MILAN – After valuable input from early adopters, community groups, and various industry stakeholders, the Specialty Coffee Association is progressing to the next phase of the SCA Coffee Value Assessment, the tool the global industry uses to discover value in coffee. The different elements of this next phase include:
- A set of standards and relevant forms for the sample preparation, descriptive, and affective assessments, currently under consideration by the SCA’s Standards Development Panel—we anticipate that these will be adopted officially in late 2024/2025
- A beta version of the extrinsic assessment protocol and form for Early Adopter testing
- Updates to supporting documentation, including A System to Assess Coffee Value (Version 2 of the draft released in 2023) and a summary of changes
The SCA Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) was designed to help make coffee better: it offers a complete, transparent, “high-resolution” picture of a coffee, recognizing all the things we might love (and value).
Now, thanks to the over 800 businesses and individuals who participated in the CVA Early Adopter program and held CVA for Cuppers Courses around the world, CVA Patrons, and Ambassadors, the Coffee Value Assessment is continuing to evolve.
Three new standards have been submitted to the SCA’s Standard’s Development Panel for approval and adoption:
- Affective Assessment – Rate your impression of quality across the different elements of a coffee’s sensory experience
- Descriptive Assessment – Record the sensory attributes of a coffee, including intensities and descriptors
- Sample Preparation and Tasting Mechanics – With updates to the way you’ll prepare your samples to complete these assessments
After additional research, the SCA has also released a beta version of the CVA’s Extrinsic Assessment, a new way to record other information about a coffee that you find valuable.
There is so much to love about coffee. The new CVA Extrinsic Assessment Form classifies a coffee’s extrinsic attributes—informational or symbolic qualities beyond its physical and sensory information.
You can join the growing community of professionals using the Coffee Value Assessment and its tools at sca.coffee/value-assessment.
