7.1 Descriptive Assessment (SCA-103): Intensity Scales & CATA

The Descriptive Assessment answers the question "what is this coffee like?" without judging whether it is good. SCA Standard 103-2024 governs it. The Q Grader Descriptive Assessment practical grades both your form use and your descriptive accuracy, so the mechanics below are tested directly.

The sequence on the form

SCA-103 section 6.1 sets the order:

1. Roast level first. Before tasting, estimate the roast level visually (when applicable) and record it.
2. Fragrance. Rate fragrance intensity and check descriptors in the orthonasal CATA list under the fragrance and aroma scales.
3. Aroma. Brew, rate aroma intensity, and add descriptors to the same orthonasal list.
4. Liquoring. During several liquoring rounds:
   • rate flavor and aftertaste intensities and check their shared CATA box;
   • rate acidity intensity and describe it in your own words;
   • rate sweetness intensity and describe it in your own words;
   • rate mouthfeel intensity and check the mouthfeel CATA list.

Rating intensity

SCA-103 defines intensity as the perceived strength of a stimulus in a cupping section, and it says intensity does not imply quality or desirability.

• Each section uses a 15-point scale labeled low (0), medium (5), and high (10, up to 15).
• You rate the total intensity of the section, not each note. If a fragrance has a strong fruity note and a subtle chocolate note, you rate how strong the fragrance is overall.
• You may tick anywhere on the line, even between numbers, but the nearest integer is recorded as your output.
• If you change your mind before the cupping ends, add a second mark and draw an arrow showing the direction of change. Do not erase the first tick.

The CATA lists

Olfactory lists (fragrance/aroma and the retronasal half of flavor/aftertaste) use the same nine categories: Floral; Fruity (Berry, Dried Fruit, Citrus Fruit); Sour/Fermented (Sour, Fermented); Green/Vegetative; Other (Chemical, Musty/Earthy, Woody); Roasted (Cereal, Burnt, Tobacco); Nutty/Cocoa (Nutty, Cocoa); Spice; and Sweet (Vanilla/Vanillin, Brown Sugar). Section 3.2 explains them.

Main Tastes (up to 2): salty, sour, sweet, bitter, umami. SCA-103 notes that all coffees have bitterness, but you check bitter only if it stands out, especially compared with the other coffees tasted. The same applies to the other tastes.

Mouthfeel (up to 2): these describe the quality of the mouthfeel, because its intensity — body level or thickness — is already rated on the scale.

Taste lexicon references in SCA-103

Freely elicited descriptors

Write words when (1) a section has no CATA list (acidity, sweetness), (2) a precise note sharpens a checked box ("blueberry" under Berry), or (3) a clear note fits no category ("dried tomato").

A worked descriptive record

A natural Ethiopian cupped at a medium cupping roast:

Notice that nothing here says whether the coffee is good. That judgment belongs on the Affective Form (Section 7.2).

Recording results

SCA-103 recommends a cupping app or platform built for the CVA data structure; otherwise use the paper form in its appendix. The SCA's CVA page links to an announcement that CVA tools have expanded to two digital platforms. Practice on paper anyway, because course exams commonly use printed forms.

Why descriptive data are collected

SCA-103's preface lists the situations in which a descriptive profile matters:

• deciding whether a coffee fits a required profile or style specification;
• discovering unique or special sensory attributes;
• communicating a coffee's flavor notes along the chain, all the way to consumers; and
• telling apart coffees that give a similar impression of quality for very different reasons.

That last point explains why the CVA keeps description separate from liking. Two coffees can earn the same affective score while tasting nothing alike, and only the descriptive record shows the difference. The more accurately you fill in the form, the more useful it is to buyers and roasters.