Kenya coffee grades (AA, AB, PB and more)
Agriculture and Food Authority · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Kenyan coffee is graded mainly by bean size: E (largest), AA, AB, PB (peaberry), C, and then TT and T for light or small beans. Mbuni (MH/ML) is the dry-processed coffee. Millers grade the coffee before it is sold at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.
- Fee
- We couldn't confirm a fee from the official page. Check it there before you pay.
- Where
- Grading happens at licensed coffee mills; graded coffee is sold through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (Wakulima House, Haile Selassie Avenue, Nairobi)
Steps
- Farmers deliver cherry or parchment through their cooperative to a licensed mill, where the coffee is processed and graded.
- The miller must sort the coffee to the Kenya Standard grades in the Crops (Coffee) (General) Regulations, 2019.
- Grade depends on bean size (screen size), weight and density, defects, and cup quality (taste and aroma).
- The graded coffee is sold at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, where licensed brokers sell it for farmers and cooperatives to local and international buyers.
Watch out
- A lot sold as a grade must have at least 95% of its beans in that grade.
- AA means flat beans that pass through screen 21 but stay on screen 18 (7.2 mm). Bigger joined beans that stay on screen 21 are graded E, not AA.
- TT is not about size: it is light-density beans taken out of AA, AB and E by blowing air.
Official sources (4)
- Understanding Kenya Coffee Grades nairobicoffeeexchange.co.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- Kenya Coffee Origin nairobicoffeeexchange.co.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- Frequently Asked Questions nairobicoffeeexchange.co.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- The Crops (Coffee) (General) Regulations, 2019 (Legal Notice No. 102, Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 100) nairobicoffeeexchange.co.ke · read 4 Oct 2026