From SCA cupping to Coffee Value Assessment: non-interchangeable scores, multidimensional sensory profiling and
Lívia de Lacerda de Oliveira1, Débora Grhiazi Ferreira Bahiense2, Cristhiane Altoé Filete2
1Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasília (UnB), Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, DF, Brazil; Post-Graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PPGCF), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasília (UnB), Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, DF, Brazil; Laboratory of Sensory Analysis (LASENS), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasília (UnB), Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, DF, Brazil.
Abstract:
The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) replaced its former cupping protocol with the Coffee Value Assessment (CVA), which separates affective quality judgments from descriptive sensory characterization. Coffees from 14 producers in the Brazilian Federal District were evaluated in 2024 and 2025. Former SCA cupping was conducted by certified Q Graders, whereas CVA was applied by a coffee-experienced, semi-trained panel. SCA and CVA affective scores were not numerically interchangeable, and their final-score configurations were not significantly aligned. Assessor-blocked models detected producer differentiation under both protocol-panel conditions. SCA showed stronger adjusted differentiation and greater sensitivity to the markedly defective coffee in each harvest; removing these samples substantially reduced SCA effect sizes, while CVA effects changed little. Among non-defective coffees, SCA scores were comparatively compact. CVA affective ratings spanned a wider range but showed greater within-sample variability and did not produce stronger score-based differentiation. CVA descriptive intensities, structured check-all-that-apply (CATA) descriptors and free notes provided complementary sensory information and revealed harvest-specific patterns not captured by final scores alone. Fisher-selected volatile features added an exploratory chemical dimension, but whole-configuration sensory-volatile alignment was low to moderate and nonsignificant. Overall, former SCA cupping yielded a more compact and defect-sensitive score representation, while CVA contributed a broader multidimensional sensory record. Because different assessor panels applied the two frameworks, the observed contrasts reflect both protocol and panel composition.
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