export coffee must have its characteristic flavour and aroma, free of off-flavours.5 Exchange graders cup at least six cups of each sample.1 How the SCA scores the cup is explained under cupping.

Grades at origin#

Each producing country names its grades differently. Some rank by bean size, some by defects, some by cup, and most combine them.

Origin Body and document What the grade is based on Grade names (examples) Sample and moisture
Brazil Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA), Normative Instruction 8/20034 Defect count (“type”), screen, cup (“bebida”), colour4 Types 2 to 8; arabica cup from “estritamente mole” (strictly soft) to “rio zona”; robusta cup from “excelente” to “anormal”4 300 g; ≤ 12.5% (basis not stated)4
Colombia National Coffee Committee (FNC), Resolution 5/20025 Screen, defects, cup5 Supremo (above screen 17), Extra (above 16), Excelso (above 14)5 500 g; ≤ 72 defective beans; ≤ 12% (basis not stated)5
East Africa (grades used in Kenya) East African Community, EAS 130:19996 Screen, shape, density, damage6 E, AA, AB, PB, C, TT, T6 ≥ 95% of beans in the grade; ≤ 10.5% (m/m)6
Ethiopia Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX)14,15 Green bean (raw) assessment and cup test14,15 Numbered grades; specialty grades 1 and 2, grade 3 commercial in the cup test14 –
Vietnam National standard TCVN 4193:20147 Defects and foreign matter as % by mass, screen7 Grades 1, 2 and 3, for arabica and robusta7 About 300 g; ≤ 12.5% (basis not stated)7

Central American altitude grades, such as Strictly Hard Bean (SHB), are covered in grading and sorting. No official national definition with altitude limits was openly available for this entry.

Grades at the exchange#

A futures contract specifies the grade of coffee that may be delivered against it, and where.10 When New York’s first coffee exchange set up its contract, it defined grades of deliverable coffee and priced them all against one basis grade.10

The ICE arabica contract (Coffee “C”) works the same way today. It accepts washed arabica of listed growths.1 Three graders, drawn at random from a list licensed by the exchange, grade each sample.1 The coffee must be sound, of good roasting quality, greenish and free of foreign odours.1 It must also cup free of unwashed and aged flavours.1 Each growth has a price differential to the contract, and so does each full imperfection below the basis.1 How these differences enter a price is explained in coffee futures and how a coffee price is made.

The ICE robusta contract in London grades by weight instead of by bean count. It sorts deliveries into five classes by their share of defects and foreign matter and by bean size.2

Reference values: defect equivalents (SCA)#

The SCA’s physical assessment counts defects in 350 g of green coffee on a black mat, groups them by type and converts each type into full defect equivalents, rounded down to whole numbers.8 Category 1 and category 2 totals are reported separately.8 The same weights appear in a 2017 textbook chapter on cupping and grading.9 The table below gives the number of beans of each type that make one full defect.

Category 1 defect Beans per full defect Category 2 defect Beans per full defect
Full black 18,9 Partial black 38,9
Full sour 18,9 Partial sour 38,9
Dried cherry / pod 18,9 Parchment 58,9
Fungus damaged 18,9 Floater 58,9
Foreign matter 18,9 Immature / unripe 58,9
Severe insect damage 58,9 Withered 58,9
Shell 58,9
Broken / chipped / cut 58,9
Hull / husk 58,9
Slight insect damage 108,9

The textbook describes category 1 (primary) defects as those that harm cup quality, and category 2 (secondary) defects as those that harm appearance, cup quality or both.9 The defects themselves are identified against the criteria of the SCA’s Washed Arabica Green Coffee Defect Guide, which the CVA document cites.8 That guide and the older SCAA Arabica Green Coffee Defect Handbook were not openly available for this entry; we describe them and do not reproduce them. Older SCAA weights reproduced by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Brazilian weights, are compared in grading and sorting.

What the CVA changed. The CVA physical assessment largely mirrors the 2004-based guide, but water activity and the quaker count are no longer required tests, and moisture must be read with meters calibrated against ISO 6673.8 It applies only to washed arabicas.8 Physical results are kept from tasters until the sensory work is finished.8 Only the affective assessment produces the coffee score; physical results feed value discovery case by case.8

