Deciphering the Coffee Code: What SCA, SHG, EP, AA, Organic & Co. mean

That is precisely why we have completely revamped our labels and gotten straight to the point. Take our new label for coffee from Ethiopia as an example: Alongside the clear aromas of lemongrass, mandarin, and spices, as well as the flavor profile (full-bodied, fruity, florally sweet), you will find precise details on strength, acidity, roast level, and origin – complemented by terms like "100% Arabica", "Specialty Coffee", and the EU Organic Seal.

But what lies behind these terms? Why do we invest so much time into making these exact specifications visible? Because these specifications serve as a direct compass for the quality, taste, and sustainability of your coffee. Let's crack this code together, step by step.

A Look at the Label: What Our New Labels Tell You

When you look at our new label – like the one for our Ethiopia Yirgacheffe from the Gedeo Zone – you see a clear, three-part system for sensory properties: strength, acidity, and roast level. These scales help you quickly find the coffee in your daily routine that perfectly matches your preferences and brewing method.

• The strength (indicated on our Ethiopia coffee with 4 out of 6 beans) does not primarily describe the caffeine content, but rather the overall mouthfeel, body, and intensity of the coffee on the tongue. A full-bodied, robust coffee receives more beans in the icon, while an elegant, lighter coffee gets correspondingly fewer.
• The acidity (3 out of 6 stars) is an extremely important quality feature. Please never confuse a delicate, lively coffee acidity with the unpleasant, sour note of industrially shock-roasted coffee! High-altitude Arabicas naturally possess noble fruit acids reminiscent of citrus fruits or berries. They give the coffee freshness and complexity. For the Ethiopia coffee, the delicate acidity level of 3 stars allows the notes of lemongrass and mandarin to shine beautifully.
• The roast level ultimately shows you how long and intensely the beans stayed in the drum roaster. Our artisanal, slow drum roasting gently breaks down aggressive acids while preserving the delicate, origin-typical aromas.

Directly underneath, you will find the hard facts: The exact origin (Yirgacheffe, Gedeo Zone), the botanical variety (100% Arabica), and the quality grade (Specialty Coffee). When we understand these factors, we know exactly why the coffee in the cup tastes so extraordinary.

The Botanical Foundation: Arabica vs. Robusta

Before we get into the cryptic abbreviations, let's talk about the two main players in the global market: Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora (better known as Robusta). Many supermarket coffee bags proudly display the "100% Arabica" seal as if that alone were a guarantee for absolute world-class quality. But it isn't quite that simple. Nevertheless, there are massive differences between the two plants.

Coffea Arabica is considered the nobler of the two varieties. It prefers growing in cooler highland regions from around 900 to over 2,200 meters above sea level. The plant is demanding, sensitive to pests and weather fluctuations, and possesses 44 chromosomes. What makes it exciting for connoisseurs: Due to the slower growth at cooler, high altitudes, the coffee cherries have significantly more time to develop complex acids, sugar structures, and over 800 different aromatic compounds. Arabica coffees are mostly characterized by a delicate, floral, fruity, and tendentially more acid-forward profile.

Coffea Canephora (Robusta), on the other hand, lives up to its name. It is more resistant (robust) against diseases and heat, grows in flatlands as well (0 to 900 meters), and possesses only 22 chromosomes. Robusta beans have about twice as much caffeine as Arabicas and significantly fewer coffee oils. In terms of taste, they exist in a completely different world: nutty, earthy, chocolaty, with an extremely full body and almost no acidity. Additionally, the lower oil content ensures a magnificent, thick crema, which is why high-quality Robustas are an indispensable component of authentic Italian espresso blends.

For our single-origin coffees, we naturally rely strictly on 100% Arabica to bring the pure, unadulterated character of each region into your cup. However, at Kaffeerösterei Kirmse, we consciously break away from the old prejudice that Robusta is inherently inferior. Just like with Arabica, there is a vast range of quality. A cheap, industrial Robusta often tastes woody and bitter. A carefully cultivated, hand-picked "High-Quality Robusta", on the other hand, is an absolute delight. Therefore, a good portion of Robusta belongs in certain coffee blends and, of course, especially in our espressos. It delivers that wonderfully full body, fine chocolate notes, and a magnificent, thick crema.

What proportion of Robusta is in each espresso or coffee blend can now be found printed transparently right on our new labels. So remember: "100% Arabica" initially only tells you about the botanical variety, not about the actual quality of the harvest – and a good Robusta in the right recipe is a genuine quality upgrade!

