---
type: Organization
title: Specialty Coffee Association
description: The trade association whose Golden Cup standard sets the extraction,
  strength, and water-chemistry targets most quoted in specialty coffee brewing.
tags:
- coffee
- brewing
- standards
resource: raw/brewing-science-notes.md
timestamp: '2026-07-16T14:36:58Z'
citadel_version: 0.3.0
---

The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) publishes the numbers most quoted across the specialty coffee world for how grind, time, temperature, and water push a brewed cup, including the "Golden Cup" targets for extraction yield and strength and the "golden ratio" of coffee to water,[^s1] its recommended brewing water temperature range,[^s3] and a target for brewing water chemistry.[^s2]

Its Golden Cup standard calls for an extraction yield of 18-22% and a strength of about 1.15-1.35% [TDS](../abbreviations/tds-total-dissolved-solids.md), reached via a golden ratio of about 55 g of coffee per litre of water (plus or minus 10%, roughly 50-60 g/L — about 1:16 to 1:18 for filter) and a bed temperature of 93 °C plus or minus 3.[^s1] Its broader brewing range for water temperature is about 90.5-96 °C (195-205 °F), with roughly 93 °C the usual aim.[^s3]

The SCA's brewing water target is about 150 mg/L (ppm) TDS, with roughly 50-175 ppm hardness (a target near 68 ppm as calcium carbonate) and about 40 ppm alkalinity, at a neutral pH near 7; the usable range is wider, with TDS anywhere from about 75 to 250 ppm brewing well.[^s2]

## See also
- [Coffee Brewing](../concepts/coffee-brewing.md)
- [TDS — Total Dissolved Solids](../abbreviations/tds-total-dissolved-solids.md)
- [Caffè Aurora](caffe-aurora.md)

## Sources
[^s1]: [raw/brewing-science-notes.md](../../raw/brewing-science-notes.md), § The SCA Golden Cup numbers (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s2]: [raw/brewing-science-notes.md](../../raw/brewing-science-notes.md), § Water chemistry — the invisible ingredient (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s3]: [raw/brewing-science-notes.md](../../raw/brewing-science-notes.md), § Grind, time, and temperature — the three levers you actually turn (ingested 2026-07-16)
