We are the rare coffee importer that objectively and professionally grades all our coffees. Our green coffee beans are cupped, graded and categorized before they are offered for sale.  Let's face it, not all coffee is the same, and not all coffee from a single country (or even a single region) is the same.  The only way to ensure consistently high-quality coffee is to buy professionally-graded coffee from a seller that not only does the talk but also does the walk and grades all its coffees.  Unlike some coffee sellers that claim that their coffee is "top grade" or "the best of the best" without any documentation or proof, we undergo strict coffee grading.  Using the objective and strict SCAA criteria and our own criteria, throughout the year we regularly visit coffee farms, processing, transporting and warehousing facilities in order to complete our grading and classification.  We buy at quality-auctions and also at the farm gate (using our own trucks) and we are always cupping, cupping and cupping.  Because "Specialty coffee" covers a very broad spectrum and there are no further standards for it, we have created our own categories and groupings.  We hope they will eventually become the industry standards

For us, the most important factors determining the quality of coffee area bean varietal (whether the coffee bean is Robusta or Arabica), soil quality (whether organic or sustainable, or chemically adjusted with artificial, non-sustainable pesticides and herbicides), bean size and density (the larger the coffee bean, usually the higher the quality, except peaberries), growing altitude (the higher the rarer and better), and most importantly, the care and technique in processing, handling, and transporting (which is the area in which we excel because we buy directly from farmers and small estates before the coffee is blended amongst many producers towards the lowest common denominator).  To maintain the harvest-time freshness of our unique coffees, we vacuum-pack them at origin (a process that we pioneered commercially). The ultimate "proof is in the pudding" criteria, however, is the cupping score.  So next time you buy coffee, don't just take the seller's word for it, ask for objective grading results.  When in doubt, just cup a random sample. That is what we do every day. 

Grading is a widely accepted method to organize coffee into groups.  Cupping emphasizes judgment on all of the characteristics of the coffee's taste and aroma, while grading focuses more on the actual quality of the physical bean, although having one distinct feature of aroma, body, flavor, and acidity that is notably strong impacts the final grade.  The amount of defects, for example, exposes how valuable the coffee beans are, for the raw beans are the foundation and beginning of a bad, moderate, good, or exceptional cup of coffee. 

Coffee grading is not a simple task. Timothy J. Castle wrote in Roast Magazine, "[It] is a vital skill for coffee roasters, and yet is one of the most difficult to learn.  Defects are like mythical creatures: hard to discern, difficult to describe and occasionally subject to great debates over the very nature of their existence in a particular cup". Since everyone's taste buds differ (and cannot be standardized), graders follow  specific guidelines to give all coffee a correct and fair grade.  Grading takes expertise, patience, a good eye, a sensitive palate, and a passion for coffee!  Grading is worth the effort, like any graded food product, because it assures you of the quality, and exposes the unknown.  Below are the Specialty Coffee Association of America's qualifications of the five grades, Off grade being the lowest and Specialty grade being the best:

Specialty Grade (1): No more than 5 full defects in 300 grams of coffee. No primary defects allowed. A maximum of 5% above or below screen size indicated is tolerated. Must possess at least one distinctive attribute in the body, flavor, aroma, or acidity. Must be free of faults and taints. No quakers are permitted. Moisture content is between 9-13%.

Premium Grade (2): No more than 8 full defects in 300 grams. Primary defects are permitted. A maximum of 5% above or below screen size indicated is tolerated. Must possess at least one distinctive attribute in the body, flavor, aroma, or acidity. Must be free of faults and may contain only 3 quakers. Moisture content is between 9-13%.

Exchange Grade (3): 9-23 full defects in 300 grams. Must have 50% by weight above screen size 15 with no more than 5% of screen size below 14. No cup faults are permitted and a maximum of 5 quakers are allowed. Moisture content is between 9-13%.

Below Standard Grade (4): 24-86 defects in 300 grams.

Off Grade (5): More than 86 defects in 300 grams.

We have then complemented the SCAA grading by creating the following category descriptions:
 

Category Attributes Grade* Grouping** Category Screen Size Altitude Grown (feet) Cupping Score (out of 100)   Premium Production Invalsa Extra (A) 15/16 Above 2,500 75 Minimum  Premium/Specialty Production Organic (A or AA) 16 Above 3,000 78 Minimum Premium/Specialty Production Fair Trade (A or AA) 16 Above 3,000 78 Minimum Specialty Production Decaffeinated (AA) 16 Above 3,000 80 Minimum Specialty Production Invalsa Superior (AA) 16 Above 3,600 80 Minimum Specialty Production Invalsa Cumbre (AAA) 16/17 Above 4,000 84 Minimum Specialty Unique Invalsa Supremo (A4) 16/17 Above 4,000 85 Minimum Specialty Unique Micro Lots 15-17 Above 2,500 84 Minimum Specialty Unique  National Winners 16 Above 2,500 84 Minimum Specialty Unique Cup of Excellence® (COE) 16 Above 2,500 84 Minimum*** Specialty Unique COE Presidential 16 Above 2,500 90 Minimum***

* SCAA classification.  Specialty = 80+ cupping score.  Premium = 75 to 79 cupping score. ** INVALSA classification.  Unique = fully traceable to farmer or estate.  Production = combined coffees from cooperatives, groups of farmers, or enterprises. *** International Jury scores given by Cup of Excellence® International judges during official COE competitions.  These are tougher and routinely lower.

