{"id":14677,"date":"2026-02-10T00:16:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T15:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/?p=14677"},"modified":"2026-02-10T00:16:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T15:16:49","slug":"https-typica-coffee-ja-screen-size-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/https-typica-coffee-ja-screen-size-kenya\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Screen Size a Quality Indicator? \u2014 Tips for Sourcing Kenyan Coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Rockbern<\/a> Kamunyaka<\/a> green and roasted coffee<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>

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When choosing Kenyan coffee, many people first look at screen size as a key decision factor. You check the offer list, request samples, consider purchasing, and eventually put the name on your menu. In that process, many read the letters \u201cAA\u201d as meaning \u201ctop quality.\u201d That instinct isn\u2019t wrong. Yet, the more experience you gain in roasting and selling coffee, the more often you may find yourself facing the question: how much should we really rely on screen size as an indicator?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, it\u2019s important to clarify a basic premise. Kenyan grades (AA, AB, etc.) are classified not by sensory evaluation, but solely by screen size \u2014 physical bean size. AA refers to the largest category, screen size 17\/18. In other words, what the AA label tells us is simply that \u201cthe beans are large.\u201d It does not directly guarantee the completeness or excellence of flavor.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Rockbern founder Peter Muchiri<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>

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That said, there are solid reasons why AA has long been valued. Larger beans tend to have matured longer on the tree, accumulating more nutrients. Their greater mass also allows them to absorb heat more gradually during roasting, making it easier to cleanly express the bright acidity and fruit character typical of Kenyan coffees. As a result, cup satisfaction often trends higher. These physical factors explain why AA has functioned as a reliable \u201cgateway\u201d to good-quality coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what about AB? AB is treated as a lower grade simply because it is one size smaller than AA, at screen size 16\/17. However, once you cup repeatedly, you begin to realize that the quality gap between AA and AB is far smaller than commonly assumed. In fact, looking at scores from TYPICA\u2019s QC team, the difference between AA and AB from the same station is usually no more than about 0.25 points.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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That is precisely why final decisions should be left to cupping. Whether a coffee is AA or AB is merely a piece of information \u2014 a starting condition for designing a roast. What truly matters is how the coffee behaves once heat is applied, how its flavors bloom in the cup, and what role it can play within your lineup. The answer to those questions exists only in the cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excluding a coffee from cupping simply because it is \u201cAB\u201d would be a real loss. We\u2019ve encountered countless outstanding AB lots. Generally, AB also tends to be about USD 0.50 lower in FOB price than AA. In today\u2019s environment of rising coffee prices, if you find an AB that satisfies you in cupping, it can be an exceptionally cost-effective and wise choice.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Screen size is a useful hint and a convenient label. But it is never the goal. Moving beyond assumptions tied to size and judging purely on cupping results \u2014 that process is what allows the hidden appeal of AB coffees to shine, and what can ultimately expand the reach of Kenyan coffee to more roasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rockbern Kamunyaka green and roasted coffee When choosing Kenyan coffee, many people first look at screen size…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"toolset-meta":{"blog-youtube%e5%9f%8b%e3%82%81%e8%be%bc%e3%81%bf":{"youtube_url":{"type":"url","raw":""},"youtube_txt":{"type":"textarea","raw":""}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14677"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14677"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14683,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14677\/revisions\/14683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}