Every rating on Keido is built on a framework adapted from the Specialty Coffee Association's cupping protocol — the same standard used by Q Graders and competition judges worldwide.
The rating scale
Ratings run from 0 to 5 in 0.25 increments. Drag the bar or tap to set a value.
7 SCA attributes
Aroma
Fragrance and smell, both dry and wet.
Flavor
The full taste impression across all taste receptors.
Aftertaste
The quality and duration of positive flavor remaining after swallowing.
Acidity
Brightness and liveliness — desirable when balanced and pleasant.
Body
Weight and texture on the palate — thin to full, syrupy.
Balance
How harmoniously the attributes complement each other.
Overall
Your holistic impression — the cup as a whole experience.
SCA Flavor Wheel
Tasting notes are drawn from the World Coffee Research Sensory Lexicon — the vocabulary behind the SCA Flavor Wheel. When you log flavor notes, you're speaking the same language as professional cuppers.
Notes across all reviews of a coffee aggregate into a shared flavor profile, surfacing patterns that no single reviewer would catch alone.
Brew details
Brew method, grind, dose, and water temperature aren't just context — they change the cup. Logging them helps you understand your own palate and helps others reproduce results they love.
Cupper Badges
Cupper Badges are granted by coffee businesses — not self-assigned. A shop, roaster, or farm you've worked with or been evaluated by can enable your badge, recognizing that you genuinely know your way around a cupping table.
Perceptive Cupper
Enabled by a business to recognize someone with a developing but genuine sensory awareness — someone who consistently picks up on what's in the cup.
Discerning Cupper
Enabled by a business to recognize someone with meaningful depth — able to distinguish processing methods, origins, and defects with confidence.
Sophisticated Cupper
Enabled by a business to recognize their most trusted tasters — someone whose notes are a reliable reference for other enthusiasts.
Why business-enabled? Anyone can log reviews. The Cupper Badge is a second opinion — a coffee professional's confirmation that the notes you leave reflect a real, calibrated palate. It keeps the signal meaningful.
Q-Grader Badge
The Q-Grader badge is separate from Cupper Badges — it recognizes a licensed credential awarded by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), the global body that sets professional green coffee grading standards.
Q-Grader Certified
Holds a licensed Q Grader certification from the Coffee Quality Institute — one of the most rigorous professional credentials in specialty coffee. Verified externally, not through Keido.