Category Descriptions:

Our categories are divided into two groups:

1) "Production" coffees (categories A, AA, AAA, Organic & Fair Trade), and
2) "Unique" coffees (categories Invalsa Supremo   (A4), Micro Lots, National Winners & Cup of Excellence®). 

Production coffees normally represent a "terroir", but cannot be directly traced to a farm or estate.  We buy them from coffee cooperatives, indigenous agricultural enterprises or multi-farm groups. Such coffees are normally mixed together from several growers. This is the coffee consumed by most people and the one most available in quality-coffee markets.  Unique coffees are fully traceable to and identified by farmer or estate.  They are kept individually marked from the farm gate to the vacuum-packed Mylar bag, and come with a compelling story. These are truly one-of-a-kind, seasonal, vintage coffees. These are the coffees a very small group of people (though steadily growing) are fortunate to discover and enjoy.

Invalsa Extra (A) coffee is premium-grade, our good coffee, suitable for blending or also as a single origin. This coffee is bought principally by quality-sensitive, but price-conscious, roasters.
Invalsa Organic (A or AA) coffee is premium or specialty grade that is certified organic by a third party certifier. Usually an USDA agent. This coffee is bought by  roasters that want certified organic coffee.
Invalsa Fair Trade (A or AA) coffee is premium or specialty grade that is certified Fair Trade by TransFair USA.  This coffee is bought by  roasters that want certified Fair Trade coffee.
Invalsa Superior (AA) coffee is specialty-grade, our better coffee, mostly used for single-origin roasts but also as a blender.  This coffee is bought by specialty-coffee roasters, with cost constraints, looking for the finer Bolivian Coffee attributes.  It provides a good value.
Invalsa Cumbre (AAA) coffee is specialty-grade and constitutes our best production coffee. It is roasted mainly as a single-origin to showcase the sweetness and full flavor of Bolivian coffee (although we know a few roasters who use it as an ingredient of their "secret" blend). Because of its size and density (grown at higher altitudes), it makes wonderful dark roasts and superb single-origin espresso. This coffee is bought by specialty-coffee roasters with quality in mind, who are cost-conscious, but for whom price is not the most important variable.

Invalsa Supremo (A4) coffee is specialty-grade and represents a unique storied-coffee that is not only fully traceable to the farm or estate but has a very high cupping score. Cumbre Supremo is our "trophy", non-auctioned coffee of the year. We identify this coffee through our regular farm visits. It is bought by roasters looking for a unique, single-season, award-winning coffee. Invalsa Supremo is a subset of our Micro Lots group.
Micro Lots coffees are specialty-grade and include only higher quality coffees. Because we identify them by farm and estate and keep them individually marked, Micro Lots are fully-traceable and come with a compelling story and the highest cupping scores. We obtain these coffees through our regular farm visits. Micro Lots are for the discerning roasters, looking for high-quality, non-auction coffee.
National Winners (ACE-certified) coffees are specialty-grade and are those that were submitted to the Cup of Excellence® (COE) competition and were approved in the first phase of evaluation by the national jury to be further evaluated by the international jury. However, because they did not exceed the 84 minimum-score set up by the COE International Jury, they do not qualify for the COE classification and did not enter the international COE auction.  In our opinion, National Winners have the best price/quality relationship: high quality to ensure admission into a COE competition, but without the high price deservedly associated with COE classification. They are bought by roasters looking for international coffee-auction quality coffee, without the sky-high prices.

Cup of Excellence® (COE) coffees are specialty-grade, best of the country, certified by and carrying the official Cup of Excellence® label.  These coffees are in a category of their own and represent the undisputed "cream of the crop" certification.  They are bought by roasters who want the best coffee a country has to offer, regardless of the price.
COE Presidential coffees are the Grand Cru of coffees. They are best of the world, carrying the official Cup of Excellence® Presidential label.  The rarest and best coffees in the world.  Bought by coffee lovers who want the best coffee in the world, regardless of the price.

Cupping Scores:

Total cupping scores are based on a 0-100 point scale. Each Total Score is the sum of the ten individual coffee-attributes scores, each of which is based on a 1-10 point scale. Specialty coffee starts at 80 points.

Total Score        Description 

95-100                  Exemplary

90-94                    Outstanding

84-89                    Excellent

80-83                    Very Good

75-79                    Good

70-74                     Fair

<70                        Poor to Undrinkable      

Coffee Certifications & Prices Paid to Farmers:

Most of our coffee beans are either certified organic or grown under organic conditions but without organic certification (usually because the farmer cannot afford the certification). Some of our coffees are certified Fair Trade. Our Unique coffees, by their own nature, can have some of these certifications, or none of them!  The overriding criteria for Unique coffees is quality (cupping score) and a compelling story.  Of course, none of our coffees have physical defects (rocks, ferment, insect attacks, mold, etc).

For all our Unique coffees we pay farmers significantly above Fair Trade® prices.  We like to call them "Fairer Trade". We do not pay them for certifications, we pay them for quality.  And this is why farmers with particularly good lots (especially small ones, about 20 to30 sixty-kilo bags), with or without the expensive certifications, actually seek us out. We rather pay the extra premium to the farmer than to a certifying agency for their label.