Brazil Coffee Defect Images

Images of typical Brazil coffees defects culled from a sample brought back from Minas Gerais.

The bane of quality coffee is defectIn coffee, a defect refers to specific preparation problems with the green coffee, or a flavor problem found in the cupping process. Bad seeds in the green coffee... beans, even though the presence of some defects doesn’t necessarily ruin the cup quality, as the absence of defects doesn’t mean the coffee will taste great.

Is that confusing? I can clarify a bit: some defects, usually rated under the heading “primary defects” in the coffee gradingThe evaluation and scoring of physical coffee defects in green coffee.: Coffee grading is the technical skill of evaluating and scoring of physical coffee defects in green coffee.... system have a huge bearing on the cup taste. In fact the whole system is based on the fact that the black beanA coffee bean whose interior is totally back (endosperm), due to fungi, mold, yeast, pest. This happens with over-mature coffee cherry where the bean falls to the ground..., the first image below, equals 1 full point defect, and everything else is rated against the -1 increment of the black bean.

And yes, the black bean is bad. That’s why it is also called a “stinker” bean. It imparts a nasty phenolic flavor in the cup. One black bean in a cuppingCupping is a method of tasting coffee by steeping grounds in separate cups for discrete amounts of ground coffee, to reveal good flavors and defects to their fullest.... cup and you will gag. It’s awful.

At the same time, a “golden bean” considered a secondary defect, has a slight woodyGenerally a taste defect from age; old green coffee, perhaps yellowing in color. This is due to the drying out of the coffee over time, and as the... aspect in the cup. Blend a golden bean into a test cup and you might have trouble detecting it. Brew a cup with 100% golden beansThey are pale yellow and slightly translucent: Golden beans are found in Yemen and Ethiopia dry-process coffees, and sometimes in other origins. They are pale yellow and slightly... and it would be great, but wouldn’t be terrible either.

In the case of organicGrown without the use of artificial fertilizers, herbicides, etc.: Organic coffee has been grown according to organic farming techniques, typically without the use of artificial fertilizers. Some farms... certified BrazilBrazil is a coffee giant . As Frank Sinatra sang, "they grow an awful lot of coffee in Brazil".: Brazil is a coffee giant . As Frank Sinatra..., it is sadly, facingFacing can mean turning toward, standing up to, being brave. But in coffee roasting though, it means scorching a roast.: Facing refers to scorch marks found on the... a full-on assault of insect, fungus, and poor nutrition. And on top of that, grown at 900 meters. I won’t name this specific lot of coffee, but needless to say we were disappointed in the preparationPreparation refers to the dry-milling steps of preparing coffee for export: hulling, grading, classifying, sorting.: Preparation refers to the dry-milling steps of preparing coffee for export: hulling, grading,... and downgraded the review.

Amazingly, if the roaster had culled it before pre-roast, and again for immatures (quakersA quaker is an industry term to describe under-ripe, undeveloped coffee seeds that fail to roast properly.: A quaker is an industry term to describe under-ripe, undeveloped coffee...) post-roast, the cup could end up in the 86 point range.

Some of these defects are common to Brazil coffees of the commercial grades. Others are exacerbated by the lack of nutritional inputs, fungicides and such.

Perhaps there is merit in accepting flaws in coffee, knowing it can be cleaned up by the home roaster, and that we are supporting an organic farm … provided that the farm does well with the price they receive and that it truly covers the cost of lower plant productivity.