Approval Standards & Application
CBI Approval Standards & Application for Artisan 3rd Wave Coffee
To apply for CBI Approval, complete the application that fits your business. Your submission serves as your electronic signature and confirms your agreement with all CBI Freshness Standards, Code of Conduct, and Artisan Third Wave Core Values outlined on this page.
Why Should this Concern Me?
Historically, there have been two main species of coffee plants for commercial use. Arabica and Robusta. Arabica has long been regarded as the superior species—the preferred choice—while Robusta was relegated to utilitarian uses such as instant coffee or coffee extracts because it simply didn’t taste as good.
Recently, however, there’s been a movement to artificially inflate Robusta’s quality scores through a new "CVA scoring system". That’s like putting a Michelin star on McDonald's.
The key issue is that nobody asked for this change. The new scoring system shifts from objective standards to subjective personal preferences, which conveniently lets low-quality coffees score much higher than they would have before. The CVA artificially inflates the perceived value of bad coffee and helps large corporations market cheap beans as “high quality.” Coffee didn’t get better — the scores just got higher.
There is a newer version of the same trick. Green coffee soaked, dosed or co-fermented with fruit, syrup or added cultures until the cup tastes of watermelon or bubblegum — and then sold as processing rather than flavouring. That word is doing a great deal of work.
Fermentation has always been part of how coffee is made. Adding something that is not coffee, in order to put a taste in that the coffee never had, is flavouring with a better name on it. And it argues against itself: if the green is genuinely excellent, what is being covered up? You don’t put ketchup on a Kobe steak. It is expensive, too — soaking, dosing and controlled co-fermentation add cost, labour and spoilage risk to a cup whose whole premise was that the quality was already in the seed.
The risk isn’t the roaster doing it carefully with good green. It’s that once the category accepts added flavour in principle, the people best placed to industrialise it are the ones specialty was built to stand apart from.
Producers are often paid more for these lots, and that is a real argument we take seriously. So this standard does not tell anyone not to make them. It asks only that they are sold as what they are, rather than slipped into a specialty line unlabelled. Make it, name it, price it — just don't call it plain specialty coffee.
We are now stricter than the competition. The World Barista Championship banned additives at any point after picking — until 2024, when it moved that line back to the green coffee stage. Fruit, syrup and cultures still can't go into roasted coffee, but they can now be fermented into it beforehand. So a co-fermented coffee, which is coffee with something added to it, is permitted in a competition whose own rules say no additives.
We did not follow. That is a deliberate difference, not an oversight, and we would rather you heard it from us than found it out later. A definition is only as fixed as the committee that writes it — which is the same reason we tell our students to trust their palate over any rule or recipe, including ours.
In protest of this biased scoring system, we ask that all coffee shops seeking CBI Approval pledge to purchase coffee from 3rd Wave Artisan roasters who use specialty-grade 100% Arabica coffees scoring 80 points or higher in the old system.
You also agree to sell fresh coffee only, which is what makes 3rd Wave Artisan coffee different from grocery store coffee with roasted on dates rather than expiry best before dates.
By making this pledge you will be put on a list so that consumers can easily identify who are the true 3rd wave coffee businesses versus the pretenders.
Want to read the pledge itself before you start? Every line of it is published here — the same page a customer reaches by scanning the QR code on an approved business's window.
Making Your Pledge of Allegiance to Artisan Third Wave Coffee
By applying for CBI Approval, the owner, operator, and/or manager pledges that the business:
- Is owned and operated independently—not a franchise or large corporation seeking to whitewash or greenwash their brand.
- Freshness, transparency, and craft.
- Ethically sourced, high-quality 100% Arabica beans only—not flavoured, pre-ground, or Robusta, with a minimum 80+ points.
- Coffee tastes of coffee. Nothing carrying added flavour — whether added after roasting or introduced during processing — is sold under the specialty line. Infused, soaked and co-fermented lots may be made and sold, but as their own product rather than as plain specialty coffee.
- Service grounded in knowledge, professionalism, speed of service, friendliness, and a humble, customer-first attitude that is with an attitude that is community needs focused.
