TOP OF THE CROP

Before there were Licensed Q Graders, comprehensive sensory tests, and certified Q Instructors there was the Q Auction. Respected, qualified coffee cuppers were appointed International Q Graders to judge the specialty coffees for auction. This is the story of the start of the Coffee Quality Institute Q Program

Originally published in ROAST Magazine in July/August 2004.

The Q Program at the beginning.....

SAY THE WORDS “Q PROGRAM” to almost anyone in the specialty coffee industry and you’re bound to get a few questions in response—from the straightforward, “What is the Q Auction?” to the controversial, “Doesn’t that compete with other programs?” It’s easy to understand the confusion, as there are already a number of coffee programs out there, and each one is a little different. Created in 2003, the Q Program consists of two components: Q Competitions and Q-Auctions.

The purpose of the Q is twofold: to separate identified premium and specialty-grade coffee away from the normal coffee commodity market, and to establish an independent market for these coffees. Funded by the United Stated Agency for International Development (USAID), the Q is managed by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), with volunteer resources provided by the Coffee Corps and Star Cuppers program.

The Q is a coordinated effort of identifying premium and specialty-grade coffee and then creating a forum to sell these coffees at their full value. The target market for this program is small to mid-sized coffee roasters currently purchasing premium and specialty coffees.

Through the competitions, which use unbiased testing protocols for cupping and grading, a consistent delivery of screened coffee will be available to the marketplace. To insure a fair and successful program, the goal of the Q is to be fully transparent to all parties, and the auction process provides full lot trace-ability to the farmer, who can then be rewarded and encouraged to continue producing quality coffee.

The Q Program officially began with a grading competition in Costa Rica. The competition ran from February 27–March 1, 2004, and the auction took place on April 14. This first auction was successful, with seven lots of coffee selling for well over 90 cents per pound. The second Q event occurred in Nicaragua on March 22–26, 2004. These lots were auctioned on May 4, 2004, with four lots being sold. Future scheduled auctions for the Q Program include the Guatemala auction on July 13.

Creating the Q

Prior to that first auction, much work went into ensuring the success of the Q-Auction. One of the ways the creators did this was by utilizing the lessons of other coffee industry programs to establish a model for creating the Q. One of the important steps was to identify and train coffee cuppers at origin, while building a cadre of respected and trained coffee cuppers in the United States, thus creating an international panel to grade the coffees at competition. Organizers then created a market for these coffees through program promotion and industry education. Finally, an Internet auction system was developed to sell Q coffees and to provide the financial support to create a self-sustaining program.

Q Quality

At the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (CSCE) in New York, which trades arabica coffee futures, all coffees tendered must be graded and identified as exchange-grade coffees. To regulate this process, the New York Board of Trade tests and licenses coffee graders who have expertise in identifying exchange-grade coffee for the six tested factors: aroma, color, imperfections, bean size, good roasting quality and clean cup. These coffees can then be certified as exchange grade and sold via the “C” exchange. The Q-Auction is working to follow a similar path, by training and licensing coffee graders who can identify coffees that are classified as premium or specialty-grade as per the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Green Arabica Coffee Classification system and score an 80 or above using the SCAA cupping form.

While the “C” (arabica) market is commonly called the commercial coffee market—meaning that coffee tendered to this market may have up to 115 individual defects for a 350-gram sample and is only tested for clean cup character—the Q Program hopes to be known as a quality coffee market. Not only are the standards for coffee certification more specific to flavor and aroma characters, the methods of classification for green defects are much stricter. For example, the Q classification has a maximum allowable bean count of 80 defects per 350-gram sample, and it uses comprehensive cupping forms that test 10 different flavor and aroma attributes to determine a quality rating.