Reference values: physical tests in grading#

Parameter What standards specify Source
Sample for defect count 300 g (Brazil); 350 g (SCA CVA); 500 g (Colombia, export); ICO limits per 300 g MAPA4, SCA8, FNC5, ICO3
Sample for exchange grading Arabica (ICE “C”): sample of 5 lb (≈2.3 kg), graded in a standard tray; robusta (ICE): screen retention per 300 g ICE1,2
Screen unit Round aperture in 1/64 in (screen 13 = 13/64 in); slotted holes for peaberries SCA8, MAPA4
Size analysis standard ISO 4150, manual and machine sieving ISO12
Moisture, method ISO 6673 (loss in mass at 105 °C) as reference; meters calibrated against it ICO3, SCA8, FNC5
Moisture, limits (green coffee) 8–12.5% (ICO export); ≤ 12.5% (Brazil; Vietnam, basis not stated); ≤ 12% (Colombia, basis not stated); ≤ 10.5% m/m (EAS 130:1999); recorded in % wet basis without a range (SCA CVA) ICO3, MAPA4, TCVN7, FNC5, EAC6, SCA8
Moisture exception High-moisture specialty coffees such as Indian monsooned coffee may exceed the ICO maximum under a specific grade name ICO3
Water activity Not a required test in the SCA CVA physical assessment SCA8
Density No numeric limit in the standards opened; EAS 130 separates light beans (TT) by air extraction EAC6
Colour SCA: eight categories from blue-green to brownish; Brazil: eight colour classes; ICE “C”: greenish SCA8, MAPA4, ICE1
Odour ICE “C”: free of foreign odours; Brazil: any foreign odour disqualifies the lot ICE1, MAPA4
Visual and olfactory examination ISO 4149, olfactory and visual examination and determination of foreign matter and defects ISO12

Safe storage ranges for moisture and water activity are covered under moisture and water activity.

National systems in detail#

Brazil. The ministry’s regulation sorts green coffee into two groups, arabica and robusta (C. canephora).4 Flat beans (chato) are sized on round holes: large on screens 19/18 and 17, medium on 16 and 15, small on 14 and below.4 Peaberries (moca) are sized on oblong holes: large on 13/12 and 11, medium on 10, small on 9 and below.4 Coffee that has not been sieved, or that spreads over four or more screens, is “bica corrida”.4 Defects are converted by equivalence tables and summed to give the type.4 Coffee with more than 300 defects, not counting broken, poorly filled, shell and cleanly bored beans, is “fora de tipo” (out of type).4 The cup class for arabica runs from strictly soft, soft and only soft to hard, and then to the phenolic “riado”, “rio” and “rio zona”; robusta has its own four classes.4 The ICO export rule names the “New York green coffee classification/Brazilian method” as the counting method for arabica.3

Colombia. Excelso for export is mainly flat, even beans above screen 14, with a tolerance of 1.5% below it, all retained by screen 12 and at least 50% retained on screen 15.5 Supremo is above screen 17 and Extra above screen 16, each with a 5% tolerance and retained by screen 14.5 A 500 g sample may hold up to 72 defective beans, of which no more than 12 from the first (more serious) group.5 Moisture is measured with dielectric meters calibrated against ISO 6673, on at least 400 g.5

East Africa. EAS 130 defines grades by the screens a bean passes and stays on, citing ISO 4150.6 AA beans pass screen 21 and stay on screen 18; AB pass 18 and stay on 16; PB (peaberries) pass 17 and stay on 12; C pass 16 and stay on 10.6 E (two beans joined together) stay on screen 21, and T, the smallest and broken pieces, pass screen 7.6 TT is a density grade: light beans blown out of AA, AB and E by air.6 A further ten classes limit insect, fungal and rodent damage.6 The 1999 edition was the one openly available.

Ethiopia. Coffee arriving at the central market is graded by the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), and prices are often set on the results of this assessment.14 For export, the grade combines a raw (green bean) score with a cup score; for the domestic market only the green beans are scored.15 The top grades go on to a specialty assessment.15 No openly published ECX or Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority rule was found that gives the point bands of each grade, so they are not given here.

Vietnam. TCVN 4193:2014 covers both arabica and robusta green coffee and replaces the 2005 edition.7 It sets grades 1 to 3, limits defective beans and foreign matter as a share of mass, and names round-hole screens including 18, 16, 13 and 12.7 Its test methods are the national adoptions of ISO 4149, ISO 10470, ISO 4150 and ISO 6673.7 Only a preview was open, so the limits per grade are left out.

