What does specialty coffee mean across the coffee association of america standards?
Specialty coffee is not just a label for premium beans. The term was first defined in 1974 by Erna Knutsen, who described coffee with unique flavor grown under special geographic conditions and microclimates. The idea was later formalized through the standards of SCAA, SCAE, and SCAJ, tracing quality from seed to cup.
The coffee association of america and its counterparts set grading rules that cover growing, harvesting, processing, roasting, and cupping, which is why the term carries a consensus on quality rather than a marketing claim. The third wave extends this with six core elements, treating coffee as an agricultural product judged on traceability, craft, and the people along the production process.
Does the coffee you drink really deserve the word "specialty"? A roaster with six or seven years in the industry was unable to explain to customers what specialty coffee is, and even changed the term to "special coffee" based on Baidu Translate. This article starts from Erna Knutsen's original 1974 definition, sorts out the different standards of the three major associations SCAA, SCAE, and SCAJ, reveals the complete chain of specialty coffee from seed to cup, and deeply analyzes the six core elements of the third wave of coffee. Specialty coffee is by no means a simple label of "premium" or "special"; it carries a consensus on quality and a humanistic spirit shared from coffee farmers to consumers.
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Recently I read an article. The author is a practitioner who has worked for six or seven years at a well-known "specialty coffee" roasting organization in the industry, yet he could not even explain clearly "what is specialty coffee," and directly copied Baidu Translate by calling it "special coffee."
Throughout the entire article, this "insider" repeatedly emphasized: stop talking about specialty coffee...
While finding it absurd, I could not help but also feel a trace of regret for these so-called "veterans."
Of course, regarding "specialty coffee" itself, there has indeed never been an absolutely precise definition. Even Mr. Taguchi Mamoru, a leading figure in the Japanese coffee world, states plainly in Taguchi Mamoru's Complete Book of Specialty Coffee: rather than giving a definition and causing controversy, it is better to keep it vague and allow free interpretation; everyone will naturally understand.
However, does the absence of a unified standard mean it can be defined however one likes?
Of course... not.
The earliest definition of "specialty coffee"
The concept of Specialty Coffee was first born in 1974, proposed by Erna Knutsen, known as the godmother of specialty coffee: "Special geographic conditions and microclimates produce coffee beans with unique flavors."
The godmother of specialty coffee—Erna Knutsen
If you look only at this original definition, you may have the same confusion as that "insider":
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Shouldn't it be called special coffee? Coffee beans with unique flavors cultivated under special climate and geographic conditions should be called special coffee, right?
What's so "specialty" about it? Where exactly did the Chinese translation "specialty coffee" come from?
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Actually, that is not the case. The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), co-founded with Erna Knutsen's involvement, established a standard in 2009 for green coffee beans—the cupping score must not be lower than 80 points. Only then did specialty coffee gain a relatively scientific and objective basis.
SCAA's definition of "specialty coffee"
Afterward, SCAA expanded the definition of "specialty coffee" to an unprecedented scope, pushing it across the entire industry chain:
Specialty coffee is accomplished through the joint efforts of five major parties who pursue quality continuously throughout their lives. From beginning to end, they maintain consistent standards of excellence to ensure quality and make this their priority work objective, and all participants cooperate together; none can be missing. These five roles include "coffee farmers," "green bean buyers," "roasters," "baristas," and "consumers." In the overall cycle from production to consumption, only when all parties share excellence in quality as a common pursuit can the true meaning of specialty coffee be achieved.
Coffee farmers: carefully select the most suitable varieties and plant them at the altitude, climate, soil, and water conditions most conducive to the development of coffee flavor.
Green bean buyers: carefully process by washing and sun-drying, select the highest-grade green beans without defects, and deliver them to customers with zero flaws in transportation.
Roasters: through the roaster's superb craftsmanship, bring out the richest regional flavors.
Baristas: then use recognized extraction methods to brew delicious coffee.
Consumers: what they pursue is not only the highest standard of coffee quality and flavor, but also the relentless pursuit of excellence by every role in the specialty coffee production process.
