The C of Coffee, Kaldi, and Quality

"It all starts in the country of origin of each Kaldi coffee bean. Whichever country that may be, for Kaldi, we only select beans with the highest qualification. Such a qualification may vary per country, but it is always one that is recognized by the ICO, the International Coffee Organization. This ensures that it is always a coffee of consistently high quality."

Hans Zevenhek, Kaldi's blender and roaster: "Anyone can buy Kaldi coffee; no one can make Kaldi coffee."

Talking to Hans Zevenhek, a nationally and internationally known and recognized coffee expert, is like being immersed in coffee. And speaking of qualifications, not just for coffee beans but certainly for himself, Hans is one of only a handful of Dutch colleagues who are members of COE, the Cup of Excellence. This is the international elite coffee society of the world.

Scoring system

This elite coffee society has established a scoring system that can undoubtedly be considered the standard for determining coffee quality. Hans again: "To determine how many points a certain coffee scores, it is thoroughly examined and analyzed. For example, by looking at the color, beauty, size, and moisture content of the beans. Of course, we also taste it. We pay attention to things like sweetness or acidity, mouthfeel, the coffee's behavior in the mouth, aftertaste, and so on. All these components yield points. Coffee that thus collects more than 80 points is absolute world-class. How many points does Kaldi coffee score? Always 80 points or more."

Regarding coffee and scoring points, this also happens with the so-called New York Table. Hans: "That is a widely acclaimed method in the coffee world for classifying coffee by quality, much like with the Cup of Excellence. A score of 1 is the highest, and a score of 8 is the lowest achievable. With the remark that even an 8 already indicates excellent coffee. Kaldi's score? Across the entire range of coffee types used? A 1, the top!"