What is specialty coffee?
People are talking more and more about speciality coffees, but what exactly are they? Specialty coffees are very different from the regular ones that we commonly find on supermarket shelves. Specialty coffees are grown at higher elevations, are traceable at origin or estate level, and processed carefully once harvested.
The entire coffee chain is impacted in this definition because at each stage of production the goal is to reach a standard significantly above the average, with no defects on the beans or in the final cup.
But the main difference with commercial coffees is evident in a striking way at the moment of tasting. By their very nature, specialty coffee have a complexity and a richness of aromas and flavors that make them absolutely recognizable even for less skilled palates.
To make it easier to compare different origins, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) uses a tasting procedure that assigns a score to each batch. On a rating scale of 50 to 100, only coffees with a rating above 80 points are called specialty coffees.
The higher the score, the higher the reward for the coffee farmer and the motivation to improve quality at the farm level.
How recognize a specialty coffee?
Specialty coffee can be compared to a Grand cru in the wine market, where quality refers to a terroir, an altitude, a perfect pulping process and a system of skills, which ensure that this precious fruit of the earth is harvested and treated with care to obtain the best possible drink in the cup.
If you want to make sure that your coffee is a specialty coffee, it is important to ask questions about the traceability of the coffee: where does it come from, who is the farmer or the cooperative that produces it? What variety, what altitude and what process was used? Only if you can get the answers to these questions you can be sure you have a specialty product in your hands.
Once the origin of the coffee is known, it is also important to discover how the roaster was able to transform the green beans, enhancing all the flavors and aromas that are naturally present in the beans. Specialty coffee is always typically light roasted, to highlight the precious aromatic bouquet of that origin in an explosive way.
Freshness is also one of the key points of the specialty world.
The coffees are roasted with care in an artisan setting in small batches, with small roasters that allow full control over the roasting curves and the aromatic profile of the coffee. Furthermore, by producing in small quantities, the roaster makes sure that he always has very fresh coffee. Thus, it is always necessary to check if the roasting date is mentioned on the packaging.
A specialty coffee should ideally be consumed within 3/6 months from the day of production.
How to read the label
Before choosing a bottle of wine, even the less experienced consumer takes his time to study the label. The winegrower, the blend, the region of origin can tell us a lot about the wine you are going to have. Hardly the same thing happens when we buy a package of coffee. Actually, also in this case the label is essential to understand what we are buying in terms of quality and result in the cup. More specifically, for specialty coffees we have a lot of information available and it is important to understand the characteristics that we will identify when tasting. Most micro roasters work hard to source coffees that meet specific standards – sustainably grown, responsibly traded coffees with amazing taste in the cup. Specialty coffees enthusiasts are not satisfied with a creative name and a nice brand on the package. They want to know more about what they are drinking, where it come from, how it was grown and who transformed it before it got into the cup. If you are a demanding consumer and you know where to look, you can generally find all this information – and often more – on the packaging of your specialty.
Here is a brief label guide to help you in choosing a specialty coffee.
Coffee is usually named after the country and the farm it is from. While knowing the country of origin doesn’t tell us whether a coffee will be good or not, it gives us an idea of what we can expect. For example, we can be pretty sure that a Kenyan coffee will be fruity and have strong berry notes (Kenyan coffees are often described as berry-bombs) – whereas if I get a coffee from Ethiopia, there is a high probability that it is light, with floral and citrus notes in the cup. Of course, making these flavors stand out largely depends on how well the roaster can make his job.
Coffee qualifies as ‘specialty’ when it has zero primary defects and has, on the contrary, an organoleptic profile extremely rich in flavors and stand out for their sweetness and acidity, which is why it receives, from a panel of tasters (Q graders) from the Coffee Quality Institute a score, the cup score, above 80 points, on a scale of excellence ranging from 0 to 100.
Cupping is a process that involves roasting the coffee and simply brewing it by adding hot water to the ground beans; specific scores for each of the attributes such as acidity, body, flavour and aroma- are assigned by certified Q graders. The aromatic profile written on the coffee package is the result of this sensory analysis.
This description is very similar to the tasting notes on a bottle of wine; it is certainly a personal and subjective to the palate of whoever wrote it, but it gives a true idea of what to expect in the cup.
There are great chefs, master chocolatiers, master pastry chefs. Likewise, in the artisan roasting process of a specialty coffee, the hand of those who take care of the delicate step of transforming the beans is fundamental. To best enhance the precious genetic heritage of a specialty origin, are required skills acquired over years of study and research. When our coffee package displays the name of a well-known and accredited roaster in the world of specialty coffees, we are sure to have an extra guarantee of quality.
Not all coffee varieties are the same and they won’t even taste the same. The species and variety of a coffee can have a significant impact on the flavor of the final cup, so let’s take a quick look at the more common ones. A specialty coffee is always of the Arabica species, known for its aroma and its rich flavors. Robusta is another common species; it has a more bitter taste and a significantly higher amount of caffeine.
Then there are the varieties: Caturra, Catuaí, Bourbon, Typica, Geisha, Pacamara and many others, each with its own distinctive characteristics. Bourbon tends to be sweet, for example, while Geisha tends to have a light, tea-like body, jasmine aroma, and complex flavor.
