Welcome back!
Today we will talk about speciality coffee. Here’s what we’ll dive into:
Speciality coffee is a consistent dedication of various parties with one focus in mind ‑ creating the highest quality product possible and making it their life’s work to create something special. Something that can be enjoyed by people globally every day.
It’s not just one party involved ‑ a multitude of people make the one thing we crave every morning before we start our day (coffee, of course!). And they do it by having the dedication to quality, consistency and harmony to maintain excellent standards from the journey of coffee where it starts on the farm, onto the processor and roaster then into the café, where it’s brewed to the highest standard before being presented to the consumer.
This is not an easy industry; it’s one that without the hard work of everyone involved, we would not have access to the delicious bean we call coffee.
Coffee can be purchased and accessed from most places today, but the quality is the thing that matters. Are you able to access great coffee, or make great coffee yourself at home? Or are you going to an overpriced chain coffee shop to get your daily caffeine fix?
In some people’s cases, they don’t know the difference between a regular coffee and a speciality coffee, probably because they’ve never been shown the difference, and they aren’t sure what to look for when searching for a great cup of coffee. And I assure you, the difference is insane.
That’s what the focus is today: helping you understand what speciality coffee is, where to find the best coffee wherever you are locally, and sharing tips and tricks on making a great cup of coffee at home the easiest way possible.
What is Speciality Coffee?
The definition of speciality coffee is:
Speciality coffee is a term for the highest grade of coffee available, typically relating to the entire supply chain, using single-origin or single-estate coffee. The term was first used in 1974 by Erna Knutsen in an issue of Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
Essentially speciality is the highest possible standard of coffee, from farm to roaster, to cup. And it gets deeper than that. From cup scoring to farm transparency to flavour profiling and details of how coffee tastes from start to finish (body, acidity and finish.)
Speciality coffee put simply, compared to chain and supermarket coffee, is farmed and quality scored and graded out of 100 points. The higher the points, the better quality the coffee, the more expensive the coffee and sometimes harder to grow and farm.
Speciality coffee is any scoring coffee over 80. 90-100 is exceptional coffee and any coffee scoring under 80 is classed as commodity-grade coffee, i.e. chain or supermarket coffee.
Commodity-scoring coffees, most of the time, are produced cheaply, in large quantities and roasted without specific profiles. To roast as much coffee as possible, this sort of coffee would be produced for large chain coffee shops that need thousands of kilos of coffee every day.
Once the coffee cherries are grown and processed, the speciality coffee beans need to pass a Q grading (the scoring system we discussed above) The SCA (Speciality Coffee Association) also have systems in place which help quality grade coffee harvests, i.e. the number of defects per 350g of coffee harvested needs to be 5 or less to be graded as ‘speciality’ coffee. Some defects occur in a lot of specific types of coffee beans and can be identified in several different ways, but we will get into this another time.
The difference between speciality and chain or supermarket coffee is that speciality coffee is scored higher, with more attention to quality, detail and growing, processing and farming which can change through different climates and seasons. More attention is needed to keep the coffee growing quality the best it can possibly be. It is grown at higher altitudes and hand-picked to ensure the quality is where it needs to be. On the other hand, commodity coffee is lower scoring and doesn’t require a high investment and less attention to detail is put into commodity-type coffees.
Let’s move on to the different types of processing and farming.
Coffee Farming
Coffee farming is where farmers grow coffee crops (coffee cherry trees, which is where coffee comes from) with the intent of producing specific types of coffee trees, those being for either exceptional, speciality or commodity markets. Taking into consideration the climate of where the coffee grows, the surrounding environment and the type of coffee that they plan on growing for the desired markets.
The most common countries where coffee is grown and farmed are South America: Brazil, Columbia, Peru, El Salvador, Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador and these tend to taste much sweeter and smoother, with a medium body and much lower acidity.
And then we’ve got my personal favourite, African coffees, which are grown and farmed in countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda etc., and contain more complex flavours, with brighter acidity and flavour profiles of floral, citrus, and berries.
The two most common types of coffee grown are arabica and robusta coffees. Both are a type of species which contain different characteristics and have delicate growing practices and if not done correctly can affect the outcome of how the coffee will taste. Therefore, it won’t pass the quality checks that make speciality coffee so special. Out of the two, Arabica coffee is the only current coffee species that can be produced for speciality coffee due to having a more delicate flavour, sweeter aroma and acidities.
Once coffee cherries are grown, farmed to the highest standard and with the utmost quality control, they are then sorted into batches then sent off for processing. Only ripe cherries will make it onto the processing stage.
Coffee Processing
Now we will go into the different types of coffee processing and how each differs.
