What is Specialty Coffee?
Only 10% of all coffee ever reaches "specialty" status, and here's why...
These days, it’s not uncommon to come across a myriad of catchy buzzwords and accreditations when you purchase a bag of beans from your favorite coffee provider…
From “gourmet,” “craft,” “organic,” and “specialty” labels attached to any given roast, the average coffee consumer often only wants to know the answer to a very simple and important question prior to purchase… Is this coffee good enough to drink black?
Although many small and big batch roasters use terms like “gourmet” or “craft” to help sell the taste of their coffee, there isn’t any real authentication or merit to these claims.
In fact, only 10% of all coffee produced in the world can classify their coffee as good enough to be “specialty” quality, and that’s because “specialty” status requires the approval of the highest authorities in the coffee world—the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and Coffee Quality Institute (QCI).
In this week’s Alma-nac Blog, we’ll be breaking down what specialty coffee actually is, how coffee earns the “specialty” title through rigorous evaluation, how each step in a coffee cherry’s farm to cup journey affects the outcome of a coffee’s specialty status, and how you can easily find and verify specialty grade coffee from wherever you are!
So, brew up a fresh cup, sit back, subscribe to our email newsletter, and get ready to enjoy the most straight-forward breakdown of specialty coffee you’ll likely find on the internet.
💌 Subscribe 💌
Our email newsletter isn't your typical marketing ploy: sign up now and get notified when our latest blog posts publish, new coffee roasts debut, and other exciting coffee social & video content drops!
What is the textbook definition of "specialty" coffee?
According to the SCA's 2022 guidelines, “specialty” status can only occur when a coffee achieves a score of 80 or higher out of 100 on a standardized score sheet from an unbiased panel of expert coffee testers, commonly referred as Q Graders.
Before it can even make it to a Q Grader panel, however, coffee must be roasted no more than 24 hours prior to evaluation, can only spend 8-12 minutes in a roaster, and must achieve a certain roast profile and final coloration that the SCA outlines in detail here.
Then, to perform this standardized scoring process, Q graders evaluate coffee in a process called “cupping," which is intended to extract flavors from coffee in the most raw, replicable, and sensory-focused manner possible.
Q graders will evaluate a coffee through cuppings to look for specific tasting notes, fragrance/aroma, mouthfeel, uniformity, acidity, etc., and then score the coffee across a wide array of sensory and quality focused criteria before finishing their evaluation (see the specifics of their grading system here).
After all of these individual scores are totaled and averaged by a panel of Q Graders, coffee that scores higher than 80 is officially deemed “specialty” coffee by the SCA and QCI and anything scoring below is considered “commodity” coffee.
In short, “specialty” status is not exactly easy to obtain, which is why only 10% of all coffee produced falls into this criteria.
To achieve the official specialty grading, many processes need to go right from the moment a coffee seed is planted to the time it is roasted, and one single mishap in the coffee supply chain could mean the difference between a specialty or commodity status…
From farm to cup: What’s so special about specialty coffee?
On the farming level, specialty coffee *literally* stems from farmers who dedicate their entire livelihoods to understanding, adapting, and optimizing their farmlands for producing extraordinary coffee, often with a heavy focus on sustainable practices.
In our own Honduran family coffee farms, for instance, we recently covered the many permaculture practices our farming team commits to in a full-length blog, and these practices directly contribute to the quality and consistency of our final roasted coffee.
However, even with the best farming practices in place, attention to quality during the processing of raw coffee after harvest is a crucial step farmers dedicated to achieving specialty status must take before exporting their beans to a specialty focused roaster.
From sorting, washing, and eliminating defects at every possible step, coffee processing ensures the highest quality beans are selected to be roasted and, eventually, graded by a panel of Q graders, meaning the consistency of a final roast fully depends on the many hands involved in farming/processing beforehand.
After being grown under sustainably focused conditions and meticulously checked for quality during processing, unroasted (“green bean”) coffee makes its way to a specialty focused roaster who then works to bring the most ideal tasting notes during roasting and into the final cup.
