The Royal Blog

This article outlines how coffees are graded and scored under commonly used systems, and works to define “specialty” coffee while examining the nuance and complexity of cup score values. Sections of note include definitions of individual attributes, a breakdown of what cup scores mean, and a discussion of recent, controversial updates to the tools professional graders use to evaluate a coffee’s quality.

Notes between cuppings 2/4/2026  Offer samples flooded my desk these past few weeks. Tanzania, Guatemala, Brazil… a bit of an unusual crowd for early February. These are the doldrums, the dead of winter, the quiet hours of waiting.  With Brazil tariffed much of 2025, purchases from the country plummeted for the US market and large volumes of anticipated arrivals in the winter […]

Off the cuff thoughts Jan 7, 2026  With the New Year upon us, we were inspired to try something… well not new per se… in truth it’s a bit of a return to our roots: some more personal reflections in our newsletters.  I met with Royal co-founder Bob Fulmer casually last month, we chatted about this and that, […]

Co-fermented coffee is a new processing approach where producers add natural ingredients like fruit, hops, or spices during fermentation to enhance flavor complexity. Unlike flavored coffee, these additives interact with the beans before drying, creating unique taste profiles while sparking debate over labeling, transparency, and authenticity within the specialty coffee industry.