The people gathered in this small room on the eighth floor of the New York Stock Exchange look like a bunch of middle-aged caffeine addicts. They sit around a table that resembles a school science lab, smelling coffee beans and sipping coffee so loudly that loud music is required to drown out the sounds.
But these are not rude coffee addicts. They are part of an elite ratings team responsible for keeping commodity markets functioning. The ratings they give provide a basis for pricing in the U.S. Arabica coffee futures market, which in turn affects the entire global coffee industry. Arguably, their value has never been more important.
The reason is that the supply of young talent that keeps the ratings system running is drying up. On the one hand, young people prefer to work in more glamorous industries such as private equity firms and high-frequency trading departments, where coffee is just a refreshing fuel rather than a trading commodity. Even among high-income commodity traders, coffee is far less prominent than oil and natural gas.
But perhaps the biggest obstacle: the exam to become a taster grader is no less difficult. The four-day exam, which is held about every five years, is in its new phase this week, and the pass rate is astonishingly low. John Demurria, CEO of coffee supply chain company Coastal Commodities and a 35-year grading veteran, said he failed the test on his first try.
"This is different from the CPA exam," he said. "Once you fail, you have to start all over again. Even if you passed some subjects before, the next retake will not count."
There are many people who have failed like him. Stacey Miller, a senior commodities operations analyst at ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, who manages the tasting room, said the pass rate for each exam is typically only5% to 8%. By comparison, California’s notoriously difficult bar exam in February 2025 had a pass rate of 64%.
"This test is very difficult," said Terrence Sullivan, a coffee grader for 41 years. His brother is also a grader and his son will take the test in April this year.
Over the past year, the coffee industry has faced tariffs, crop failures, rising labor costs and concerns about the war in Iran, and the aging workforce of graders has become the latest problem facing the industry. Speculative trading, which has driven soaring coffee prices, has also become increasingly active in recent months.
Most of the people in the ICE tasting room are 50 and older, Demurria said. Some are retired, others arrive around 6:30 a.m. to finish their job grading coffee before going back to their full-time jobs — mostly in the coffee industry.
The walls of the tasting room are covered with coffee-themed posters. The 38 graders currently on staff sit around a rotating table covered with coffee cups and trays of coffee beans. They held spoons in hand and sipped the samples at a rapid pace before spitting them into metal sinks they called "spit cups." Standard tasting requires sipping forcefully, so music is used to cover up the sounds of dozens of people sipping and spitting.
To become a member of this team, you must pass a three-stage assessment to prove your abilities. The first part is a written test, which tests the applicant's mastery of the rules and regulations related to ICE Coffee Rating. The second part lasts for more than three hours and tests the candidates' ability to rate coffee based on aroma, color and other indicators.
As long as you fail in any aspect, you must start from the beginning when you retake the exam.
If the candidates pass the first two parts, they will be called back to the tasting room a few months later to take part in the final "cupping" exam - smelling, tasting, and spitting in front of the invigilator to determine whether the coffee is defective and cannot be put on the market.
This month’s exams started on Monday. Qualifying for the exam requires submission of high-quality application materials, including letters of recommendation and at least five years of industry experience. Working in a trading desk, in a coffee company grading position, or in a warehouse can count toward qualifications; Miller makes it clear that barista experienceNot at all.
Although the industry is worried about talent shortages, due to the backlog of demand during the epidemic, the number of candidates this year was unusually high. Only about 20 people signed up for the last exam. Matt Ryan, senior director of global soft commodities at Intercontinental Exchange, said that the enthusiasm for applying for the exam is so high that he hopes to welcome a much-needed group of young blood into the tasting team.
“It’s exciting to see this turnover,” Ryan said. “There was a time when I was in my 50s and was still relatively young in this industry.”