In defence of the C

James Wilkinson
May 12
3 min read

Let’s make it clear straight away: this has nothing to do with the C price!

Yes, the market’s all over the place at the moment, trust us we know - we even wrote an article about it. But this time, we’re talking about everyone’s other favourite C: C grade coffee, and why we as an industry need to rethink our perception of it.

So, what is a C grade?

Coffee beans that receive a C grade are typically those smaller than screen size 15 (just below half an inch). You may find a few chipped or broken beans in a C grade coffee, and because of that they’ve traditionally been seen as a lesser quality, more for commercial trade. Producers usually focus on selling the AAs and ABs, then treat the C grade like an afterthought.

(You can read more about how coffees are graded here: Coffee Grading Systems)

But here’s the thing: we’ve had some absolutely belting C grade coffees recently.

First… the Malawi

Last year, we brought in a coffee from Malawi - a blend of PB and C grades (PBs are usually small and dense, so typically slip into smaller screen sizes). And you might be surprised to hear that they did really well. We had brilliant feedback, great sales, and plenty of compliments. It was just a genuinely delicious coffee.

Then the Zambian…

Then came our first shipment from Mount Sunzu in Zambia. At first, we were projecting volumes based on the usual AA and AB grades. But when the final grading came in, we were told there were more C grades than expected.

So we took some samples to try them out, and were pretty damn impressed with the cups it produced. We got excited, and started bringing them out on trips for roasters to try. During one blind cupping, a roaster even singled out the C grade as their favourite of all the lots, and was really surprised when their choice was revealed as a C grade. The assumption had been higher grade = better coffee.

The roaster had noticed the smaller, less-uniform beans before grinding of course, but the taste test proved everything we needed to see.

People often see a grade C and think ‘I can't use that because I'm a specialty coffee roaster’, and it’s a genuine shame to watch coffee that has been processed for quality alongside AA and AB grades get passed over for these assumptions.

So, why are we defending the C?

It’s simple for us… C grade doesn’t mean C quality.

People see ‘C’ and think the worst, but in our experience - especially with the recent lots from Malawi and Zambia - these coffees are genuinely great. They’re often offered at a lower price, not because they’re worse, but because of how the market sees them.

We now have some Priory Farm coffees on offer from Kenya. Yes, they’re labelled “Priory C” on the offer list. But they’re fantastic coffees. And we’re genuinely excited to see how people respond when they taste them.