Ethiopian grades 1-9 (ECX / Coffee Liquoring Unit)
Ethiopia grades export coffee on a 1-to-9 scale set by the Coffee Liquoring Unit for lots passing through the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), which standardised coffee as a commodity from 2008 and loosened traceability rules from 2017. Grades 1 and 2 are the specialty tiers, almost always washed, and grades 3 to 9 are commercial, dominated by naturals; the grade is defect- and cup-based rather than screen-based, and it ignores flavour descriptors.
- Grades
- 5
- Defect sample
- 300g
- Screen sizes
- not used
- Origins using it
- 1
The grades
In this atlas's own words| Grade | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Grade 1 | Washed specialty: importer tables give 0-3 defects per 300 g with bluish colour. |
| Grade 2 | Washed specialty: 4-12 defects per 300 g, greyish colour. |
| Grade 3 | Commercial: 13-25 defects per 300 g. |
| Grade 4 | Commercial: roughly 26-46 defects. |
| Grades 5-9 | Lower commercial and undergrade lots, mostly sun-dried. |
How it is measured
Screen sizes
This system does not grade by screen size.
Defects per 300 g
Grades combine a raw (physical defect) score with a cup score assigned by the national liquoring unit; grades 1-2 are treated as specialty and 3-9 as commercial. Thresholds quoted by importers vary and the exchange contract specification was not retrievable.
Altitude terms
None used.
Other grading systems
- Central American and Mexican altitude grades
- Classificação Oficial Brasileira (COB) / New York method
- Coffee Board of India grades
- Colombian export preparations
- Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 4-143 green coffee grades
- Kenya size and density grades
- Other national grade vocabularies
- Peru altitude grades and NTP 209.027
- Rwanda and Burundi screen grades
- SCA (formerly SCAA) green coffee classification, as publicly restated
- SNI 01-2907-2008 defect-value grades
- TCVN 4193 green coffee grades
- Tanzania Coffee Board grades