How Are Colombian Green Coffee Beans Graded?

Colombia grades its exported green coffee beans under the Excelso mark, printed on jute bags as Excelso-Café de Colombia regardless of screen size. Sub-grades include UGQ, EP, and Supremo, and all of them fall inside the Excelso standard set by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation. To qualify, 500 grams of beans must reach 14 screen or above, with no more than 5 percent between 12 and 14 screen.

More than 50 percent of the green beans must be larger than 15 screen. Beans also need consistent color, no insect damage, no abnormal odor, and a clean flavor, with moisture content kept in range. Beyond screen size, defect scoring decides the final quality tier. The article links this grading logic to the flavor and brewing performance of Front Street Coffee's Huila everyday beans.

As a globally significant producer of specialty coffee, Colombia has a strict and well-defined green bean grading system. From the familiar Excelso label on jute bags to the different grades such as UGQ, EP, and Supremo, and on to defect scoring and screen-size sorting, every step affects the final quality of the coffee beans. This article will systematically sort out Colombia's green coffee bean grading system, explain in detail the specific requirements and classification standards of the Excelso grade, and, together with the brewing and flavor performance of Front Street Coffee's Huila everyday beans, give you a comprehensive understanding of the quality logic behind Colombian coffee.

Because coffee-producing countries differ in local conditions such as cultivation history and processing methods, each establishes a quality grading system suited to its own circumstances. Some countries grade by defect ratio, some by green bean size, and others by cupping evaluation. In this article, Front Street Coffee will introduce Colombia's green coffee bean grading system.

What is the Excelso grade?

If you look carefully at the jute bags of green coffee beans shipped from Colombia to China, you will find that the bags are uniformly printed with the words "Excelso-Café de Colombia." Regardless of the screen size of the green beans, any coffee that meets Colombia's export standards will bear the "Excelso" mark on its packaging bag, and the more common grades include UGQ, EP, and Supremo.

In other words, the Colombian green coffee beans currently exported around the world must basically be marked with the Excelso grade on their jute bags. UGQ belongs to the Excelso grade, EP belongs to the Excelso grade, and Supremo also belongs to the Excelso grade. Excelso is the most widely implemented export standard grade promoted by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), and it is also the highest grade for the country's green bean exports.

To qualify for the Excelso grade, coffee must meet the following conditions: in 500 grams of green beans, the size must reach 14 screen or above, no more than 5% of the green beans may fall between 12 and 14 screen, and overall more than 50% of the green beans must be larger than 15 screen. In addition, the green beans must not be insect-damaged, must have a consistent color, no abnormal odor, and a clean flavor. The moisture content must not exceed 12.5%, and the cumulative defect deduction must not exceed 24 points.

Defect classification standards

The National Coffee Committee of Colombia has clear regulations on this. Green bean defects are divided into two types (see the figure below), and the defect grade is assessed through a scoring method. For example, Colombia's most common export specification, Supremo 12*60 (5%), means that in a 500-gram green bean sample, a maximum of 12 primary defects and a maximum of 60 secondary defects are allowed.

Screen size classification standards

Although green bean size is not the core indicator determining coffee quality and flavor, many producing regions still believe that plump, uniform, and large beans mean the coffee fruit has fully matured, can develop better aromas, and is also more conducive to even roasting, thereby producing a consistent flavor performance.

Colombian green coffee beans are graded according to screen size, usually using fixed-size screens, with different specifications corresponding to different aperture sizes. For example, when the mesh is 17 screen, beans larger than that size cannot pass through the screen, so the larger the screen number, the larger the beans retained on the screen. At present, the three grades most exported by the FNC are Excelso UGQ 12*60 (1.5%), Excelso EP 12*60 (10%), and Excelso Supremo 12*60 (5%).

Excelso UGQ 12*60 (1.5%): UGQ stands for Usual Good Quality. The green bean size is 14 screen or above, 1.5% of the green beans are allowed to be between 12 and 14 screen, but they must be larger than 12 screen, and more than 50% must be larger than 15 screen.

Excelso EP 12*60 (10%): EP stands for European Preparation. The green bean size is 15 screen or above, and 10% of the green beans are allowed to be smaller than 15 screen, but they must be above 14 screen.

Excelso Supremo 12*60 (5%): The green bean size is 17 screen or above, and 5% of the green beans are allowed to be smaller than 17 screen, but they must be above 14 screen.

In addition, Colombia also has a grade called Extra for beans above 16 screen, Premium for beans above 18 screen that are even larger than Supremo, and Minama for beans whose size is almost entirely uniform at 15 screen. Colombia also has coffee beans that do not reach the Excelso export grade, locally called "Product of Colombia," which are usually used to make commercial-grade instant coffee.

In Colombia, every farmer reports a number and enters green bean information so that green bean traceability can be carried out later. The naming of Colombian exported green coffee beans usually follows the format of country + producing region + grade + other information. For example, the green beans of Front Street Coffee's Huila everyday beans are Colombia Huila Supremo SC17/18 FNC.

Flavor characteristics of Colombian Supremo-grade Huila coffee beans

Front Street Coffee's daily bean list includes a total of 5 Colombian coffees, each with its own characteristics. If you are a coffee beginner, Front Street Coffee suggests starting with the washed Huila everyday beans launched by Front Street Coffee. Front Street Coffee's everyday bean series covers multiple classic coffee-producing regions and common varieties, making it convenient for everyone to understand the flavor tone of major producing regions, then determine the type they like, and continue to explore further.

Colombia's producing regions are rich in freshwater resources, and most coffee is washed processed. Family-run farms are usually equipped with specially made green bean processing machines (Ecomill or Eco-Pulper). The harvested coffee cherries are poured in, which not only removes the skin and pulp but also removes most of the mucilage with only a very small amount of water. The parchment beans with a small amount of remaining mucilage then enter a small tank or container, possibly a tiled tank, and are left to ferment overnight so that the residual mucilage loosens. The next day they are rinsed clean with fresh water and finally spread out in the sun to dry to the target moisture content. The washing step significantly reduces the defect rate of the coffee beans, preserves the beans' own flavor, and presents a higher degree of cleanliness.

In order to present the classic rich, mellow mouthfeel of Colombian coffee with nuts and chocolate, Front Street Coffee uses a medium-dark roast. The deeper roast level makes the coffee beans more porous and the coffee grounds more absorbent. To avoid over-extraction, Front Street Coffee uses a medium grind size and medium water temperature, paired with a KONO dripper for extraction.

Brewing parameters: KONO dripper, 90°C water temperature, grind size with 75% passing a No. 20 standard sieve, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 15 grams of coffee, three-stage extraction

Pour the coffee grounds into the KONO dripper, wet the coffee bed with twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds, and let it bloom for 30 seconds after it forms a dome. Then pour in a thin stream of water in circles from the inside outward until it reaches 125 grams, pause, and when the coffee bed drops to halfway down the dripper, continue pouring the third stage with the same thin stream until 225 grams, until all the coffee liquid has finished filtering. Remove the dripper; the total time is about 2 minutes.

This Colombian Huila everyday bean has an obvious roasted aroma of chocolate, nuts, and caramel on entry, is smooth and sweet, has a moderate body, a clean mouthfeel, and as it cools you can perceive a pleasant, soft acidity.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

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