Exchange grading in detail#

Arabica (ICE “C”). Samples of 5 lb are drawn from at least 10% of the bags.1 At least 50% of the sample must stay on screen 15 or above, and no more than 5% may pass screen 14.1,13 Graders cup at least six cups per sample for soundness and unwashed or aged flavours.1 The count is the average of the three graders, and the owner may appeal to a new panel within two business days.1

Imperfections are weighted much as at origin. One full black, sour or pod counts as one imperfection, as do five shells or five broken beans; a stone above screen 20 counts as three.1 Most growths have a basis of 8 full imperfections and Colombia a basis of 13.1 Coffee may hold no more than 15 imperfections below its basis (10 for Colombia), and each imperfection below the basis carries a differential of 10 points.1 The rulebook states growth differentials in points too; a point is one hundredth of a US cent per lb. As of October 2026, from the March 2026 contract onwards, Colombia, Costa Rica and Kenya carry plus 1,000 points, Guatemala plus 500 and Brazil minus 600.1 From the May 2027 contract, Vietnam becomes deliverable at minus 600, the same as Brazil.1

A certificate of grade stays valid for later deliveries, unless the coffee is moved to an unlicensed warehouse or another port.1 Coffee already graded generally cannot be resubmitted.1

Robusta (ICE Europe). As of October 2026, the contract grades five classes by defects and foreign matter by weight and by screen retention per 300 g.2 Class 1 is delivered at the contract price; it allows up to 3.0% defects and 0.5% foreign matter, with at least 90% over screen 14 round.2 Class P earns a premium of USD 30 per tonne; classes 2, 3 and 4 carry discounts of USD 30, 60 and 90 per tonne.2 Coffee also carries an age allowance per calendar month after grading: USD 5 per tonne in months 13–48, USD 10 from month 49.2 A 2005 FAO manual shows that the London contract then counted defects per 500 g; one tender type, for example, allowed 151–250 defects at a discount of USD 15 per tonne.13

0246810% by weightClass P (premium USD 30/t)0.5%2 Class 1 (contract price)3.0%2 Class 2(discount USD 30/t)5.0%2 Class 3(discount USD 60/t)7.5%2 Class 4(discount USD 90/t)8.0%2
Data table
% by weightSource
Class P (premium USD 30/t)0.5%2
Class 1 (contract price)3.0%2
Class 2 (discount USD 30/t)5.0%2
Class 3 (discount USD 60/t)7.5%2
Class 4 (discount USD 90/t)8.0%2
Maximum defects by weight in the five delivery classes of the ICE robusta futures contract, with the premium or discount of each class, as published by ICE (accessed 16 Oct 2026).2

Robusta grading#

According to a 2017 textbook chapter, physical grading of robusta is very similar to that of arabica, because the defects are very similar.9 The chapter describes a robusta defect table developed by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) and the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).9 Their “fine robusta” classification separates high-quality robustas from commercial grades by cup score.9 The ICO export rule allows robusta at most 150 defects per 300 g, counted by the Vietnam or Indonesia method or an equivalent.3 Brazil grades robusta in its own group with four cup classes, and Vietnam’s standard covers both species.4,7

International standards#

ISO standards supply the methods that national rules refer to. The titles below are from the ISO catalogue; their full texts were not openly available for this entry.12

  • ISO 10470 – green coffee defect reference chart.12 Vietnam’s standard uses it as its defect reference.7
  • ISO 4149 – olfactory and visual examination and determination of foreign matter and defects.12
  • ISO 4150 – size analysis by manual and machine sieving.12
  • ISO 6673 – loss in mass at 105 °C, the reference for moisture.12,3
  • ISO 9116 – guidance on how to specify green coffee for sale and purchase, including sampling, packing, marking, storage and shipping. The third edition was published in September 2025 and replaces the 2004 edition.11

The ICO’s quality programme is voluntary: members are asked not to export coffee below its minimum, and to mark conforming lots on the certificate of origin.3

Open questions#

  • The sensory weight of each physical defect: a research programme announced in 2025 aims to set detection thresholds for defects such as partial blacks, chipped or broken beans and minor insect damage.16
  • Grading for naturals, honeys and other non-washed coffees: the SCA physical assessment applies only to washed arabicas, and the SCA calls for new research covering other processing methods.8
  • Limits for density and water activity: none of the grading standards opened for this entry sets a numeric limit for density, and the CVA no longer requires water activity.8
  • Current consolidated texts of several national systems (Kenya, Ethiopia, Central America) were not openly available.

Key studies#

Lingle & Menon, 2017 – Cupping and grading. A textbook chapter on how roasters cup and grade coffee. It explains the split into primary and secondary defects, gives the arabica and robusta defect-equivalent tables, and describes how the fine robusta system was developed with the Uganda Coffee Development Authority.

In: Folmer (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, 181–203 · doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00008-6

Nadelberg et al., 2017 – Trading and transaction. A chapter on the coffee futures market and its history. It describes how the New York exchange organised trade around grades of deliverable coffee priced against a basis grade, and how the exchange oversees warehouses, graders and weighers.

