Coffee is the second most consumed drink in the world, just behind water. However, most coffee consumers have not yet had the opportunity to discover what very good coffee is, we are talking here about specialty coffee .
In France, for example, we are more used to drinking coffees that are a bit bland and bitter. Besides, I too, before getting a little more interested in the whole world of coffee, I didn't really pay attention to the taste quality of the coffees I drank.
Although it is true that more and more people are interested in the different aromatic notes of the coffees they drink, thanks in particular to Nespresso, which is trying to promote good coffee, despite a range of products that is not such high quality...
Well, I'm not going to dwell on the subject, let's go directly to what interests you here: specialty coffee .
Specialty Coffee: The Basics
Before understanding everything that comes into play in the production of a coffee so that it obtains the status of specialty coffee , I want to share some information about it that allows you to directly understand what we are talking about 🙂
What is specialty coffee?
A specialty coffee is a coffee of very high quality (you will probably have understood this). We also apparently find the name “ gourmet coffee ”, although I have never met anyone who uses this term.
It is a coffee that offers a nice balance in the mouth: neither too bitter nor too acidic. It is in fact a coffee that has benefited, throughout its journey to the cup, from great attention and special treatment.
And yes, it is not enough to be good to be considered a “ specialty coffee ” (yes, I also speak in English, it avoids repeating the expression in French 36 times in this article 🤭).
Of course, you have to be judged by tasting professionals (called Q-Graders ) and obtain a sufficient score, but there are a whole host of other criteria to be met. I present all this to you in the second part of this article.
Where is he from ?
Do you know the SCA: Specialty Coffee Association ? This is the organization (worldwide) that promotes specialty coffee. All the coffee trades are highlighted thanks to him. Today if you want to train around coffee, you will probably have to go through one of the training courses supervised by the SCA.
Why am I mentioning this organization to you here? Quite simply because it was the founder of this organization, Erna Knutsen, who first mentioned the term specialty coffee in 1974 . Before that, there was no word to define this type of high quality coffee. We were simply trying to improve the overall quality of the coffees consumed.
Today we find more and more of these quality coffees in France , thanks in particular to more and more players (roasters, baristas, specialized shops, etc.), eager to do a good job and offer the best to their customers. .
The criteria of a specialty coffee
Here are the criteria to meet to receive the coveted title!
Obtain the minimum score of 80/100
Earlier in this article, I mentioned to you the need for a coffee to be judged by professional coffee tasters to be awarded specialty coffee status . Of course, not all coffees that are tasted by these professionals achieve this status.
You have to achieve a score of at least 80/100 . Note that coffees that obtain a score above 89 are entitled to the mention “exceptional”. They are then considered to be great vintages.
The tasting of these coffees is very supervised. I invite you to read my article on cupping (coffee tasting) to fully understand how scoring is done.
Be 100% traceable
Unlike a classic coffee, you can know everything about a specialty coffee. We know where it comes from (precisely!) and what was the treatment of the grains after the harvest.
Generally, if you inspect a package of ordinary coffee, bought in supermarkets for example, you are likely to have no other information as to the origin of the coffee, other than the country where it grew.
However, there are great diversities of lands within the same country. A coffee that grows in northern Ethiopia will not have the same characteristics as a coffee that grows further south, in another region.
On a package of specialty coffee , you will find the exact region where the coffee was grown, or even the exact name of the coffee plantation. You will also know at what altitude the plantation is located.
Then, as there are various methods of processing coffee cherries after harvest (each highlighting this or that taste aspect of the bean), it is important for connoisseurs to know how the beans were extracted from the fruits. This is why specialty coffee packets must mention this mode of treatment.
Finally, you will also find the name of the coffee variety (because yes, there are more than 200 varieties of Arabica coffee, each with specific characteristics!) as well as the score obtained by this coffee when it was scored by a Q-Grader .
Short. You know exactly what you're drinking.
Have no major flaws
Finally, quickly, the coffee in question must not have too many faults and above all, not a single “major” fault. To verify this, a sample of 300 g of green coffee (coffee before roasting) is usually taken, and the beans are carefully inspected.
Coffees can have different types of defects, such as broken or damaged beans.
Major defects, which fall into category 1, can be external elements such as pieces of wood or completely black coffee beans.
For a coffee to be considered a specialty coffee , the sample must therefore not have too large a defect (category 1). Also, it must not have more than 5 defects in total on the 300 g.
As you can see, these physical grain defects are taken very seriously. They have a direct impact on the cup result.
Where to buy specialty coffee?
Now that you know everything there is to know about specialty coffee, maybe you want to buy some… 😋
And for that, several options are available to you:
- roasters near you
- coffee shops
- some specialized physical shops
- online shops (of roasters or micro-roasters)
Overall, you won't find specialty coffee anywhere. Although the local roaster may make very good coffee, it is nevertheless possible that the coffees of the latter do not have the designation “ specialty coffee ”.
All you have to do is be curious and dare to ask in the shop where you are going or at your roaster, if he has this type of coffee in stock.
Ditto for coffee shops. Some offer good coffee, without offering what interests us here. If a coffee shop serves you specialty coffee, take the opportunity to ask them if it is possible to buy this coffee directly from them. If the coffee shop does not sell it in packets, do not hesitate to ask the name of their roaster and if it is possible to buy his coffee directly from him.
Otherwise, you can make it even simpler and do research online, on Google or via social networks. There are more and more small roasters offering their coffee for sale, directly online.
Here are some online stores I have ordered from:
- https://julcafes.fr/ (my favorite, the Taramesa from Ethiopia is so good 😍)
- https://cafe.cafes-pfaff.com/
- https://www.terresdecafe.com/
- https://colors.coffee/