What is considered specialty coffee?

The coffee industry has changed a lot in recent times. Today’s frequent coffee drinker is increasingly exposed to a wide range of concepts, from coffee varieties and post-harvest processing methods to the terminology used to classify different quality levels. Expressions such as gourmet, premium, and specialty coffee have become part of everyday vocabulary for those who seek for more experience in this world.

 

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee refers to coffees that achieve high quality scores during professional sensory evaluations. These coffees are assessed by licensed cuppers and must score above 80 points on a 100-point scale. The evaluation begins with green coffee samples that are carefully inspected to ensure they meet strict quality standards, including the absence of serious defects and only a very limited tolerance for minor imperfections.

Beyond technical scoring, specialty coffee is closely linked to origin and production methods. These coffees typically come from specific regions and microclimates, are produced in small batches, and reflect a strong commitment to quality throughout every stage of the process. From cultivation and harvesting to processing, storage, roasting, and brewing, each step is handled with precision to preserve the coffee’s complexity and unique flavor profile.

Specialty coffee packaging usually provides detailed transparency, including information such as roast date, origin, farm, altitude, processing method, and variety. Additionally, purchasing specialty coffee supports more equitable trade practices, ensuring that producers are fairly compensated for their work.

 

BUT WHAT DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF COFFEE?

Coffee quality is determined through a detailed assessment process that examines the characteristics of the beans before assigning them a grade.

According to The Specialty Coffee Association of America, this process is made by the analyse of 300 grams of unroasted green coffee beans, where the moisture content of the grain is used to determine the quality of green coffee, once the roasting process will be hampered if there is too much or too little moisture. 

Defects are the first thing to look for in this classification. They are classified into two types: primary and secondary.

• Primary defects: full black, full sour, pod/cherry, large stones, medium stones, large sticks, and medium sticks.
  
• Secondaries defects: parchment, hull/husk, broken/chipped, insect damage, partial black, partial sour, floater, shell, small stones, small sticks, and water damage.

The mainly goal here is to have the smallest number possible. Specialty coffee may have up to 5 secondary defects but none of the primary defects.

 

CUPPING

After this initial evaluation, it is roasted and re-graded in a process called cupping, where trained cuppers analyze key attributes to decide how each coffee should be categorized based on established standards. With all qualities and characteristics of the coffee evaluated, they will be rated on a scale of 1 to 100, where the highest number indicates the best quality coffee.

These following characteristics and attributes will be assessed during this process:

• Aroma - Descriptors for coffee aroma may include flowery, nutty, smoky, and herby.

• Taste - Descriptors for coffee taste may include acidity, bitterness, sweetness, saltiness and sourness

• Aftertaste - Both the aroma and taste of the coffee after swallowing it.

• Acidity - A primary flavor in coffee that is usually noted as a pleasant sharpness in flavor towards the front of the mouth but has a numbing sensation on the tongue and/or a dryness at the back of the palate.

• Body - Sometimes referred to as "mouthfeel," a coffee's body refers to the weight or viscosity of a coffee on the tongue.

• Balance - Seeks to define whether or not one quality of a coffee overpowers all others.

• Cleaning - This refers to whether or not the coffee is free of defects. It does not at all refer to anything related to sanitation.

• Sweetness - A mild flavor that is not considered harsh. This is usually first perceived on the tip of the tongue.

• Uniformity - This refers to the consistency of a coffee's flavor across multiple cuppings.