Q Cupping

The grading process, or evaluation of the coffees, is a two-part exercise. At each point of evaluation, the graders complete an intensive training program to ensure that they can differentiate flavors and aromas, replicate evaluations and adhere to testing protocols. Currently, the training for U.S.-based Q graders is administered by CQI at the SCAA cupping labs in Long Beach, Calif. This week-long program includes sensory skills testing, aroma testing, organic acid education, and a series of calibration tests to determine the graders’ ability to score coffee flavors and aromas accurately, use triangle tests and complete the SCAA cupping form. The origin country training uses the same curriculum; however, it is a series of one-day or two-day seminars throughout the year, administered by Chemonics. This origin program licenses the coffee grader as a “Star Cupper.” Once a cadre of coffee professionals has been certified through these training and evaluating programs, these people will be charged with evaluating all the coffees for the Q competitions.

Q Competition and Auction

The Q Program is scheduled to operate in four Central American countries in 2004 (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala), with each country holding one auction. In subsequent years, the plan is to have more than one auction per year in each country, with the ultimate goal of being able to accomplish a coordinated auction every two weeks for all coffees tendered to the Q Program that have passed the strict Q grade.

To maintain continuity in coffee submissions, there are protocols for submitting green coffee to the Q-Auction. Up to three farms may combine their coffee to meet the minimum size standard of 180 bags of export coffee, or a maximum size of 275 bags. Coffee is tendered to the Q Competition as dry parchment and must be located in a Q-certified warehouse. Coffees are evaluated by a team of 10 National Star Cuppers, using Q protocols for cupping and grading, to determine the 20 top coffees that receive a score of 80 or above on the cupping form.

The international evaluation will happen with a team of at least six Star Cuppers and volunteers from the CQI Coffee Corps program, who have been screened for cupping expertise and have passed the SCAA Sensory Skills exam. Once the full Q-Training program is operational, only Q-Certified graders will participate at this level. The goal of the international grading is to ensure calibration between producing and consuming countries and validate the findings of the National Star Cuppers panel. For the first year of the Q-Auction program, only the top seven lots of coffee will move into the auction. The intention for future years is to be able to auction off all the coffees that pass the Q grading and score as a premium or specialty-grade coffee.

Prior to the auction, samples of the selected Q coffees will be provided to registered exporters, who will in turn provide these samples to registered bidders. Thus, the green coffee buyers and roasters will have the opportunity to cup the coffee before the auction and make their own buying decisions. The base price for the Q-Auction will be $0.90 U.S. per pound. (at the time of the first Q competition in February 2004 Arabica futures on the nearby NY”C” was $0.72 U.S. per pound)

A Place in the Coffee World

With the Q, CQI has built upon the experiences of other coffee programs to create a multifaceted program that can co-exist with other respected efforts in the coffee industry. For example, the Cup of Excellence, another program that seeks to identify the highest-quality coffee of each harvest in selected countries, sells individual small lots of coffee directly from the farmer. The program works to build relationships between farmers and roasters, and the Internet auction has brought in record prices for coffee. Other programs, such as fair trade, work to provide economic benefits the coffee cooperatives and positively affect their quality of life.

The Q Program does not try to replace these valuable programs. Instead, it attempts to augment and enhance the programs by identifying and offering full container lots of coffee that meet the minimum quality expectation for premium. In short, Q coffees are not “Grand Cru” or the absolute best of the harvest, but they are identified as premium-grade by trained and certified judges.

The Q Program includes a financial mechanism to directly benefit the farmers and local communities. A minimum of 75 percent of the auction price is paid to the farmers, and two percent of the auction price is held for community reinvestment. Thus, the program will have wide market appeal, as it includes a focus on both quality coffee and social responsibility.

Footnote: What started in February 2004 with 3 International Q Graders and 10 lots of coffee, has transformed to 5,560 Q Arabica Graders, 223 Q Robusta Graders, 61 Q Processing Generalists, 118 Q Processing Professionals, and hundreds of coffee lots submitted to CQI for grading - listed in the Coffee Quality Institute 2017 annual report.

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Spencer Turer is vice president of Coffee Enterprises in Hinesburg, Vermont. He is a founding member of the Roasters Guild, a licensed Q grader, and received the SCAA Outstanding Contribution to the Association Award. Spencer is an active volunteer for the Specialty Coffee Association and the National Coffee Association USA.