Coffee Shop Specific Checklist
- All coffee must be clearly labeled with roast dates and tracked internally.
- Grind-on-demand: coffee must be ground immediately before brewing (no pre-ground, stale coffee).
- Use independent roasters who align with third-wave ethics, not franchises or large corporate roasters.
- Avoid expired, flavoured, or stale offerings—quality must be measurable and consistent.
- No re-steamed or reused milk.
- Purge the steam wand before and after each use.
- Serves all coffee within 3–30 days post-roast (± based on taste).
Roaster-Specific Checklist
- Roast dates printed on all bags.
- Internal tracking of roast batches.
- Cupping and calibration for every production run.
- Use green coffee from the current crop cycle.
- Ethically sourced, high-quality Arabica beans only—no additional flavours, pre-ground, or Robusta. All coffee meets a minimum 80+ points.
- Infused, soaked and co-fermented lots are not specialty under this standard. Make them if you want — just don't sell them as plain specialty coffee. Flavour in the specialty line comes from the coffee, the harvest and the roast.
What the CBI Approval Represents
The CBI Approval helps customers easily identify cafés, coffee shops, roasters, and coffee-serving establishments that uphold the highest standards of freshness, sourcing, skill, and hospitality. (A note on wording: in French, un café is the drink as much as the place — so wherever we say “café” we also say coffee shop, coffee business or coffee-serving establishment, and we mean all of them.) Approved businesses are independent, transparent, and community-minded—offering genuine artisan 3rd Wave Artisan coffee experiences grounded in respect, professionalism, and third-wave values.
This approval system objectively quantifies freshness, quality, and roasting-skill standards, while still giving each business the freedom to express its own style and flavour philosophy.
It’s similar to how fine-dining restaurants might each create their own take on a high-end burger: every version tastes unique, yet they all share the same foundations—freshly ground, high-quality beef, artisan buns, and meticulous craft. The CBI Approval works the same way: personal expression is celebrated, but freshness, craftsmanship, and integrity are non-negotiable.
Continuous Commitment & Enforcement
- Approval is continuous, not time-bound. It does not expire and there is nothing to renew or re-apply for.
- Once a year, on the anniversary of your approval, we email you a single question — is all of this still true? A yes takes a few seconds and keeps your listing current. Beside your name on the Approved list we publish two dates: the date you were first approved, and the date you last confirmed — so the list shows both how long you have been with us and that it is current rather than historical.
- Businesses must maintain freshness standards, transparency, service quality, and responsiveness to feedback.
- Spot-checks may occur randomly or in response to complaints.
- CBI may revoke approval if:
- Freshness windows are repeatedly violated.
- Customer service or professionalism fails consistently.
- Badge misuse or misleading claims are observed.
- The annual confirmation goes unanswered after a reminder.
- Final decisions are made by a peer-led committee review process.
Apply for CBI Approval
Approval is free. There is no membership fee, no commission, no sponsorship and nothing to buy — not now and not later. Approved businesses receive:
- A listing on our public Approved list, which café owners and coffee buyers use to decide who to work with
- The CBI Approved logo, in web and print formats, for your site and your packaging
- Two CBI Approved window stickers — the round seal, and a square one carrying a QR code that takes a customer straight to everything you promised. Mailed at our cost, wherever you are. Want more than two? Just ask, and we will send them.
The stickers, the application forms and the pledge page are currently in English only.
The only thing we will ever ask of you is a yes, once a year. On the anniversary of your approval we email one question — is all of this still true? That is the whole of it. Nothing to pay, nothing to re-apply for, and both the date you joined and the date you last confirmed appear beside your name so anyone reading the list knows it is current.
The application takes about four minutes. Choose the one that fits your business:
I am a Coffee Roaster → I am a Café or Coffee-Serving Business →
Roast and serve? Use the roaster application and tell us about your café in the final question.
An organization, school or employment program? Email learn@canadianbaristainstitute.com — partnership is handled by conversation rather than a form.
Already approved and looking for your logo files? They live at canadianbaristainstitute.com/pages/approved-logo.