Specialty Coffee: The Highest Grade Coffee

A new wave of specialty coffee came like a real tsunami for coffee lovers. The so-called Third Wave of Coffee brought with it (to our delight!) high quality coffees and the evolution of the entire production process, increasing the relationship with the producers, roasting and grinding freshness and, at the end, a cup much more pleasurable. 

Specialty coffee is not an adjective for some types of coffee, but rather a technical definition for high quality coffees around the world. Today, we will let you know everything to know about coffee which you have ever wanted to know. So, let’s take a deep dive into it!

What is Specialty Coffee?

After you read this content, you will never choose low quality coffees again. In today’s content, we will talk about the specialty coffee and how it is classified and explain this new wave that has been emerging for lovers of this drink.

Well, coffee is a drink that has a lot of stories to tell, isn’t it? Good, and others not so good. After all, coffee is responsible for part of the colonization and development of many tropical countries . Here, let’s stick with the good ones. In this long time, this black drink has undergone many changes and is now consumed on a large scale across the planet.

The famous term “ specialty coffee ” is the name given to a category of coffees that have a score of 80 points on a scale from 0 to 100 of sensory evaluation of the SCA (Speciality Coffee Association) Methodology. The evaluation of the specialty coffee is done on the following basis:

• Fragrance and Aroma
• Sweetness
• Flavor
• Acidity
• Body
• Balance
• Uniformity (each cup statistically represents 20% of the evaluated batch)
• Absence of Defects
• Finalization

The classification of “Specialty coffee” is done by a certified coffee taster, the Q Grader. This weird name is given to every professional trained and approved by the organization.

What makes specialty coffee different from commercial coffee?

Many people get confused between commercial coffee and specialty coffee. To your knowledge there’s a great difference between these two terms. There are differences right from selecting coffee beans to the roasting and final packaging. Various quality measures are taken into consideration when we talk about specialty coffee. However, the commercial one’s undergo a handful of quality checks. To make it more clear, let’s know about the differences between commercial coffee and specialty coffee.

The most basic and noticeable difference is the packaging of both the coffees. The commercial one’s comes in a small bottle where the coffee beans are in their grounded form. Whereas the specialty coffee is delivered as whole beans in a big packaging  and needs to be grounded before it is brewed.

Next, the roasting and packaging of the commercial coffee is carried out in big industries with the help of different types of machines. However, the specialty coffee is generally roasted in small factories using traditional methods where it undergoes several quality checks before being delivered. Also, some of the specialty coffees are sold from the place where they are roasted.

At last, taste: the biggest factor which differentiates both the coffees. Specialty coffees are best known for their distinguished aromatic and flavorful taste whereas the commercial one’s carry the common taste and aroma. 

Final consideration

Coffee is not just a drink its a blend of essence and aroma that can trigger the overall mood of an individual. Every sip of the specialty coffee will make you fall in love with it’s flavor and brew. They are not considered as special just because of the taste but the transparency of the coffee crop to cup chain, along with the involvement of passionate coffee makers who are always ready to make things right in order to serve you with the best cup!