Poi ci sono le varietà: Caturra, Catuaí, Bourbon, Typica, Geisha, Pacamara e tantissime altre ancora, ognuna con le sue caratteristiche distintive. Il Bourbon tende ad essere dolce, per esempio, mentre il Geisha tende ad avere un corpo leggero, simile al tè, un aroma di gelsomino e un sapore complesso.
Separating the coffee cherry’s fruit flesh and skin from the coffee beans is one of the most crucial aspects of farming coffee. Processing method has a big impact on a coffee’s flavor, aroma, and body. There are different types of processes although the most common are three: washed, natural and honey. There are of course many more, some of which involve the coffee being fermented in oxygen-free or carbon dioxide-rich environments, called anaerobic and carbonic maceration, respectively. The three mentioned here are by far the most common.
- Washed processing method
After picking and sorting, the coffee is transferred to a machine that will separate the fruit from the seeds inside. Once the seeds are extracted, they will be coated with a sticky substance known as mucilage. To remove it, the seeds are moved to a tank of water, where they will spend one to three days, fermenting slightly. The bacteria produced during this process will cause the mucilage to dissolve. The coffee is then rinsed and dried at about 11% humidity, on either concrete courtyards or raised drying beds. Unlike natural and honey processed coffees, washed coffees have a clean flavor profile because they have very few external factors that affect their taste. This allows the flavors of the different varieties shine brightly. - Natural processing method
The coffee is collected and sorted, then the whole seed with its cherry is moved to a drying area; either courtyards and drying beds, where they will be left to dry for about 30 days. During this period, the coffee must be turned regularly to ensure uniform drying. Since the seed is dried while encased in the cherry, the fruit imparts some of its sugar content and flavorings onto the bean. This often gives the naturally processed coffees the maximum sweetness and flavour profile of tropical fruits; pineapple and sometimes strawberries, and certainly more body. They can also, as a result of over-fermentation, have characteristic vinous / alcoholic notes, which some love and others hate. The natural processing method was developed in Ethiopia and is common in coffee producing areas around the world where water is more difficult to find. - Honey method
The honey processing method, developed in Costa Rica, is halfway between a washed coffee and a naturally processed one. First, the coffee is picked and sorted. Then it is transferred to a machine where the producer can decide how much fruit and mucilage (the sticky honey-like substance around the seed) needs to be removed. There are generally three different levels of the honey processing method which depend on the amount of mucilage left on the bean. Honey coffees are often very sweet (but, despite the name, less than natural ones). They tend to have hints of cane sugar and dried fruit and rarely have the “alcoholic” defect found in some natural coffees.
Some coffee bags show the altitude at which the coffee was grown, usually measured in meters above sea level (masl).
Why is this information important? There are several of reasons as to why higher altitudes produce better and more sophisticated coffees. One of these factors is that the higher is the altitude at which a coffee is grown, the less oxygen is available. This means that cherries ripen more slowly, developing more complex sugars inside.
When comparing two farms in the same region, the one at a higher altitude tends to have cooler climates. For this reason, a superior masl has been interpreted as a better-quality coffee.
There are many different roasting colors for a coffee: light, medium, dark, Vienna, City Plus, Filter, blond, etc. Roasting is a process that develops the flavors and aromas already present in the coffee beans. However, if the roaster takes the roasting too far, it will create additional flavors that will cover the characteristics of the coffee. Under-roasted beans taste grassy and sour. On the other hand, over-roasted beans are bitter, smoky, and unpleasant. While specialty coffee lovers tend to prefer lighter roasts, the truth is that the best roast will depend on the beans themselves, the method of preparation and, of course, the drinker’s palate.
- Light Roast
It allows to highlight fruity and acidic flavors and aromas, which is well suited to coffees that already have these characteristics. Some people claim that light roasts are less sweet, but this isn’t always true. As high-quality specialty coffee is prized for its complex profile, many roasters opt for light or medium-light roasts to highlight it. - Dark Roast
When we drink a dark roasted coffee, we generally find bitter notes and a full body in the cup. Dark profiles have a bad reputation among specialty coffees lovers and are sometimes used to cover up defects and negative scents of the bean. - Medium Roast
A medium roasting profile is defined by many by what it is not: it is not light and it is not dark. Rather, it is a more balanced process, which offsets the flavors of the coffee, with the pleasant and sweet flavors caused by roasting.
In general, espresso roasts tend to be a bit darker while filter roasts are a bit lighter. Then there are some “omni” roasts designed to best enhance the potential of the beans and to be suitable either for filter and espresso brewing.
The roasting date is a very important information, not only because it reveals freshness but also when the coffee is ready to be used.
During the roasting process, multiple chemical reactions occur within the coffee bean and as a result, carbon dioxide gas is trapped inside the bean. In the first five days from the date of production, roasted coffee loses the C02 stored during the process in a period known as degassing.
Any coffee consumed during this period may brew unevenly due to the release of gas, causing sharp, bitter or overly acidic aromas in the cup.
A specialty coffee reaches its peak between five and 15 days after the roasting date printed in the bag but it can still give a good cup if consumed within the first 6 months.