diff --git a/indicoio/__init__.py b/indicoio/__init__.py
index 4b0af6b..37fea7c 100644
--- a/indicoio/__init__.py
+++ b/indicoio/__init__.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ JSON_HEADERS = {
     'version-number': VERSION
 }
 
-from indicoio.text.sentiment import political, posneg
+from indicoio.text.sentiment import political, posneg, sentiment_hq
 from indicoio.text.sentiment import posneg as sentiment
 from indicoio.text.lang import language
 from indicoio.text.tagging import text_tags
diff --git a/indicoio/config.py b/indicoio/config.py
index 895c76a..0b24332 100644
--- a/indicoio/config.py
+++ b/indicoio/config.py
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ TEXT_APIS = [
     'text_tags',
     'political',
     'sentiment',
-    'language'
+    'language',
+    'sentiment_hq'
 ]
 
 IMAGE_APIS = [
diff --git a/indicoio/text/sentiment.py b/indicoio/text/sentiment.py
index 182908a..5172e40 100644
--- a/indicoio/text/sentiment.py
+++ b/indicoio/text/sentiment.py
@@ -50,3 +50,26 @@ def posneg(text, cloud=None, batch=False, api_key=None, **kwargs):
     """
 
     return api_handler(text, cloud=cloud, api="sentiment", url_params={"batch":batch, "api_key":api_key}, **kwargs)
+
+def sentiment_hq(text, cloud=None, batch=False, api_key=None, **kwargs):
+    """
+    Given input text, returns a scalar estimate of the sentiment of that text.
+    Values are roughly in the range 0 to 1 with 0.5 indicating neutral sentiment.
+    For reference, 0 suggests very negative sentiment and 1 suggests very positive sentiment.
+
+    Example usage:
+
+    .. code-block:: python
+
+       >>> from indicoio import sentimenthq
+       >>> text = 'Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!! It was a crazy few days ><'
+       >>> sentiment = sentimenthq(text)
+       >>> sentiment
+       0.6210052967071533
+
+    :param text: The text to be analyzed.
+    :type text: str or unicode
+    :rtype: Float
+    """
+
+    return api_handler(text, cloud=cloud, api="sentimenthq", url_params={"batch":batch, "api_key":api_key}, **kwargs)
diff --git a/indicoio/utils/api.py b/indicoio/utils/api.py
index 71a43b5..e11abe3 100644
--- a/indicoio/utils/api.py
+++ b/indicoio/utils/api.py
@@ -17,10 +17,15 @@ def api_handler(arg, cloud, api, url_params = {"batch":False, "api_key":None}, *
 
     if cloud:
         host = "%s.indico.domains" % cloud
+
     else:
         # default to indico public cloud
         host = config.PUBLIC_API_HOST
 
+        # error message for public cloud
+        if api == 'sentimenthq':
+            raise IndicoError("The high quality sentiment API is currently in private beta.")
+
     url = config.url_protocol + "//%s/%s" % (host, api)
     url = url + "/batch" if url_params.get("batch", False) else url
     url += "?key=%s" % (url_params.get("api_key", None) or config.api_key)