The Royal Class: What Does "Specialty Coffee" Really Mean?

On our labels, it states clearly: Specialty Coffee. This is not a protected marketing buzzword that anyone can use. Behind it stands a strict, global evaluation system by the SCA (Specialty Coffee Association).

To earn this title, green coffee must be evaluated by certified coffee inspectors – known as Q-Graders. This process is similar to a professional wine tasting. According to a standardized protocol (known as cupping), the coffee is assessed in various categories such as aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, and clean cup. Points are awarded for each category and summed up at the end. The maximum score is 100 points.

A coffee can only officially call itself Specialty Coffee starting from exactly 80 points. Globally, only about 5 to 10% of the total coffee harvest reaches this magic threshold! So when you buy a product with this designation from us, you know that you are holding coffee from the top ten percent of the global quality tier. And you can taste it immediately because the beans feature an excellent SCA score. More details on the respective SCA score can be found on the corresponding factsheet.

The Secret Language of Green Coffee Codes (SHG, EP & Co.)

When we take a deeper look into our factsheets, we encounter acronyms coming directly from the origin. These letter combinations usually describe two key things: Where the coffee grew and how meticulously it was sorted after harvest. Let's break down the most important codes you will find on our coffees.

SHG / SHB — The Magic of Altitude

The acronym SHG stands for Strictly High Grown. Sometimes you might read SHB instead, which stands for Strictly Hard Bean. Both terms fundamentally mean the same thing but are used differently depending on the country of origin (SHG is more common in Honduras or El Salvador, SHB in Costa Rica or Guatemala).

This designation is a major quality indicator. It certifies that the coffee was grown at an altitude of at least 1,200 to often over 1,500 meters above sea level. But why is altitude so important? At these elevations, average temperatures are lower. As a result, the coffee cherry grows and ripens much more slowly. The ripening period extends by several months. This gives the bean significantly more time to build density and store complex fruit sugars as well as organic acids. The physical rule of thumb for bean density can be described by the ratio of mass (m) to volume (V): ρ = m / V

The higher the elevation, the higher the density ρ, meaning the bean literally turns into a Hard Bean. For us roasters, this is advantageous because a hard, dense bean tolerates heat better in the drum roaster, allowing us to precisely draw out deep, fruity, and sweet flavor profiles without scorching the outside of the bean.

EP — European Preparation

When you see the abbreviation EP behind a coffee's name (e.g., SHG EP), it stands for European Preparation. This might sound strange at first – after all, the coffee is processed in Central or South America, not in Europe.

Historically, this standard meant that the green coffee had to be sorted extremely strictly before export to meet the high quality demands of the European market. Specifically, this means: The beans undergo intensive hand-sorting and mechanical sorting. Defective beans (such as unripe beans, insect-damaged beans, or small stones) are meticulously removed.

In EP sorting, a maximum of 4 defects per 300 grams of green coffee is allowed. By comparison, American Preparation (AP) allows up to 23 defects in the same weight! For you, this means: an absolutely clean cup flavor and no unpleasant surprises from off-notes.

Other Important Sorting Codes Worldwide

• AA and AB (e.g., in Kenya): These are purely size specifications of the green coffee bean, measured using standardized screens (Screen Size). AA designates the largest beans (screen size 17/18), followed by AB (screen size 15/16). Larger beans often contain more aromatic oils and roast more evenly.
• Supremo / Excelso (Colombia): Similar to Africa, coffee is sorted by size here. Supremo beans are the largest of a harvest year; Excelso is slightly smaller but is often prized by connoisseurs for its immense depth of flavor.
• PB (Peaberry): Normally, two flat beans grow face-to-face inside a coffee cherry. In about 5% of the harvest, however, one seed fails to develop, resulting in a single, completely round bean – the peaberry. These are painstakingly sorted out separately. Because they concentrate the full power of the entire cherry, they often taste unbelievably intense and lively.

Quality Signed and Sealed: Organic and Sustainability Certifications

Let's turn to a topic that is particularly close to my heart and generates the most questions in day-to-day life: certifications like the Organic Seal and Rainforest Alliance. On our new organic coffee labels, the green EU Organic logo proudly features alongside the control number DE-ÖKO-005.

