Indian coffees are graded in two different ways:
The first is unique to India, and classifies all washed coffees as Plantation Coffees, all naturally processed coffee as Cherry and all washed Robusta Coffees as Parchment Coffees.
The second method is a size based grading system, like Africa, using sieves. This is applicable to both Arabica and Robusta varieties. Coffee beans are graded from AAA (the largest size), down through AA, A and Peaberry (PB).
Note that this is a traditional grading system and a large size does not necessarily signify better quality, although they fetch the highest price in a given lot.
Peaberries occur naturally when a coffee berry has just one seed inside rather than two (see image below). It is thought to have a greater intensity of flavour than its twin bean counterpart, although it may not be necessarily always true.