If all goes well, and the final roasted coffee is deemed “specialty” status by highly trained Q Graders, that coffee then makes its way to your cup.
Nevertheless, even if a bean is rated as “specialty” grade by the SCA, the next challenge in a long supply chain for coffee roasters wishing to sell their high-quality coffee to caffeine lovers like yourself happens at the café or online storefront, and that’s why it’s important to know…
More Coffee Blogs for You
The Great Coffee Waves: What are the First, Second, and Third Coffee Waves?
Feb 24, 2021
Trending Articles
What is Coffee Processing?
Feb 21, 2022
Arabica v. Robusta
Oct 02,2021
Which has more caffeine, Light or Dark roasts?
April 12, 2021
How to know what is and isn’t QCI-graded specialty coffee
If you’ve read this far, you might be asking yourself the same question listed in the heading above… how do I find and/or verify specialty grade coffee before purchase?
As we mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, there are a lot of industry buzzwords meant to sound similar if not better than “specialty” coffee to the untrained consumer, which is why it’s important to understand the difference between specialty coffee and anything else.
Although “gourmet” or “craft” coffees could still be tasty brews, the processes, checks, and standardized scoring behind SCA-rated specialty coffees are intended to guarantee you, the coffee consumer, of the bean’s quality status compared to nearly 90% of the normal “commodity” coffee market.
To help those interested in finding specialty graded coffee beans, we put together a few quick tips to determine the SCA or QCI specialty status of any coffee.
Ask the roaster or coffee provider before purchase
Don’t see any information about the specialty status of a coffee on the label or online description? That doesn’t always mean it isn’t a specialty grade coffee!
If you’re genuinely seeking to purchase specialty coffee, don’t be afraid to directly ask the coffee roaster in-person or via email if their coffee is SCA/QCI specialty rated.
If a roaster says they aren’t specialty grade, remember just how difficult it is to achieve specialty recognition OR that their coffee could still be an AMAZING for your own taste preferences; but, if they say the coffee is specialty status, be sure ask them an important question...
What did a Q Grader rate this coffee?
Like we mentioned, specialty grade coffee is any coffee scored 80 or higher by an unbiased panel of Q Graders, and any roaster who achieves this should have proof in the form of SCA or Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) certifications.
Of course, revealing this information to the public is entirely voluntary, but at the very least a roaster claiming specialty coffee status should be able to explain their Q Grader grading in a good amount of detail to anyone who asks.
The final verdict? Find yourself some specialty coffee and experience just how tasty it is for yourself!
We hope this blog answered many of the questions you might have about what specialty coffee is and where it comes from: if you liked this blog post and want to start getting content like it every other week, subscribe to our email list and get notified when the latest blog post publishes.
Our marketing team dedicates a LOT of time to researching coffee history, science, and trends to give you the most accurate and entertaining written breakdowns, so your subscription tells us we’re doing something right to share our passion for coffee!
Written by: Kelley Bostian
510 comments
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823586
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823690
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823697
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823692
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823699
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823704
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823686
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823689
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823688
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823200
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823755
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823271
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823279
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823215
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823255
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823756
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823236
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823232
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823239
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549823260
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549826092
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549826099
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549826081
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549826082
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549826089
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822342
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822344
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822348
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822390
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822341
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822383
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822384
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822389
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822388
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822381
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822600
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822601
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822603
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822606
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822602
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822608
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822650
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822655
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822651
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822609
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822659
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822670
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822677
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822672
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549822679
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824146
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824144
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824148
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824197
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824192
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824183
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824182
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824189
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824300
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824303
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824350
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824351
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824356
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824354
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824370
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824376
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824379
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824310
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824313
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824319
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824349
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824348
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824397
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824399
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls549824387
https://www.honor.com/mea-ar/club/topicdetail/topicid-3629147622703104/
https://www.honor.com/mea-ar/club/topicdetail/topicid-3629147951857664/
https://www.honor.com/mea-ar/club/topicdetail/topicid-3629148021096449/
koms.rs is another website where you can watch your favorite movies and TV shows online for free. It has a large collection of genres, including action, comedy, drama, horror, romance, and sci-fi. You can browse or search for specific titles, actors, directors, or keywords.
