What is Specialty Coffee?
the coffee cherry
Have you ever looked at a coffee description and think what the heck does that even mean? Will a coffee with raspberry notes actually taste like a raspberry? What does natural vs washed processed mean and why does it matter? Gourmet is good right? Wouldn’t that be better than Premium, which would be better than Specialty coffee? (actually, it’s the opposite) We’ve been there. In this post we’re going to explain this difference in coffee: Specialty vs. Premium vs. Gourmet, to help you make more informed decisions when buying your happy juice.
How is this distinction made?
Believe it or not, there is an official standardized method for grading coffee quality, developed by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). Similar to sommeliers in the wine industry, there are experts in the coffee business, called Licensed Q Graders, who evaluate and grade green (unroasted) coffee. This helps coffee roasters make buying decisions based on the quality of coffee they are looking to offer. This can also help you make decisions on what coffee roaster you want to buy from.
A licensed Q grader will evaluate the coffee for defects in appearance and moisture content (which also affects the roasting process), and then will go through a process called cupping. Cupping is a process of brewing and tasting a coffee in a standardized way. During cupping, graders will evaluate the roasted coffee based on a number of attributes, including fragrance/aroma, flavor, body, balance and more.
The two scores from assessing the unroasted coffee and cupping the roasted coffee are then used to determine the coffee’s quality.
Specialty grade coffee: This is the top tier of coffee, having no primary defects and no more than 5 full defects. They also receive a Grade One score on the unroasted coffee and an 80+ cupping score. Specialty coffee must also possess at least one distinct attribute in body, flavor, aroma, or acidity.
Many people may not realize how much work goes into producing high quality beans. From the farming method to processing and sorting the coffee cherry once it is picked, producing a specialty grade coffee involves a lot of care. To ensure that these farms and their workers are receiving fair wages to provide this coffee, we pay a premium for our specialty grade coffee. Our green coffee sourcers ensure that the farms are engaging in ethical practices, treating their workers fairly, and paying them a fair wage.
Specialty coffee is not bought or traded on the commodity market (C-Market). The C-Market is known for paying farmers unsustainably low wages, often resulting in little to low profit. At Lil Baggins, we want to give these farmers the compensation they deserve for the work that they do (and the amazing tasting coffee they produce!). Then it is up to us to roast the coffee in such a way that brings out the best in each bean.
So what is premium coffee then? Premium Grade coffees receive a Grade 2 in green coffee assessment, and a cupping score of 70-79. You are likely going to enjoy a cup of premium grade coffee but perhaps not with much of the nuance and distinction of a specialty grade coffee.
The SCA only defines two grades of coffee: Specialty Grade and Premium Grade. All others are classified as “Not classified by SCA GACCS”. This means that any other description, such as “gourmet” coffee, is just a buzz word and does not define the quality of the coffee. These words are often used when a company is selling coffee below specialty or premium grade. Does this mean you shouldn’t buy gourmet? No! Coffee selection ultimately comes to personal preference. You may, however, want to do your research in the brand’s sourcing practices (i.e. sustainablity in farming practices, wages for farmers) before buying.
We hope this helps you better understand the growing world of coffee (see what we just did there), and that you read this while enjoying your favorite cup of joe.
Cheers!
