Indonesian Coffee Grades (SNI 01-2907-2008): Defects & Moisture

Indonesian coffee grades under SNI 01-2907-2008

SummaryIndonesian green coffee is graded with the SNI 01-2907-2008 defect-value system. Each defect in a 300 g sample carries a weight, and the weights are added up: Grade 1 max. 11, Grade 2 12–25, Grade 3 26–44, Grade 4a 45–60, Grade 4b 61–80, Grade 5 81–150, Grade 6 151–225. All grades share the same basic limits: moisture max. 12.5% and foreign matter max. 0.5%.

By the Rasa Nativa Java team · Updated 10 November 2026

How is a coffee grade determined?

The grader takes a 300 g sample of green coffee, picks out every defective bean and foreign object, and assigns each a value by defect type. The total sets the grade. The lower the total, the higher the grade.

Grade	Total defect value per 300 g	Typical use
Grade 1	Max. 11	Specialty, single origin
Grade 2	12–25	Premium commercial, blends
Grade 3	26–44	Commercial, blends
Grade 4a	45–60	Ground coffee, industry
Grade 4b	61–80	Ground coffee, industry
Grade 5	81–150	Industry
Grade 6	151–225	Industry

At Rasa Nativa Java, Arabica Green Bean is Grade 1, Arabica Commercial Grade is Grade 2–4, and Robusta is Grade 1–4 to order.

Which defects are counted?

Some examples of defect weights from the SNI table:

Defect	Value
1 full black bean	1
1 partly black bean	½
1 broken bean	⅕
1 immature bean	⅕
1 bean with one insect hole	⅒
1 dried cherry (pod)	1
1 bean in parchment	½
1 large stone, stick or clod	5

Example: a sample with 4 black beans, 10 broken beans and 20 single-hole beans scores 4 + 2 + 2 = 8, which is Grade 1.

What moisture content is required?

Max. 12.5% for every grade. Moisture that is too high invites mould and damages flavour during storage and shipping, so we measure every lot before packing.

What does bean size or screen mean?

Bean size is measured with round-hole sieves. For Arabica it is often given as a screen number (for example screen 15–19, in 1/64 inch). SNI sorts Robusta into large, medium and small. Even sizing gives a more even roast.

What about tea?

Tea has its own standards: green tea follows SNI 3945:2016 (moisture max. 8%) and black tea SNI 1902:2016 (moisture max. 7%). See the green tea and black tea pages.

Sources

Indonesian National Standards for green coffee grading (specialtycoffee.id)
National Standardization Agency of Indonesia (BSN), SNI 01-2907-2008 Coffee beans

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