What is Specialty Coffee?
Keeping things simple
Specialty coffee typically defines coffee that has been rated on qual- itative numerical scale assessing an array of taste and aroma attri- butes and has scored 80 or above on a scale from 1-100. The coffee must also not have any major defects present within a 350g sample. This rating is carried out by qualified professionals known as ‘Q Graders’.
The term specialty in regards to coffee was first used in print in 1974 by Erna Knutsen as a means of distinguishing great coffee from the rest. Just eight years later the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) formed. The main determining factor of specialty coffee was and still is quality and only accounts for ~10% of coffee consumed. Specialty coffee usually refers to, but is not exclusive to, Coffea arabica. However, in recent years several other species have taken a rise to prominence in the specialty scene such as fine Coffea canephora (robusta), Coffea euginoides and more. For coffee to qualify as specialty grade there is a large work chain responsible forc ensuring that this coffee can stay of upmost quality:
The farm
Starting with the location of the farm; altitudes, weather conditions, soil types and countless other considerations must be considered. Following this the correct varietals must be selected for growing as many varietals are more resistant to pests, diseases or drought, others, have better taste profiles, or even higher yield. Farmers must also consider the spacing between trees, the impact of other plants around it as well as taking care not to develop a monoculture*. Once the coffee tree and cherries are grown, which from infancy to maturity can take several years, farmers working with specialty coffee will then hand pick the cherries at perfect ripeness before processing them.
Processing
Coffee processing is a large determinator in the final taste of the bev- erage from washed, honey processing, natural and in recent years a large number of anaerobic processes. These processes can greatly determine the clarity and complexity of the cup and accentuate the varietals and terrors characteristics.result in a faithful reflection of the land itself. Likewise, there is consistent use of the surrounding natural resources and the work is mostly carried out manually.
Selling and Shipping
The coffee is usually graded at its origin before selling to help establish the monetary value. Whilst not often thought about as a primary factor within specialty coffee both of these have major impacts on the coffee, as a general rule, the higher the grade of the coffee the higher the price of said coffee. Whereas with shipping, when han- dled incorrectly the coffee quality can drop off dramatically.
Roasters
The coffee roastery is a key step in ensuring the quality of the coffee before being brewed at home or at a cafe. The roaster is able to modulate flavour to some degree and accentuate different characteristics. Whilst there is no single ‘best’ roast, the majority of roasters working with specialty grade coffee create lighter roast profiles as this allows terroir, processing and other characteristics to shine through.
Brewing
After all this care that has been taken on the previous steps, coffee of the highest rating and best roasting has potential to be ruined by the person brewing it resulting in a bad end cup.
Then? Is it specialty?
If all these steps are carried out well then we can end up with that great cup of specialty coffee. With trends within agricultural practice trending more and more towards monoculture farming and a focus on agribusiness, specialty coffee has been attempting to move the opposite direction with more wild varietals being grown. Coffee is the only large scale cultivated crops that can grow in tandem with other crops or in canopies. With the scientific advances of GMO, pesticides, fertilisers allowing monoculture* farming to take hold it is no surprise that many coffee farms across the globe follow these modern farming practices. However, these monoculture crops sel- dom reach specialty grade. It is the complexity of terroir and careful practice that gives specialty coffee its incredible taste.
However, specialty coffee unfortunately does not take into consid- eration the use of pesticides or monoculture crops in the grading system. Nor is there a consideration of economic, environmental or work conditions. There are a limited number of organisations that are in place to ensure these more ethical considerations. Just because coffee is specialty, it does not mean that coffee is just.
There is a large amount of convergent vernacular surrounding coffee which can make determining specialty coffee from the rest difficult. This includes: 100% arabica, gourmet coffee, artisanal coffee, extra strong, freshly roasted. None of these are reliable identifiers for specialty coffee. Even the term specialty coffee is frequently appropri- ated by coffee shops and roasters to sell their coffee when it may not truly be specialty grade. Making it incredibly hard to determine which coffee to buy and which not.
So, what is specialty coffee and who decides what is specialty and what is not?
Q-Graders are individuals who have been qualified and calibrated to rate coffee based on its quality. They rate the coffee based on aro- ma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body, uniformity, balance, cleanness of cup and sweetness. These scores are then accumulated to give a total score of a coffee with a score of over 80 being classified as specialty grade.