옆방에 일본여자가 싼다
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/725405/japanese-woman-is-cheap-in-the-next-room
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/81774/les-exploits-dun-jeune-don-juan
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/630580/dorcel-airlines-hotesses-libertines
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/453543/sexo-en-el-plato
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1029446/selinas-gold
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/646749/yu-pui-tsuen
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/436883
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/680651
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1157727
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1124656
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1124633/country-beauty
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1124642/a-foder-e-que-a-gente-se-entende
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1124825
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/270879/stripper
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/447759
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/504903
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/853033
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/853315
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/442916
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/372021
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/654150
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/419329
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1083330
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/637154/angriff-der-pornosaurier
https://koms.rs/-/zh/movie/234020
https://koms.rs/-/ko/movie/37265
https://koms.rs/-/zh/movie/1025421
https://koms.rs/-/zh/movie/82074
https://koms.rs/-/es/movie/1109162
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1236401/d-cup-personal-secretary
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1055110
https://koms.rs/-/zh/movie/630609
https://koms.rs/-/zh/movie/934758
https://koms.rs/-/zh/movie/1236183
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/992824
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/992827
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/678282
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/218746
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/992354
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/677113
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/677115/2
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1143209
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/990378/2
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/377101
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/528547
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/528549
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/376828/the-awakening-of-annie
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/214584/the-pamela-principle
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/376858/2
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/989900
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/213867/loveblind
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/682708
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/842600
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/692454
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/286687
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/559563
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/653960
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/724109
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/744148-2
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/854670
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/911835
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/419114
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/427453
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/427719
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/722156
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/671072
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/509536
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1018289
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1018306
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1016113
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/1018339
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/746375
https://koms.rs/-/fr/movie/457859
https://koms.rs/-/es/person/1489641
https://www.honor.com/mea-ar/club/topicdetail/topicid-3629153314373633/
https://www.honor.com/mea-ar/club/topicdetail/topicid-3629154620899328/
https://www.honor.com/mea-ar/club/topicdetail/topicid-3629153916190720/
https://github.com/fidzil-ciin/TV/discussions/1
https://github.com/fidzil-ciin/TV/discussions/2
https://github.com/fidzil-ciin/TV/discussions/3
https://github.com/fidzil-ciin/TV/discussions/4
https://github.com/fidzil-ciin/TV/discussions/5
https://github.com/Asmawi-ciin/TV/discussions/1
https://github.com/Asmawi-ciin/TV/discussions/2
https://github.com/Asmawi-ciin/TV/discussions/3
https://github.com/Asmawi-ciin/TV/discussions/4
https://github.com/Asmawi-ciin/TV/discussions/5
https://github.com/Mega-X-ciin/TV/discussions/1
https://github.com/Mega-X-ciin/TV/discussions/2
https://github.com/Mega-X-ciin/TV/discussions/3
https://github.com/Mega-X-ciin/TV/discussions/4
https://github.com/Mega-X-ciin/TV/discussions/5
https://github.com/X-onE-ciin/TV/discussions/1
https://github.com/X-onE-ciin/TV/discussions/2
