Uniformity 10 With a Taint in Cups 2 and 4
A Q grader cups a washed Kenyan lot (Nyeri, SL28/SL34, roasted 24 hours before, Agtron 58) on a 5-cup table. The form reads: Fragrance/Aroma 8.5, Flavor 8.75, Aftertaste 8.25, Acidity 8.75, Body 8.5, Balance 8.75, Uniformity 10, Clean Cup 10, Sweetness 10. Notes field: 'Cups 2 and 4 - faint papery/cardboard, low intensity. Cups 1, 3, 5 clean and sweet.' No defect points are entered in the defect line. The grader's final score is written as 81.5 and the offer sheet goes out as 'Specialty, 81.5 points'. A second grader is asked to countersign the form before it is released.
1. Audit the form for internal consistency. Which numbers cannot stand next to each other?
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Three contradictions, all on the same page:
- Uniformity 10 alongside a defect note. Uniformity is earned at 2 points per cup, five cups maximum. A cup that carries the defect is not a uniform cup, so two affected cups mean Uniformity tops out at 6, not 10.
- Clean Cup 10 alongside a papery note. Clean Cup is also 2 points per cup. Papery/cardboard is a non-coffee flavour, so cups 2 and 4 cannot earn clean-cup points: Clean Cup tops out at 6.
- No defect deduction entered. Papery at low intensity is a taint, scored at 2 points per affected cup - 4 points - and it must be written on the defect line. A defect that is described in the notes but absent from the arithmetic is the single most common way a table inflates itself.
Ceiling check: the six scored attributes (max 60) plus Uniformity, Clean Cup and Sweetness (max 30) plus an undeducted defect line (10) = 100. Any total above 100, or a 10 in a per-cup category with a defect noted, is arithmetically impossible and should stop the form at review, before any conversation about the lot.
2. Recompute the final score under the defensible reading and state whether the lot meets specialty. Show each step.
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Attribute subtotal: 8.5 + 8.75 + 8.25 + 8.75 + 8.5 + 8.75 = 51.5
Per-cup categories:
- Sweetness 10 (all five cups read sweet; nothing in the notes contradicts this).
- Uniformity 6 (three clean cups × 2).
- Clean Cup 6 (three clean cups × 2).
Defect deduction: papery = taint = 2 points × 2 cups = −4
Defensible total: 51.5 + 10 + 6 + 6 − 4 = 69.5
Sensitivity check - the conclusion should survive leniency:
- Most lenient plausible reading (Clean Cup left at 10, only Uniformity corrected): 51.5 + 10 + 6 + 10 = 77.5, minus 4 = 73.5.
- Absolute floor of leniency (grader's own numbers, just applying the forgotten defect deduction): 81.5 − 4 = 77.5.
Every reading lands under 80. The lot does not meet specialty, and the 81.5 on the offer sheet is not a judgement call that went the other way - it is a form with a deduction that was never applied.
Recommendation: withdraw the offer sheet, re-cup the lot on a fresh table with the defect line completed cup by cup, and treat the attribute scores themselves as suspect - a grader who did not notice a 4-point omission may also have anchored the six attributes high.
3. Before any score on this table is treated as valid, what protocol facts do you need?
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Score arithmetic is downstream of protocol. Ask, and get answers in writing:
- Dose and water: 8.25 g per 150 ml, water at 93 °C at the time of pouring, water TDS within specification.
- Rest: 24 hours post-roast is early for a filter roast; a lot cupped at 24 h and again at 4–5 days can move half a point or more. Confirm the rest window and whether the same rest was used for the comparison lots.
- Blind coding: cups randomized and coded per position, no one knowing which cup is which - the person who roasted should not know the cup order.
- Break discipline: crust broken at 4 minutes, note taken hot and again at ~40 °C. A papery note is often clearer cool; it must have been re-confirmed, not just glimpsed.
- Per-cup independence: all five cups from the same roast batch, same grinder, same grind setting, and scored as five separate cups.
- Who tasted what: if the grader also selected or sold the lot, that is a conflict to note.
If any of these fails, the corrected 69.5 is not a score for the lot - it is a score for a badly run table, and the answer is 're-cup', not 'recalculate'.