Even if you’re a casual coffee drinker, you’ve no-doubt been inundated with confusing and conflicting terminology that has been associated with good and great coffees.  Most of the information we’ve seen is well intended, but it lacks clarity and is often mingled with marketing information that is confusing and not very informative.  We hope to help reduce some of this confusion, then help you with selecting coffees by cutting through the fluff and zeroing in on the critical information that will enable you to identify and select the best coffees to suit your particular tastes.

 

Defining Specialty Coffee

So, what is Specialty coffee, how can you distinguish it from other coffees, and why does it matter?  For a definition, let’s start with how the coffee industry defines Specialty Coffee.  The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) is a non-profit trade organization for the specialty coffee industry with members from more than 40 countries around the world and is considered the leading authority in this area.  They define Specialty Coffee as:

“…the highest quality green coffee beans roasted to their greatest flavor potential [1]”

This is a pretty vague definition, and may not do much to help you, as a consumer, with distinguishing Specialty coffee from regular, commodity coffees.  Notice too that the definition does not identify any particular species of coffee (i.e., Robusta, Arabica), nor does it specify a particular variety (e.g, Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, etc.). 

Yes, Robusta beans are largely considered inferior to Arabica beans—the former being used primarily for instant coffee.  What might surprise you is that, unless you're only consuming instant, most of the coffee you are likely to purchase is Arabica.  So, Arabica in itself is not indicative of quality or goodness; that is, there wide spectrum of Arabica.   “Specialty” is the highest grade coffees, with objective measures and indicators that we can use to distinguish them from all the rest. 

Tips for Identifying Specialty Coffees

So how do you make sense of the information you see on coffee to determine if you are actually drinking coffee classified as Specialty or are drinking something that is disguised as such?  Rest assured, there is information you can draw on to know whether or not you are drinking Specialty coffee.

It’s often very easy to identify non-Specialty grade coffees through the packaging itself and brand claims.  If a given brand states that their coffee is 100% Arabica coffee without any additional details regarding origin, there’s a high likelihood it isn’t Specialty Grade. Similarly, if it states percentages of a certain coffee origin in broad terms (e.g., 10% Kona), with no mention of the origins of the other percentages, again it’s likely to be non-Specialty coffee.  Finally, if there’s an expiration date on the packaging that states, “consume by” or “best before” or no indication of roast age, you’re likely dealing with a non-Specialty grade coffee.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that its terrible coffee, but it’s also not likely to be the best of the best.

Now that we know what's not Specialty, let's key in on information that roasters almost universally share about Specialty Coffees to help you know them when you see them:

Origin and Altitude

Growing origin is the first indicator that you might have a Specialty Coffee.  Examine the coffee description and look for indicators of where the coffee was harvested, including country, region, and elevation.  Even with blends, information regarding the origins should be stated.  Along with the locale, the best coffees are generally grown at higher elevations (>= 4000 ft). Now, elevation isn't always stated, especially if the coffee is processed at a local cooperative, but you may be able to discern general elevation if region of the country is provided.

Processing Method

While many Specialty coffee farmers employ a washed process that removes all of the fruit from the coffee seed during fermentation, there are other processing methods, such as Natural, Pulped-Natural, Honey, and Semi-Washed Processes that are often associated with Specialty Coffee. Some of these methods leave the coffee cherry or the pulp of the cherry intact during the drying the coffee seed [2].  Most roasters of Specialty beans will explicitly state this information in with the top-level description.  If it's left unstated, you can usually assume that a washed process was employed.  

Descriptive Profile 

Look for consistency between the processing method, flavor descriptions, origin, and roast levels in the descriptive profile.   Naturals and other non-washed processing methods often promote flavors left behind by the coffee cherry during processing (enhanced fruit, spice and floral flavors).  Lighter roasts will often reference spicy, floral, fruit, and nutty flavors.  Flavors such as toast, licorice, malt, caramel, leather, dark chocolate, smoke, pipe tobacco are often promoted or enhanced with darker roast levels.  

Cupping Information

Some roasters may share SCAA cupping forms, with scores and descriptions.  However, this is rare – and for justifiable reasons.  Cupping is performed within 24 hours of roasting and is a snapshot in time for a single roast.  As the coffee ages, the flavor profile evolves and certain aspects of that roast degrades.  For this reason, roasters are reluctant to share this information but will instead provide you with descriptive profile flavors you are most likely to experience.  So, while cupping information would be indicative that a given coffee is Specialty Grade (assuming the cupping score is 80 or above), you may not experience all of the fragrances, aromas, and flavors identified on the cupping form.  Whatever you do, don't use the scores as the basis for selection - let the fragrances, aromas, flavors, and body aid your decision making. 

Roast Age

Because coffee is inherently perishable, roasters of Specialty beans do their best to deliver coffee to you within a week to 10 days of roasting to ensure maximum enjoyment; and, because these roasters care about your experience with their products, they will clearly stamp a “roasted on” date directly onto the packaging.  Coffee that is only days a few weeks old (i.e., “Roasted on:...” coffees) is vastly different from coffee that is months old (i.e., Best before:...").

Why does all this matter? 

Well, we all want to know that if we are paying a premium for something of higher quality, that we are truly getting what we are paying for.  Hopefully via this article, we’ve helped to shed some light on the topic of Specialty coffee in a way that helps you differentiate it from the commodity offerings.  All that being said, remember, your flavor preference(s) and enjoyment are first and foremost.  Specialty coffees are the highest quality beans out there, but don’t get too bogged down by the details.  Have fun and explore which beans, roast levels, brewing methods and flavors you find most appealing!  We hope you’ll let us help you on your journey!  

References

[1]	P. Giuliano and e. al, ""Towards a Definition fo Specialty Coffee: A Conception Based on Attributes"," 2021. [Online]. Available: https://sca.coffee/sca-news/just-released-new-sca-white-paper-towards-a-definition-of-specialty-coffee.
[2]	J. Hoffman, "Processing," in The World Atlas of Coffee: from beans to brewing: coffees explored, explained, and enjoyed, Buffalo, NY, Firefly Books, Inc, 2018, pp. 31-41.