Green Coffee
Defect Chart

Primary & Secondary Defect Identification Reference

Primary Defects — Category 1 & Full Defect Equivalents

Secondary Defects — Category 2 & Partial Equivalents

P Primary Defects 1 defect = 1 Full Defect Unit

Defect Name	Description & Cause	Cup Impact	Equiv.	Severity
Full Black Dead bean / Stinker	Bean is entirely black or very dark brown. Caused by over-fermentation, drought stress, or disease on the tree. Bean is dead, no cellular integrity.	Fermented, phenolic, putrid, medicinal flavours. Severely taints the cup.	1	Critical
Full Sour Vinegar / Stinker	Bean is yellow, amber, or brown with a reddish tint. Caused by bacterial fermentation during processing — excessive contact with mucilage or water.	Vinegar, acetic, rancid, onion notes. Very high cup contamination risk.	1	Critical
Dried Cherry / Pod Whole cherry in parchment	Whole dried coffee fruit or undehulled parchment bean that was not removed during processing. Indicates equipment failure or sorting lapse.	Fermented, fruity-sour, musty. Taints surrounding beans.	1	Critical
Fungus Damaged Mould / OTA risk	Ochratoxin A–producing moulds visible as white, yellow, or ochre powdery patches. Occurs during improper drying or storage at high humidity (>12% mc).	Musty, earthy, phenolic. Potential mycotoxin contamination and health risk.	1	Critical
Foreign Matter Stones, sticks, metal	Any non-coffee material: pebbles, soil clumps, twigs, leaves, metal fragments, rope, plastic. Enters the lot at picking, drying bed, or milling stage.	No direct cup flavour impact, but extreme equipment damage risk and safety hazard.	1	Critical
Severe Insect Damage CBB — Hypothenemus hampei	Coffee Berry Borer damage — 3 or more entry holes in a single bean. The borer lays eggs inside the cherry; larvae consume the endosperm, creating tunnels.	Mouldy, dirty, woody, bitter astringency. Severe contamination of the cup.	1	Critical

S Secondary Defects Multiple beans = 1 Full Defect Unit

Defect Name	Description & Cause	Cup Impact	Equiv.	Severity
Partial Black Half-black bean	Portion (less than half) of bean surface is black. Caused by localised over-fermentation, frost damage, or tree-level disease.	Mild fermented or musty notes. Less severe than full black.	3	Moderate
Partial Sour Yellowed bean	Portion of bean surface is amber or yellowish. Bacterial fermentation affected part of the bean, often from contact with soil or standing water.	Slight sourness, acetic edge. Affects cup at higher concentrations.	3	Moderate
Parchment / Pergamino Underpulped / poorly hulled	Bean retains its parchment layer after hulling. Results from immature cherries, hull calibration error, or insufficient drying before milling.	Grassy, papery, astringent. Roasts unevenly.	3	Moderate
Floater White/Bleached bean	Very light, pale, chalky-white bean. Bean density is low due to drying too rapidly in heat, enzyme breakdown, or aging. Floats in water density separation.	Bland, flat, empty cup. Baggy, cereal-like with prolonged storage.	5	Minor
Immature / Unripe Quaker (pre-roast)	Bean is small, pale silver-green, hard, and wrinkled. Picked before sugars developed fully. Dense and resistant to normal roasting development.	Grassy, peanut-like, astringent, cereal. Creates pale “quaker” spots in the roasted batch.	5	Moderate
Withered Shrivelled / drought bean	Bean is wrinkled, dehydrated and shrunken. Caused by water stress on the tree during cherry development or very slow-drying with uneven moisture loss.	Woody, grassy, underdeveloped sweetness. Tastes flat.	5	Minor
Broken / Chipped / Cut Mechanical damage	Fractured bean; piece is at least ½ of original bean. Caused by pulping machine, hulling machine, or handling at origin. Surface area increases oxidation rate.	Roasts unevenly, scorches easily. Slight bitterness.	5	Minor
Hull / Husk Silver-skin fragment	Dried coffee cherry hull or significant silver-skin fragment remaining in the lot. Indicates incomplete separation during hulling or polishing steps.	Dusty, dry, smoky when roasted. Impacts roast uniformity.	5	Minor
Slight Insect Damage CBB — 1–2 holes	1–2 borer entry holes visible on the bean. Early-stage CBB infestation; larvae may not have fully consumed the endosperm. Less cellular destruction than severe damage.	Mild woody, slightly musty. Usually below perception threshold in small quantities.	10	Minor

SCA Specialty & Commercial Grading

Allowable Defect Counts
per 350g Sample

Grade 1 Specialty	0 Primary · ≤5 Secondary 0 quakers allowed
Grade 2 Premium	0 Primary · ≤8 Secondary ≤3 quakers allowed
Grade 3 Exchange	≤9 Full Defects Quakers permitted
Grade 4 Below Standard	10–23 Full Defects
Grade 5 Off Grade	24+ Full Defects