Meet our QC Team: Walter Rossi QC Manager in Geneva

Our Quality Control (QC) team is working daily to cup dozens of coffees to check quality, ensure everything has arrived on spec and help match our spot coffees to clients who want them. Meet Walter Rossi, Quality Manager & Q Grader, who heads the QC office in Geneva, Switzerland. We sat down with him to learn more about his role as a Quality Manager and the importance of QC activities for clients.  

What are your main roles as a Quality Manager?  

Walter Rossi: My role is to ensure that the quality is in line with what we contracted and to understand for which client the coffee can be suitable for.  By grading and cupping coffees, we work to assess if the quality is in line with the contract specifications. We stay updated on the origin specifications for each grade so we can know is the standards for that specific grade (normally each origin has standardized grades) are met. This includes defect count, moisture level, screen size and more.  Once the grade is checked and approved, we need to know if the coffee meets our clients’ needs, either for a specific direct-trade purchase or if it generally meets the needs of our spot buyers. Clients’ needs are mostly defined by their technical setup and, of course, their cup quality definitions.  

What are your primary objectives when cupping commercial coffee?  

Walter: If the coffee is sold to a specific client, the objective is to check if the coffee fills their requirements. If the coffee is not yet sold, we’re looking to ensure that the coffee matches the origin and grade specifications.  

How do you work with commercial clients to ensure that they are purchasing coffee that suits their needs?  

Walter: Working with our clients is an ongoing process where we’re in frequent communication discussing the qualities they’re looking for and calling regularly and calibrating with their quality labs. We’re here to help our clients find the right coffees for their needs so staying connected and calibrated with our clients is a core piece of my role.   

How do you calibrate samples with clients?  

Walter: There are several components of calibrating with clients. First, we need to agree on defect counting, roasting degree and cup quality. If coffees don’t meet their needs, we have a discussion with them and with the supplier about possible solutions can be undertaken.  

 When we’re counting defects, we have to be sure that we are using the same definitions as our clients for each category of defects so that they can rely on our grading. We speak with them to make sure to know the roasting degree that the client uses for their cuppings, since a different roasting degree will give differences on cupping. And finally, we have to be sure that we are in line with the cup quality. We need to make sure we have the same definition about things such as the different degrees of acidity in a coffee.  

Which is of greatest concern for a commercial roaster?  

Walter: Cup quality. The first (and obvious) reason is that, in the end, the final consumer will decide on their daily coffee based on taste. And the second reason is that when a roaster creates a blend, they have to always deliver the same taste to the customer in every cup and every bag. This means that for every change they consider for their blends, their main concern is the final taste.  

How does cupping specialty coffee differ from cupping commercial grades? 

Walter: There are several differences between specialty and commercial QC. In specialty, there is of course much more attention paid to the cup descriptors of the coffee and the prep level. Conversely, commercial cupping is looking on whether the cup meets the expected quality and flavor of all other cups of that grade. The focus is on whether this cup meets the standard for that quality. Commercial clients are seeking consistency above unique flavors.  

 You have a Q-grader certification. Why is this important for QC professionals and what sort of training is required to earn the Q-grader certification?  

Walter: Having the Q-grader certification gives clients and other coffee professionals confidence that the results we’re giving are accurate, reliable, and able to be replicated by other Q-graders. It’s all about being calibrated and communicating with each other. Because I have a Q certification, everyone can be assured that I have been trained to a certain standard.  

Getting your Q is mostly a lot of practice and the ability to create a mental map of coffee aspects and flavors. My mental map allows me to create associations that allow a better memorization and good linking of all the aspects of the Q Grader training, including flavors, aromas, acids, tastes, temperatures. I think that this requires a personal sensibility and pleasure for tasting in general and a continuous coffee tasting whenever is possible.  

 What is the biggest challenge and/or reward of your job?  

Walter: The biggest challenge is when the roasters start to ask for new ideas for their blends because it involves diving into their price, taste and quality needs and a lot of trial and error. This becomes also the biggest reward when the communication ends in a nice solution. As coffee merchants, we have access to almost all the origins. It is much more difficult for the roaster to have the chance to cup all of them. They ask then for a particular cup profile and we discuss with them the possible origin that can offer what they want. They taste our suggestions and it’s amazing when it works!