[CQI] Q Arabica Grader

The Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) designed the Q Grader program to create a skilled and credible body of specialty Arabica coffee cuppers. The role of these cuppers is to consistently and accurately assess coffee quality, both cup and grade, as a part of its Q Coffee System. Today, that program is the only internationally recognized certificate system for Arabica coffee cuppers.

Q Graders are recognized as cuppers as skilled to

A Q Grader Course is a six (6) day series of calibration exercises and exams consisting of twenty (20) individual tests that must be passed in order to qualify for certification. Candidates that do not pass all sections during the five day course period may retake those tests during the course period or anytime after within eighteen (18) months)

General Coffee Knowledge (1 test)

A true / false exam of 100 questions on coffee cupping and grading, roasting, brewing, cultivation, harvesting and processing

Sensory Skills Test (3 tests)

Subjects must identify three (3) intensities of salt, sour and sweet odorless solutions. This is first done individually, then when combined in mixtures

Part I: Reference. Participants taste three samples (low, medium and high intensity) of each base solution. Solutions are presorted by taste group. Subjects must rank each by intensity
Part II: Blind Identification. All nine (9) base solutions return unlabeled and must be identified by both group and intensity
Part III: Mixture Set. – Subjects are provided eight (8) mixtures of samples. Each mixture contains either two (2) or three (3) base solutions. Students must correctly identify the components of each mixture. This includes the number of components, types and intensity of base solutions in each mixture. Each mode (salt, sour and sweet) will appear only once per mixture. For example, one mixture will not include both Sweet 1 and Sweet 2

Cupping Skills Tests (4 tests)

Subjects cup and score four (4) flights of six (6) samples. The flights are:

Wet processed Central American mild coffees
East African coffees
Indonesian / Asia Pacific coffees
Dry natural processed coffees but not necessarily in that order

Instructors grade cupping scoresheets based on accuracy and consistency of scoring and descriptions

Olfactory Skills Tests (4 tests)

The objective of this test is to evaluate an individual’s ability to recognize thirty six (36) common aromatic scents often found in the fragrance and aroma or nose (le nez) of coffee. Subjects must first match six (6) among nine (9) blind pairs, then identify three (3) specified vials of scents for each of four (4) groups)

Enzymatic: scents originating from cultivation and processing
Sugar browning: scents originating from earlier stages of roasting
Dry distillation: scents originating from later stages of roasting
Aromatic taints: scents resulting from storage, handling and processing errors

Triangulation Skills Tests (4 tests)

Triangulation tests measure the ability to differentiate coffees by flavor unique attributes associated with each region. Subjects must taste and identify the one (1) different cup in each set of three (3) for six (6) sets in each test

Organic Acids Matching Pairs (1 test)

Subjects are evaluated on their ability to identify four (4) of the more common acids found in coffee: acetic acid, malic acid, phosphoric acid and citric acid.

Eight (8) sets of four (4) cups of brewed coffee are placed on a table. Participants must identify which two coffees have been fortified with one of the common acids in each set and which ones are plain. You must also identify the acid by name

Arabica GreenCoffee Grading (1 test)

Participants grade three (3) 350g green Arabica coffee samples pursuant to Specialty Coffee Association of America Q4.0 Green Roasted Grading Form protocols, correctly identifying each defect, tabulating the total defect count and identifying the grade of green coffee

Arabica Roasted Coffee Grading (1 test)

Participants must correctly identify the number of roast defects found in one (1) 100g roasted coffee sample. Subjects must also

label the sample as “commercial,” “premium” or “specialty”

Roasted Sample Identification (1 test)

The goal of the test is to measure an individual’s knowledge of the SCAA cupping protocol roasting instructions.

Subjects are provided four brewed samples of coffee under red light. One of the samples meets SCAA Cupping Protocol specifications and three others do not. Possible incorrect samples are:

a) Under-roasted,

b) Baked

c) Over-roasted

d) Under-developed

Participants must identify each sample by taste and explain how he or she reached a

conclusion)