Coffee processing is removing the layers around the coffee from the cherry. The coffee bean is the seed of a coffee cherry and different processing methods will affect how a coffee tastes. This will come down to the variety of the coffee bean, the processing method and how it’s roasted. The two most common processing methods are natural and washed. We will go through these methods and the new and experimental processing methods which are being developed by different processors.
Natural Process
The natural coffee process is the oldest and most traditional way to process coffee. It’s the simplest way of processing coffee and all it includes is the coffee beans being dried inside of the cherries out in the sun. They tend to be a bit fruitier and sweeter once roasted.
Washed Process
This process involves the washing of the coffee separate from the cherry, in which processors remove the layers of the coffee cherry, and then ferment and wash the coffee beans before they’re dried. Washed coffees are much more crisp, cleaner in taste, have a medium body and are slightly more acidic.
Anaerobic Process
Anaerobic coffee processing involves the coffee cherries being fermented in sealed tanks without oxygen. This results in a unique flavour profile due to the lack of oxygen, which causes the coffee to produce different acids, such as lactic acid, giving it a distinct flavour. With a heavy body, some flavours may include heavier ones such as rum, wine, tropical fruits, raisins, and cocoa. Due to the anaerobic process producing more complex flavours, it’s also recommended to roast the coffee slightly more delicately than others.
Aerobic Process
Aerobic processing involves exposing the coffee to oxygen. This allows the microorganisms like yeasts and bacteria to break down the coffee beans’ sugars into simpler substances. Resulting in a more acidic coffee and acidic flavours. How it works is, once the coffee cherries are washed, they are placed into a container with oxygen and left to ferment. With the oxygen present the coffee will ferment much quicker than other processing methods.
Honey Process
Honey processing is where the skin and the fruit are removed from the coffee cherry which leaves a thin layer of sticky mucilage which is often compared to ‘honey’ due to its sticky-honey substance left on the outside of the coffee bean which is then dried just like any other processing method. Honey processing includes qualities like intense fruit sweetness, and a balanced acidity and body.
There are several types of ‘honey’ processing like yellow, black, red and white honey. All these refer to the amount of sticky mucilage left on the outside of the coffee bean.
- Black honey – The largest amount of mucilage left on the coffee bean
- Red honey – Around half the amount of mucilage left on the coffee bean
- Yellow honey – a small amount of mucilage left on the coffee bean
- White honey – as little mucilage as possible left on the coffee bean.
Thermal Shock Process
Thermal shock coffee processing is a combination of fermentation, washing and drying to create a complex flavour profile for the coffee.
The coffee cherries are fermented in a low-oxygen environment which enhances the sweetness of the coffee. Microorganisms are then added to the fermentation stage where a chemical reaction happens creating a more complex flavour to the coffee.
The thermal shock process can result in a more intense and complex flavour profile by changing the cell structure of the coffee cherries, which reduces the effect of undesirable flavour coming to the coffee and enhances the complex flavours that this process is known for.
There are lots of coffee processing methods today and I discover new ones very often. But the ones discussed today are the most common. Each method has attributes that change the way coffee tastes, and discovering new ones is always a joy as it makes the knowledge we obtain from coffee more interesting and diverse.
Brewing Speciality Coffee
Now we’ve discussed the different processing methods of speciality coffee, and what speciality coffee is we will discuss one of the most important things in speciality coffee – brewing.
Brewing speciality coffee is without a doubt one of the most important components of the entire industry. Without brewing these amazing coffees, we cannot enjoy them. So, brewing them with the right recipes, brewing devices and skills is needed to create the best out of all of the effort that is put into the growing, farming, processing and roasting of the coffee. Some of the most common ways to brew speciality coffee are the iconic espresso machine, the filter coffee dripper (pour over), the legendary AeroPress, the Italian favourite, the Moka pot, and the revolutionary Cafetiere. We will go through how to brew with these methods at home in another post but check these out to get to grips with brewing pour-over, aeropress and espresso.
Where to Look For Speciality Coffee
In today’s world, it’s quite easy to find a speciality coffee roaster or shop. This is because it’s becoming an everyday culture for most people. You can find the best roasters and shops in your area online or on social media, but here are some speciality roasters that we recommend. We’ve written an article about the best speciality coffee shops in Cornwall here and will be doing one for central London very soon, but for now, just have a search online. What we recommend to look for is the following when in your search for a good cup of coffee or bag of the sweet brown beans we call speciality coffee.
- Origin, Farmer, Variety, Process, Elevation
- Coffee Information Profile – Flavour Notes, Body, Acidity, Finish, Cup or SCA Score
- Transparency – price to producer and relationship with producer. Some places don’t supply this information but some do and it’s great to see how open and transparent some coffee roasters are.
That’s it for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s article about speciality coffee. I hope it’s been useful and in-depth enough for you to understand how special speciality coffee is and how much effort is put into this great little bean we call coffee.
Until the next one.
Have a great one and I’ll catch you soon.
