Coffee quality/grade. What is American and European Preparation ?

Posted January 8th, 2009 by
Categories: straightguysca.com

I have seen the expressions American Preparation (or Prep, for short) and European Prep and even Swedish Prep used for quality/classification/grade of green (unroasted) coffee. It must be a minimum quality description for coffee traders. What are the more specific technical criteria (like size of beans, impurities, defects,....) ?

Hi alsinger, European and American Preparation refer to the hand process of removing defective beans and foreign matter (pebbles) from a given amount of green beans. European Preparation allows up to 8 defects per 300g of beans and American Preparation allows up to 23 defects per 300g of beans. Grading and Classification: "...there is no universal grading and classification system - each producing country has its own which it may also use to set (minimum) standards for export" "Guatemala:...European Preparation, above screen 15, allows max. 8 defects per 300g (American Preparation, above screen 14, allows 23 defects)." (the .pdf isn't working for me): ://www.google.ca/search?q=cache:SQ9dPOq4zgoJ:www.intracen.org/mds/sectors/coffee/chap3eng.pdf+coffee+%22american+preparation%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 The website CoffeeResearch.org, is a terrific site to investigate - you'll even find a few videos of the classification process. SCAA Green Coffee Classification: " Three-hundred grams of properly hulled coffee should be sorted using screens 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. The coffee remaining in each screen is weighed and the percentage is recorded. Since classifying 300 grams of coffee is very time consuming, 100 grams of coffee is typically used. I recommend that if the coffee is a high quality with few defects to use 300 grams. If the coffee is of a lower quality with many defects 100 grams will often suffice in a correct classification as either Below Standard Grade or Off Grade. The coffees then must be roasted and cupped to evaluate cup characteristics." http://www.coffeeresearch.org/coffee/scaaclass.htm Coffee Defects Images: http://www.coffeeresearch.org/coffee/defects.htm Sizing Chart: http://www.coffeeresearch.org/coffee/sizingchart.htm Video of Classification in Progress: large (8 Mb) or small (1.9 mb) http://www.coffeeresearch.org/coffee/classification.htm Brazil: Green Coffee Classifications: http://www.coffeeresearch.org/coffee/brazilclass.htm Green Coffee Buying: The green coffee seller is responsible for grading a coffee before sending the coffee to the buyer. Once graded, "Exceptional" and "Specialty" coffees can still have problems that are not necessarily accounted for in coffee grading. These "defects" are less serious, but harm the potential of the coffee. You can tell a great deal about the processing conditions of a coffee by looking at the appearance of the green coffee. Although cupping is the definitive way to check for problems, the green coffee appearance is a good prognostic tool. http://www.coffeeresearch.org/coffee/buying.htm Glossary: European Preparation: The process of hand preparing coffee in which imperfect beans, pebbles, and foreign matter are removed. http://www.dreamship.com/coffee_glossary.htm Green Coffee Sample: A Clean odor and aspect, sorted for a European (0-8) defects, or American preparation (10?23) defects. http://www.nicacoffee.com/products.html I think "Swiss Preparation" must be referring to the "Swiss Water Process", or at least that is the only reference I could find online. "Swiss Water Process: A decaffeination process that uses no chemicals." ://www.google.ca/search?q=cache:PiucCO8LevoJ:www.klekolo.com/webmenu/glossary.html++%22Swiss+Water+Process:+A+decaffeination+process+that+uses+no+chemicals.%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Additional Links: Tongue Training: http://www.coffeeresearch.org/coffee/tongue.htm History of Coffee: http://www.ncausa.org/public/pages/index.cfm?pageid=68 Ten Steps to Coffee: http://www.ncausa.org/public/pages/index.cfm?pageid=69 How to Store Coffee: http://www.ncausa.org/public/pages/index.cfm?pageid=70 How to Brew Coffee: http://www.ncausa.org/public/pages/index.cfm?pageid=71 Coffee Recipes: http://www.ncausa.org/public/pages/index.cfm?pageid=73 Roasting Types: http://www.ncausa.org/public/pages/index.cfm?pageid=74 COFFEE FunFact: A Penny Tip? http://www.ncausa.org/public/pages/headlinedetails.cfm?id=207&returnto=1 Coffee Science Source: http://www.coffeescience.org/ Well, this has been an interesting topic to research - I'll never look at another cup of coffee the same way again! If you have any questions, please post a clarification request and I'll be happy to respond. Thank you, hummer Google Research Terms Used coffee "american preparation" coffee prep glossary coffee preparation glossary coffee grades glossary international standard ISO coffee international coffee traders grades "coffee standards" euro "coffee standards" "Euro Prep" coffee "American Prep" coffee green coffee grades glossary

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Coffee quality/grade. What is American and European Preparation ?