title_body: How do I judge the quality of 'green' beans?
upvoted_answer: I have been purchasing everything from cheap beans to rather pricey beans and what i discovered while buying the more pricey (and higher quality) beans was that the fragrance of the bean is somewhat stronger and can actually smell of more than just the usual grassy fragrance. Notes from fruits and nuts are not unusual and could be a indicator of somewhat higher quality coffee.
  
  I have no scientific proof of this, and while even expensive coffee can be bad, it is my empirical approach to determine what could be a step up in coffee quality.
  
  Apart from that i have to admit that its hard to determine the quality of the bean before it has been roasted.