Services · Pilot
The pilot package.
You send a representative sample; we return a judgment you can act on — with the evidence attached. Scope and pricing are agreed in writing before work begins.
Pilot — first pilot limited to 3 lots Quoted after scope review
What you pay for
Not a pretty dossier card. The product is the basis for one concrete decision: should I buy this lot, and at what price?
- 1 · Origin dossier card (PDF)
One page: origin, altitude, variety, processing, lot, sensory summary, key QC data, archive number.
- 2 · Cupping verdict report (PDF)
One page. One verdict — Buy, Buy with conditions, or Do not buy — plus one-sentence rationale, SCA scores, defect record, and a comparable-lot reference. If evidence is insufficient, the report says Defer judgment instead of forcing a conclusion.
- 3 · Raw records pack
Sensory log (original SCA-protocol scoring sheets), QC summary (measured values; unmeasured items marked "not measured"), and the evidence index that ties every verdict number to a numbered raw record.
This is a pilot service line. There are no delivered client cases and no validated outcome claims. Everything is labelled "Pilot".
Price and terms
| Item | Terms |
|---|---|
| Price | By written quote after scope review. The quote specifies the agreed deliverables and total price. |
| Taxes | Excluded. VAT, duties, and withholding taxes, if any, are extra. |
| Sample shipping | Borne by the sender. |
| Travel (if on-site sampling is needed) | At cost, confirmed in writing before it happens. |
| Quote validity | 30 days from the date the quote is issued. |
| Lead time | 2–3 weeks per lot, counted from receipt of a qualified sample. If the sample is non-compliant, information is missing, or re-testing is needed, the timeline extends and we tell you in writing first. |
| Contracting entity | Overseas EUR business: Coffactor OÜ (registry code 17237321) — signs, invoices, receives payment. Domestic RMB business: Guangzhou Yinshu Coffee Management Co., Ltd. (广州因数咖啡管理有限公司), signed separately; RMB price converted at the signing-day rate per agreement. One contract, one entity — never mixed. |
Confirm scope before commissioning. No fixed pilot price is published. We agree the scope, deliverables, and price in a written quote before work begins.
What you send us
| Sample | Specification |
|---|---|
| Roasted coffee | ≥350 g; roast date within 14 days of dispatch; sealed, kept out of light, roast date and roaster stated. |
| Green coffee | ≥500 g; moisture 10–12%; origin, variety, processing method, and harvest year stated. |
| Representativeness | The sample must be a representative sample of the lot. Conclusions drawn from a non-representative sample are the sender's responsibility. |
The shipping address is provided after we confirm scope together. Do not ship samples before scope is confirmed.
How cupping and measurement work
Cupping
Method stated in the report — by default SCA Coffee Value Assessment (SCA-102:2024 Sample Preparation, SCA-103:2024 Descriptive, SCA-104:2024 Affective, plus Physical Assessment). Sample preparation: 8.25 g / 150 ml, water about 93 °C, 70–75% through 20-mesh sieve; 5 cups per sample for uniformity checks (not “average five cup scores”). Cupper: a licensed Q Grader. Only what is actually cupped is written down; an uncupped lot gets no flavor description. The legacy 2004 ten-attribute form is historical, not the current SCA method.
Roasting (green samples)
By default we roast for cupping to the SCA protocol (light roast) and attach the roast curve. If you insist on your own curve, confirm the curve parameters in writing; the verdict then applies only to the sample in that roast state.
Measurement
Moisture (moisture meter, %), density (bulk density, g/L), defects (SCA green grading on a 350 g sample, recorded as full-defect equivalents by Category 1 / Category 2 with breakdown; specialty threshold: 0 Category 1 and ≤5 full Category 2 per 350 g; any weight-based % shown separately with numerator/denominator and noted as not the SCA threshold), cupping (per stated protocol; no “5-cup average” algorithm).
Acceptance
Delivery is complete when all four are met:
- Complete set. All three deliverables present, PDFs open normally.
- Checkable. Every score in the verdict report traces to a numbered original record in the sensory log.
- Unbroken chain. Archive number matches the sample-flow record — no gaps.
- Q&A. One Q&A session within 48 hours of delivery (email or 30-minute call).
Objection window: 7 days after delivery, in writing. If no objection is raised in that window, delivery is treated as accepted.
Re-testing
- Retained sample kept for 30 days.
- Within 7 days of delivery you may request one re-test (free during the pilot), using the retained sample and the same protocol. The re-test gets its own report.
- If the two scores differ by ≤2 points, the first stands. If they differ by >2 points, the re-test stands and the reason is explained.
What is not included
The following are not in the pilot package and are agreed separately if needed:
- Green-coffee buying agency, purchasing on your behalf, or price negotiation.
- Commercial roasting (other than cupping roasts).
- Logistics, warehousing, customs clearance.
- Second and subsequent re-tests (after the one free pilot re-test).
- Training, consulting, flavor-copy production.
We do not promise score improvement, that the lot will sell, awards or certification, or any "flavor guarantee". A lower price does not remove a quality risk — where the verdict says "Buy with conditions", the conditions (e.g. price reduction, or sorting plus re-checking the sorted sample) address the specific problem found, and are stated as conditions, not as cures.