In: Folmer (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, 205–223 · doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00009-8

Mintesnot et al., 2016 – Bean quality of Ethiopian arabicas. Assessed the green-bean and cup quality of arabica samples from Ethiopian growing areas. It notes that prices are set largely by ECX grading on arrival, and that only a small share of samples reached the top specialty grade in the ECX cup test.

East African Journal of Sciences (Haramaya University) · article page

Contested
  • Moisture ceilings for traded green coffee differ by standard: 12.5% in the ICO export rule (ISO 6673)3, the Brazilian regulation and the Vietnamese standard (basis not stated)4,7, 12% for Colombian export coffee (basis not stated)5 and 10.5% (m/m) in the 1999 East African standard.6 The SCA physical assessment records moisture in percent wet basis but sets no range.8
  • How far defect counts predict cup quality: the SCA states that new research is needed to reassess the impact of green defects on quality, and that its 2004 defect reference applies only to washed arabicas8; a 2025 university announcement describes current defect classifications as rooted more in tradition than in sensory science.16 Exchange and Colombian export grading both add a cup test to the count.1,5
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Sources

  1. AICE Futures U.S., Inc. (2025). ICE Futures U.S. Rulebook, Chapter 8: Coffee “C” Rules (incl. Appendix I Sampling, Appendix II Grading, Appendix IV Schedules). Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).
  2. AICE Futures Europe Robusta Coffee Allowances and Discounts. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).
  3. AInternational Coffee Council (2004). Resolution Number 420: Coffee Quality-Improvement Programme – Modifications. International Coffee Organization, 90th Session, London.
  4. AMinistério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (MAPA), Brazil (2003). Instrução Normativa nº 8, de 11 de junho de 2003 — Regulamento Técnico de Identidade e de Qualidade para a Classificação do Café Beneficiado Grão Cru. MAPA (copy hosted by IDR-Paraná, Paraná state government).
  5. AComité Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (2002). Resolución No. 5 de 2002 (normas de calidad del café verde para exportación). Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia.
  6. AEast African Community (1999). EAS 130:1999 Green coffee beans – Specification. East African Community (copy hosted by Public.Resource.Org).
  7. AMinistry of Science and Technology, Vietnam (proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) (2014). TCVN 4193:2014 Cà phê nhân (Green coffee) – Yêu cầu kỹ thuật. Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality, Vietnam (preview on Thư Viện Pháp Luật).
  8. A/BSpecialty Coffee Association (writing team Fernández-Alduenda, M.; Ionescu, K. E.; Giuliano, P.; Rugolo, J.; Delrue, R.) (2024). A System to Assess Coffee Value: Understanding the Specialty Coffee Association’s Coffee Value Assessment (June 2024). Specialty Coffee Association.
  9. BLingle, T. R.; Menon, S. N. (2017). Cupping and Grading – Discovering Character and Quality. In: Folmer, B. (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, ch. 8, pp. 181–203. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00008-6 · other copies
  10. BNadelberg, E.; Polit, J. R.; Orjuela, J. P.; Ranitzsch, K. (2017). Trading and Transaction – Market and Finance Dynamics. In: Folmer, B. (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, ch. 9, pp. 205–223. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00009-8 · other copies
  11. AInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO/TC 34/SC 15) (2025). ISO 9116:2025 Green coffee — Guidance on methods of specification. ISO.
  12. AInternational Organization for Standardization ICS 67.140.20: Coffee and coffee substitutes (catalogue of standards). ISO.
  13. AWinston, E.; Op de Laak, J.; Marsh, T.; Lempke, H.; Chapman, K. (2005). Arabica coffee manual for Lao-PDR, Chapter 8: Quality and export standards. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok.
  14. AMintesnot, A.; Dechassa, N.; Mohammed, A. (2016). Bean Quality Attributes of Arabica Coffees Grown in Ethiopia and the Potential for Discovering New Specialty Coffees. East African Journal of Sciences (Haramaya University).
  15. BKawamata, K. (2015). Current status of the Ethiopian coffee sector: Distribution system and characteristics. Kyoto University (field report).
  16. BSullivan, E. (Specialty Coffee Association) (2025). UC Davis Coffee Center and Coffee Science Foundation Explore Green Coffee Defects. UC Davis Coffee Center.

Tier A · authoritative · B · trade and expert · C · general. Supporting quotes for every source are in the data version of this entry. If a publisher’s site refuses access, try the doi link or “other copies”.

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