https://github.com/X-onE-ciin/TV/discussions/3
https://github.com/X-onE-ciin/TV/discussions/4
https://github.com/X-onE-ciin/TV/discussions/5
https://github.com/Arus-Tv/CIIN/discussions/1
https://github.com/Arus-Tv/CIIN/discussions/2
https://github.com/Arus-Tv/CIIN/discussions/3
https://github.com/Arus-Tv/CIIN/discussions/4
https://github.com/Embun-Tv/CIIN/issues/1
https://github.com/Embun-Tv/CIIN/issues/2
https://github.com/Embun-Tv/CIIN/issues/3
https://github.com/Embun-Tv/CIIN/issues/4
https://www.honor.com/mea-ar/club/topicdetail/topicid-3629153314373633/
https://www.honor.com/mea-ar/club/topicdetail/topicid-3629154620899328/
https://www.honor.com/mea-ar/club/topicdetail/topicid-3629153916190720/
https://github.com/fidzil-ciin/TV/discussions/1
https://github.com/fidzil-ciin/TV/discussions/2
https://github.com/fidzil-ciin/TV/discussions/3
https://github.com/fidzil-ciin/TV/discussions/4
https://github.com/fidzil-ciin/TV/discussions/5
https://github.com/Asmawi-ciin/TV/discussions/1
https://github.com/Asmawi-ciin/TV/discussions/2
https://github.com/Asmawi-ciin/TV/discussions/3
https://github.com/Asmawi-ciin/TV/discussions/4
https://github.com/Asmawi-ciin/TV/discussions/5
https://github.com/Mega-X-ciin/TV/discussions/1
https://github.com/Mega-X-ciin/TV/discussions/2
https://github.com/Mega-X-ciin/TV/discussions/3
https://github.com/Mega-X-ciin/TV/discussions/4
https://github.com/Mega-X-ciin/TV/discussions/5
https://github.com/X-onE-ciin/TV/discussions/1
https://github.com/X-onE-ciin/TV/discussions/2
https://github.com/X-onE-ciin/TV/discussions/3
https://github.com/X-onE-ciin/TV/discussions/4
https://github.com/X-onE-ciin/TV/discussions/5
https://github.com/Arus-Tv/CIIN/discussions/1
https://github.com/Arus-Tv/CIIN/discussions/2
https://github.com/Arus-Tv/CIIN/discussions/3
https://github.com/Arus-Tv/CIIN/discussions/4
https://github.com/Embun-Tv/CIIN/issues/1
https://github.com/Embun-Tv/CIIN/issues/2
https://github.com/Embun-Tv/CIIN/issues/3
https://github.com/Embun-Tv/CIIN/issues/4
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/v4iv2gd56-k
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/l-sLQDN1npE
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/nJcNKbWMcq0
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/uytzdBEzld4
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/mFU5z0L5_Xc
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/jb86d4QxIH4
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/hDRZ8JHyIsU
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/ktFR9T8o-Vo
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/lvq_REkBXog
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/vuVcgPH1Swc
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/mT_x_WIhCkw
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/i_hbkeUtaLU
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/pFOEYU685aY
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/p0CsyoAjqDc
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/knheq302FPk
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/nh92EbIXCBo
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/svYKFXAIEW0
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/pukt9iOfTw0
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/n5jWm8bO_yg
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/tPW1NYnDhdQ
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/lA9ZtfMhbjQ
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/hwFQrTEm-gs
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/s1LRxOrOiy0
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/qgiSnvF6zUc
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/kYIgWaXGR70
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/lyPjl-zzb_M
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/j0ny8BUOjt4
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/kth400W4tAs
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/i_P_LMIpfV0
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/jLWrr1Zlu-0
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/r8EItzilO70
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/gYigaxVtENk
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/knbqjHC7jU4
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/mtwVonsyktc
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/uyc9mPg6M38
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/sKXx4IUaG3E
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/pPZPjV7Q_Is
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/shPur3u6sFk
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/v71AE7ojI4w
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/qCmCKBPBAns
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/o8MIOTuvp9k
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/riDN1wOuQsM
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/odCHEmm6mW8
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/rjYSLNCwuC4
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/gQz5RDd_qn0
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/hdlVGBazGcE
https://lookerstudio.google.com/embed/s/kPOMrpBAtyY
https://www.zephyraxis.com/wall/posts/58416
https://forumketoan.com/threads/googleindexlookerstudioportugues.46979/
http://www.shadowville.com/board/general-discussions/googleindexlookerstudioportugues#p609211
https://diendannhansu.com/threads/googleindexlookerstudioportugues.657063/
https://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/harrykur05/diary/202411020000/
https://www.submita2z.in.net/story/googleindexlookerstudioportugues/
https://medium.com/@yurigheboy25/googleindexlookerstudioportugues-0f16abab0262