EU Organic Seal

I want to make a very clear statement here: Carrying the Organic Seal involves enormous bureaucratic and financial effort for a small coffee roastery. We are unannouncedly and strictly audited several times a year by independent control bodies.

In practice, this means complete, seamless traceability for us. When we purchase a sack of organic green coffee from Ethiopia, every step must be documented. In our roastery, the principle of strict separation applies. Before we roast a batch of organic coffee, the entire roasting drum must be completely cleaned and freed from any residues of conventional coffees. Organic sacks are stored separately on dedicated pallets. Every gram of green coffee and every gram of roasted coffee must match to the exact kilogram in our records.

We guarantee you that the coffee is free from chemical-synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. This benefits not only your health, but above all nature in the country of origin. Soil remains fertile, groundwater stays clean, and coffee farmers work in a healthy environment.

Rainforest Alliance – The Green Frog for the Environment

Another well-known seal is the distinctive green frog of the Rainforest Alliance. Here, the focus is placed particularly on protecting biodiversity and preserving sensitive ecosystems in origin countries. Coffees bearing this seal come from farms that must comply with strict environmental guidelines. This includes, for example, preserving shade trees, refraining from dangerous pesticides, and protecting neighboring rainforests. Furthermore, certified farms must demonstrate social criteria for plantation workers, such as fair working conditions and access to education. The goal is to make coffee cultivation more sustainable and in harmony with nature.

Fairtrade – The Economic Safety Net

In contrast, Fairtrade focuses primarily on the social and economic components at the source. The seal guarantees smallholder cooperatives fixed minimum prices for their green coffee to protect them from the often extreme and unpredictable fluctuations of the global market price. In addition, there is a Fairtrade premium, which cooperatives collectively invest in local projects – such as building schools, water wells, or medical clinics.

The Fairtrade seal is purely a social and economic seal. It says absolutely nothing about the actual sensory quality or taste of the coffee. A certified Fairtrade coffee could theoretically be a defective, low-grade mass commodity that ends up on the anonymous world market – it is simply traded at a fair minimum price. For us as a specialty coffee roastery, this alone falls short, as we seek the best of both worlds: uncompromising top-tier flavor quality paired with deep, genuine fairness for the people who cultivate it.

Direct Trade — Why We Often Go a Step Further

Seals are great and provide important orientation. But as a specialty roastery, we at Kaffeerösterei Kirmse very often take a significant step further: We rely on Direct Trade.

Many of the world's best coffee farmers are very small family operations or smallholders in remote regions. These farmers often simply cannot afford the extremely expensive official certifications for Fairtrade or Organic – even though they have been farming completely organically without any chemicals for generations out of pure self-preservation and deep respect for nature!

Through Direct Trade, we bypass the anonymous world market and middlemen. We work directly with farms via reliable importers or, in the best cases, know the producers personally. The brilliant part: We pay farmers prices that are far above the official market price or the Fairtrade minimum price!

Top quality comes at a price. When a farmer knows he will receive an extraordinary price from us for a perfectly hand-selected harvest (only the deep red, ripe coffee cherries), he can pay his pickers fairly, invest in better processing facilities, and secure his family's livelihood. For us, this is lived sustainability without navigating an anonymous maze of seals.

Conclusion: Your Compass for the Perfect Coffee Experience

The next time you look at our labels, you won't just see random letter combinations, but a clear promise. Every acronym tells the story of the bean before it made its long journey to us in Germany.

• When you see SHG / SHB, you know an aromatic highland coffee with wonderful complexity awaits you.
• When you read EP, you can rely on flawless, clean cup quality without off-flavors.
• If it says Specialty Coffee, you are holding an absolute premium product from the top 10% worldwide, scored according to strict SCA guidelines.
• And the Organic Seal guarantees you a pure natural product from certified organic farming, refined with the utmost care and strictly separated for you.

For us, coffee is not a mass commodity, but a cultural asset. Armed with the knowledge of these codes, you now have the perfect compass to enjoy your coffee moment with even greater awareness.

Do you already pay attention to the SCA score or growing altitude when buying coffee? Which code surprised you the most? I'd love for you to tell me in the comments or – even better – just drop by and visit us at Kaffeerösterei Kirmse. Then we can chat further about our shared passion over a freshly brewed cup of Specialty Coffee in a relaxed setting!

FAQ: The Kaffeerösterei Kirmse Cheat Sheet for Everyday Use

Here, I have summarized the most common questions regarding our "coffee code" for you in a concise format: