We have extended the consumer research approach to the evaluation of the sensory quality of coffee by experts.

The Coffee Cuality™ Method, developed by Prof. Jean-Xavier Guinard at the UC Davis Coffee Center, combines the following elements of both consumer acceptance testing and coffee quality grading:

  1. The rating of the sensory quality of the coffee on a 100-point scale

  2. The rating of key attributes on Just-About-Right (JAR) scales

  3. The selection of relevant sensory descriptors from a Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) list

  4. Brief open comments.

The data generated by these exercises is analyzed with a suite of statistical techniques to deliver a comprehensive, deconstructed, justified and validated assessment of sensory quality by experts.

It provides a complete assessment of the quality of the coffee and of the expert’s performance of the assessment task in terms of his/her reproducibility, ability to discriminate and, most importantly, alignment with other experts on the concept of coffee sensory quality.

The 13 elements of the Coffee Cuality™ Method are encompassed into four categories

identsnip.PNG

Sample identification and preparation protocol

 
statssnip.PNG

Coffee Cuality Stats™

A suite for the analysis of the data

scsnip.PNG

Coffee Cuality

Scorecard™

The sensory evaluation protocol and scorecard

 
JARcrop.jpg

Coffee Cuality Dashboard™

A display for the presentation and visualization of the quality profile of the coffees

For most effective, meaningful and actionable results, the Coffee Cuality™ Method should be used with multiple experts - as many as possible. Indeed, that is when the full complement of statistical tools can be applied to the data. But the method can also be used by one single expert, a situation which may be more common for cupping at origin. In that case, the judge’s completed scorecard is what would be used to display the results. Coffee Cuality™ variants are being developed for the main types of coffee beverages on the market or in the trade, starting with coffee prepared for cupping following standard protocols, and including drip coffee, espresso and cold brew.