What Is an SCA Cupping Score and Why It Matters

How the scoring scale works

The SCA scale runs from 0 to 100, and specialty coffee starts at 80 points. Sounds straightforward, but the nuances matter. Below 80, you're looking at commercial coffee, the kind sitting on supermarket shelves. Between 80 and 84, you have a solid coffee with clear, identifiable traits. Above 85, you're in top-tier territory with complex aromas and well-integrated acidity. Anything above 90 is exceptional and fairly uncommon.

At Trezirea, our minimum threshold is 82. Not because 80 isn't okay, but because we'd rather skip the "almost good" coffees. Those two extra points translate to something you can actually taste.

What a Q Grader actually evaluates

The cupping process is methodical. Ten attributes get scored: fragrance/aroma (dry and after brewing), flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, uniformity, clean cup, sweetness, and overall impression. Each gets a score, then everything is tallied. The Q Grader is looking for defects, not just highlights. A high-scoring coffee made it through this filter without stumbling.

Why you should care

Because the SCA score is the only standardized way to compare apples to apples. "Good coffee" is subjective. "87 SCA" tells you someone who tastes hundreds of coffees per year rated it above average, with documentation to back it up. When you see a score on a bag, it's not marketing. Or it shouldn't be.