How does the Kenya coffee grading system separate AA TOP from AA?

Kenya's official coffee grading system sorts green beans by screen size, shape and hardness, running from AA or AA+ down through AB, PB, C, E, TT and T. AA grade beans fall between screen 17 and 18. Labels such as TOP, PLUS and FAQ are not official grades; they are designations added by exporters and auctions, so AA TOP sits above standard AA.

Most Kenyan coffee, whether from large estates or smallholders, is sent to the Kenya Coffee Board for official grading, then cupped and auctioned every Tuesday at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange. In the cup, AA TOP tends to show greater cleanliness and complexity, with a sharper sweet-acidic balance than regular kenya coffee AA lots.

Kenya's coffee grading system has long confused many enthusiasts—what exactly do the letters AA, AB, and PB stand for? Is AA TOP an extra designation beyond the official grades? This article systematically breaks down Kenya's official green bean grading standards, explaining dimensions such as screen size, shape, and hardness one by one, while also clarifying non-official labels like TOP, PLUS, and FAQ added by exporters. Through a comparative brewing of two Front Street Kenyan AA beans, the article concretely demonstrates the real differences between AA TOP and regular AA in cleanliness, complexity, and sweet-acidic performance, helping readers make clearer choices when purchasing.

We previously covered how Ethiopian coffee is graded; this time we turn our attention to Kenya to see how coffee grading works in this East African producing country. When buying beans, you often see labels like AA or AB on the packaging—what exactly do they refer to? And where does AA TOP come into play? Today Front Street will walk you through these questions one by one.

Kenyan coffee growers can be roughly divided into two categories: larger estates and the numerous "smallholders." Regardless of type, after the coffee cherries are fully processed, the vast majority must be sent to the Kenya Coffee Board for official grading and assessment.

The Coffee Board sends out green bean samples from beans collected for auction, allowing interested buyers to cup and evaluate them, then holds a bidding auction every Tuesday at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange in the capital. This mechanism emphasizes transparency, with both official and independent sales agents operating in parallel; overseas buyers can also bypass the official auction channel and deal directly with producers. Producers thus receive relatively fair returns, without middlemen driving down prices layer by layer and taking most of the profits.

The Kenyan government regulates the coffee industry quite strictly—unauthorized felling or destruction of coffee trees is illegal. In terms of quality control, few countries are as meticulous as Kenya, which is clearly evident from the thoroughness of its grading system.

| Kenya Coffee Grading

Kenyan coffee grading mainly depends on three things: bean size, shape, and hardness. From highest to lowest: AA or AA+, AB, PB, C, E, TT, T:

AA grade: screen size falls between 17 and 18

AB grade: screen size between 15 and 16, accounts for the largest proportion of production and is the most common green bean grade on the market

C grade: screen size between 12 and 14

PB grade: refers to round green beans, accounting for about 10% of all coffee beans

E grade (elephant bean): large mutant beans formed by two beans merging, also called elephant ear beans, usually over screen 18, extremely rare in quantity.

TT grade: lighter green beans blown out from AA and AB beans by an air separator, indicating softer bean quality and hardness below standard

T grade: screen size below 12. T grade consists of lightweight green beans blown out from C grade beans by an air separator; the beans are softer, fail to meet hardness standards, and are small in size with a high proportion of defective beans

MH/ML grade: unwashed and unsorted, these are beans that naturally fall after harvest, accounting for about 7% of all coffee beans. This is the lowest grade and circulates only in Kenya's domestic market.

The above covers Kenya's official grading system. In addition, Kenyan exporters or green bean traders add their own grading labels (not officially recognized by Kenya) specifically for AA and AB grades, in order: TOP, PLUS (+), FAQ.

TOP

Using cupping results as a grading basis is currently not an official Kenyan standard but rather added by exporters themselves, inevitably involving commercial considerations, so it can only serve as a reference. Ultimately, you still need to roast and cup the beans yourself to truly judge their quality.

PLUS (+)

For the same bean, Company A and Company B may have different standards, leading to different results. After all, there is no unified grading specification for this level, nor a standard for delineating cup flavor results, so it can only serve as a reference—ultimately you have to rely on your own cupping.

FAQ

Fair to Average Quality, may contain some minor defective beans, but these will not affect the flavor.

Speaking of which, we also often see designations like "AA+" and "AA++"—what's special about those?

As mentioned earlier, grades like TOP, PLUS (+), and FAQ are established by Kenyan coffee traders themselves. Even for the same bean, different companies' standards yield different results. Precisely because these are added by exporters at their own discretion, commercial factors are inevitably involved, so they can only serve as reference—what really matters is how the beans perform after actual roasting and cupping.

So what exactly is the difference between Front Street Kenya AA TOP and Front Street Kenya AA?

Although grades like TOP are labeled by Kenyan coffee traders after cupping, is there actually a flavor difference between beans labeled TOP and those without? Let's compare using two beans: Front Street Asali Coffee and Front Street Karogoto Coffee~

Front Street Kenya Asali AA TOP Exquisite 72-Hour Washed

Country: Kenya

Region: Thika

Washing Station: Asali Honey Washing Station

Altitude: 1550–1750 meters

Soil: Volcanic soil

Grade: AA TOP

Variety: SL-28, SL-34

Processing: 72-hour washed

Kenya Karogoto AA

Country: Kenya

Region: Nyeri

Washing Station: Karogoto Washing Station

Altitude: 1,800 meters

Variety: SL28, SL34

Cooperative: Tekangu FCS

Producer: Cooperative member smallholders

Let's brew a pour-over of each and see what flavor differences they have.

Dripper: V60

Grind size: fine sugar (80% passing through Chinese standard No. 20 sieve)

Water temperature: 92–93°C

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Method: bloom with 30g water for 30s, first pour with a slow small stream to 120g and stop, slowly circling; second pour with a slightly larger stream to 225ml, 30-120-75, total extraction time about 2 minutes.

Kenya Asali: Wet aroma has ripe tomato and floral notes. When hot, the entry is caramel and yellow sugar sweetness; as it cools slightly, cherry tomato and smoked plum acidity emerge—bright acidity, clean mouthfeel, medium body, with prominent mid-palate sweetness and a juicy quality.

Kenya Karogoto: Fresh and clean cherry tomato on the entry, with berry and smoked plum acidity; as it cools, the acidity carries tea-like and caramel aromas.

The comparison reveals that beans labeled AA TOP taste cleaner, with more complex flavor layers, and perform better in body, sweetness, and acidity. AA grade beans, meanwhile, have good clarity and an overall refreshing profile.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.