Imagine a pure, delicate, naturally sweet, yet diversely flavored brew – that's what specialty coffee is . We'll discuss what it is in more detail in today's article, as there are many differences between specialty coffee and the coffee commonly available on the market. However, there's no doubt that specialty coffee is considered by many to be the best and provides much more than just a morning energy boost. What makes it so special?

Specialty coffee – what is it?

Specialty coffee is on the lips of baristas, home coffee lovers , and small café enthusiasts. What is it and why does it generate such interest among coffee lovers? Imagine a bitter coffee, devoid of any flavor other than burnt wood, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste immediately after drinking it. This is the taste of most coffees available on the market – when drinking such coffee, you tend not to think about the complex aroma, fruity notes, and natural sweetness. Much more often, you need to add sugar and milk, which helps to even slightly balance this essentially dirty taste. So what is specialty coffee ?

These are the highest quality beans, classified as specialty based on a thorough and rigorous evaluation by Q-graders. They are distinguished by their pure and velvety flavor, fruity-floral aroma, delicate texture, and lack of overwhelming bitterness – specialty coffee celebrates diversity . Above all, however, such coffee must meet three requirements:

• must receive 80 points out of 100 possible,
• must be free of first-degree defects and have no more than 5 second-degree defects in a 350-gram sample of green beans,
• In 100 grams of roasted coffee there cannot be a single quacker, i.e. unripe beans that are lighter after roasting and have a peanut smell when broken.

Specialty coffee is more than just good coffee you can order at your favorite café. Such a product must meet strict criteria certified by experts – this is important information for you, as in recent years the term " specialty coffee" has been overused, misleading many people.

Who is a Q-grader and what does coffee grading look like?

Since specialty coffee is subject to evaluation, experts who know the beans as well or better than sommeliers know wine are needed. A Q-grader is a professional taster specializing in the sensory evaluation of Arabica beans – their skills are confirmed by a certificate issued by the Coffee Quality Institute. Becoming a Q-grader requires more than a subjective assessment of bean quality. A professional taster must have a thorough understanding of theory, developed sensory skills, and reliably evaluate both green and roasted beans. The license obtained after passing all exams is valid for three years – after this period, coffee competency must be re-validated. This ensures that specialty coffee is being evaluated by qualified specialists .

The coffee grading process is strictly standardized – the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is responsible for the communication process (both the terms "specialty" and "specialty" are correct). Specialized grading sheets and vocabulary have been developed, along with standards and procedures for determining whether a given coffee bean belongs to the specialty segment . The Q-grader can assess beans for defects, identify roasting errors, and identify characteristics resulting from the cultivation and processing of the raw material. Therefore, awarding 80 or more points on a 100-point scale directly translates to the beans' value. In practice, this means that the price of specialty coffee can be higher than products available in discount stores – it is a premium product in the truest sense of the word.

Is specialty coffee hard to come by?

You might be thinking right now that specialty coffee beans must be hard to come by – an exclusive product can't be readily available. Nothing could be further from the truth! We're talking about the highest quality coffee in the world, hand-harvested, small-scale cultivation, and rigorous quality control, but in reality, the price of premium products isn't always that different from those produced on an industrial scale . Think back to how often the price of brand-name coffee in a regular store surprised you and then disappointed you with the quality (by the way – read about how healthy coffee is ). Meanwhile, specialty coffee starts at 100 złoty per kilogram. Of course, you won't find it in your local store, but there are more than a dozen successful specialty coffee roasters operating in the country, including Warsaw-based LaCava . However, the specialty coffee market in Poland still accounts for only a few percent of the total market, making it a unique experience worth (and even necessary, if you want to fairly reward the people involved in coffee production) paying a little more.

What else is worth knowing about specialty coffees?

The term "specialty coffee" first appeared in the 1970s – some suggest it occurred during a coffee producers' conference, others that it was used by Erna Knutsen in the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal . The exact nature of this initial appearance is unimportant; the consequences of the term's appearance are crucial. Specialty coffee beans were meant to be synonymous with the highest quality and produced in special microclimatic conditions . Therefore, when purchasing a premium product, you can be sure of several key aspects.

• the beans come from a fresh harvest and are freshly roasted
• Coffee production is carried out in a sustainable manner, thanks to which the effects of cultivation are felt locally,
• the infusion you get after brewing coffee is pure and unique,
• You gain access to information such as the origin of the raw material, how the beans were grown, the history of the plantation and the farmer themselves, but you also have knowledge of the individual stages of production.

As you might imagine, as a coffee roaster , we drink a lot of coffee every day – so we wholeheartedly recommend using specialty coffee for alternative brewing methods . Chemex, drippers, and Aeropresses perfectly extract the best aromas from the beans, resulting in a richly flavored brew. Alternative methods allow you to discover the flavor notes characteristic of a given bean, although remember that specialty coffees also perform well with pressure methods (we consistently recommend Jura coffee machines ).

Summary

You no longer have to wonder what specialty coffee is – it's a premium product rigorously assessed by qualified Q-Graders. Quality is key and unquestionable. To qualify as specialty coffee, it must meet precisely defined criteria. Furthermore, freshness, roast level, and traceability , meaning knowledge of the origin of the raw material, are crucial. Specialty coffee is available in Poland thanks to roasteries like ours .