Kenya Coffee Bean Grading System: Symbolic Meaning of Courage Represented by Kenyan Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Kenya Grading System

The Kenyan government takes its coffee industry extremely seriously. Cutting down or destroying coffee trees is illegal here, and the quality requirements for coffee are stricter than almost anywhere else in the world. You can see this clearly in Kenya's grading system.

Kenyan Coffee Grading

Kenyan coffee is graded primarily on bean size, shape, and density. From highest to lowest, the grades are: AA (or AA+), AB, PB, C, E, TT, and T:

AA Grade: Beans sized 17-18 screen

AB Grade: Beans sized 15-16 screen. This makes up the majority of production and is the most common green bean grade

C Grade: Beans sized 12-14 screen

PB Grade: Peaberry — round beans from cherries that produced a single seed instead of the usual two, accounting for roughly 10% of all coffee beans

E Grade (Elephant Beans): Large mutant beans where two seeds have fused into one, also known as "elephant ear," mostly above 18 screen. These are rare.

TT Grade: Lighter-weight green beans separated from AA and AB lots using air screeners. These are softer beans that fail the density standard

T Grade: Below 12 screen. Like TT, these are light beans blown out with air screeners — in this case from C grade lots. They are soft, fail the density standard, run small, and contain many defective beans

MH/ML Grade: Beans that have not been washed or sorted — fallen cherries collected after harvest, roughly 7% of all coffee beans. This is the lowest grade and is sold only on Kenya's domestic market.

The above is Kenya's official national grading system. On top of it, Kenyan exporters and green coffee traders have added their own commercial classifications (not officially recognized by the government) for AA and AB lots: TOP, PLUS (+), and FAQ, in descending order.

Knowledge Extension: TOP

TOP is assigned based on cupping results and is not an official Kenyan national standard. Since exporters apply this label themselves, commercial considerations inevitably come into play — so treat it as a reference only. The final word should always come from your own roasting and cupping. That's the correct, practical approach.

In Summary

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research studio that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation, hoping to help more friends fall in love with coffee. We also run three special-offer coffee events every month, because FrontStreet Coffee wants more people to drink great coffee at the lowest possible price. That has been our mission for the past 6 years!

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this grading guide has you eyeing a Kenyan lot, go straight for an AA — those 17-18 screen beans are what Kenya is famous for. In the cup, a well-roasted Kenyan AA typically shows the blackcurrant and berry notes and that vivid, wine-like acidity the origin is loved for, and it stands up beautifully to pour-over brewing where its clarity can shine. Just remember what we said above: the TOP and FAQ tags are helpful hints, not guarantees — trust your own palate and your roaster first.

New to Kenyan coffee? Ask FrontStreet Coffee for a medium-light roast so the fruity acidity stays bright but never harsh, and brew it with a clean pour-over method to enjoy everything that strict Kenyan grading was designed to protect.