Coffee Quality, Part 2: How “quality” became a myth

From Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries by James Harper

December 8, 2025 · 26 min · Season 6 · Episode 14

About this episode

This episode explores how the concept of coffee quality is shaped by personal preferences rather than universal standards.

If you ask two specialty professionals what makes a high-quality coffee, you’ll likely get a surprisingly consistent answer: clean, sweet, juicy, bright. To an outsider, they would be forgiven for thinking coffee quality is universally defined. But the truth is more sober. In this episode, we examine how a simple cupping form helped create a universal idea of quality. We then look at the evidence that, in fact, it’s just the personal preferences of a small group of people masquerading as universal quality. Please support my work directly at Ko-fi.com/FilterStories Other ways you can help: Leave a 5 star rating on SpotifyFollow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram storyWrite a review on Apple Podcasts Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter Go deeper into the story of quality: 2004 cupping form from the Specialty Coffee Association of America SCAA Coffee Cuppers Handbook (4th edition, 2011) Cup of Excellence cupping form Kenneth Liberman's book, "Tasting Coffee: An Inquiry into Objectivity" SCA's video series on the CVA presented by Peter Giuliano Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and…

People in this episode

Host: James Harper

Topics covered

coffee quality
specialty coffee
cupping
personal preferences
coffee industry

Keywords

coffee quality
cupping form
specialty coffee
personal preferences
coffee industry

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Specialty Coffee Association of America, Standart

Books & works: SCAA Coffee Cuppers Handbook (4th edition, 2011), Tasting Coffee: An Inquiry into Objectivity