Other countries' definitions of "specialty coffee"
Specialty Coffee Association of Europe SCAE:
Specialty coffee is "the evaluation given by consumers after drinking it as exquisitely crafted, high-quality coffee." This cup of coffee will possess unique quality and outstanding flavor, different from ordinary coffee that can be found anywhere. The Specialty Coffee Association of Europe acknowledges that the market supply of specialty coffee has its limits; it is not a coffee service that can be consumed anywhere. It is high-quality coffee made from green beans of the highest standard through superb roasting techniques, with all green beans and roasted beans stored according to high-standard warehousing specifications, and then brewed using high-standard brewing techniques.
Specialty Coffee Association of Japan SCAJ
Specialty coffee is "coffee that consumers drink and find excellent in flavor, are willing to praise, and feel satisfied with"; the definition of excellent flavor means the coffee's flavor leaves a clear impression, with bright, crisp acidity and a sense of distinctiveness, while the finish carries sweetness; and the coffee itself must, at all stages from green bean to a cup of coffee, implement consistent and strict production procedures, unified processes, and rigorous quality management. Only coffee meeting the above conditions qualifies as specialty coffee.
"Specialty coffee"—from seed to cup
SCAJ focuses its evaluation on "the flavor characteristics of the liquid in the cup," while the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) advocates that the object of evaluation should be "green coffee beans," and the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) believes that what should be evaluated is the "coffee liquid" at the base of the coffee.
But countries still share a consensus: to earn the title of "specialty coffee," one must cross multiple thresholds. One condition is that "traceability" must be clear, that is, the "production history" must be clear enough to trace which country, which region, and which coffee farm the beans came from.
From the definitions of the world's three major specialty coffee associations, it can be seen that specialty coffee covers the entire process "from a coffee seed to a cup of coffee." Only by taking care of every link and understanding the whole chain from source to end can one truly understand "specialty coffee."
Unfair "fair trade"
Some may find this a bit outrageous: including the living quality of everyone in the coffee industry chain within the scope of specialty coffee, and linking their living conditions to coffee flavor, seems strange no matter how you look at it.
This is because, before the third wave led by specialty coffee, information and resources across the upstream and downstream of the coffee industry were asymmetric. Even with mechanisms such as fair trade and direct trade, coffee farmers were still heavily exploited, their living conditions could not be fundamentally guaranteed, and improving cultivation environments, raising green bean quality, and researching excellent varieties were naturally out of the question. In the long run, ignoring the survival conditions upstream and treating "coffee" merely as a commodity, simply pursuing "coffee beans with unique flavors produced under special geographic conditions and microclimates," is by no means a long-term solution.
Although the starting point of fair trade coffee is well intentioned, fair trade is now gradually losing effectiveness and cannot substantially help poor people.
The humanistic spirit of "specialty coffee," however, rests on "direct trade," replacing the "fair trade" system with "direct trade." Roasters travel to producing regions to seek good beans, help farmers understand the quality requirements of the specialty market, and thereby improve quality and obtain better prices through direct trade, forming positive interaction between producing regions and consuming countries and promoting upstream-downstream relationships.
Elements of the third wave of specialty coffee
The third wave of coffee, namely the concept of "specialty coffee," emphasizes "from seed to cup." It should earliest have been passed down into the country from Taiwan and Japan. Taiwan coffee master Han Huaizong mentioned in The Study of Specialty Coffee that the third wave of specialty coffee has six elements:
1. Value regional flavor: discuss different regional flavors in terms of more specific producing areas, estates, latitudes, altitudes, processing methods, microclimates, and varieties.
2. Avoid dark roasting and favor light roasting: reduce the degree of roasting and use light-to-medium roasting to interpret the bright, lively, acidic, fruity notes of specialty beans.
3. Value low-pollution processing methods: no longer adhere rigidly to the doctrine of prioritizing washed beans, improve methods into processing that does not require water consumption, expand the diversity of the coffee flavor spectrum, and better protect the environment and pursue sustainable operation.
4. Filter black coffee becomes mainstream: promote original black coffee without sugar or milk, using filter-style equipment, and let the coffee speak for itself.
5. Direct delivery from origin to roastery: replace the "fair trade" system with "direct trade." Roasters travel to producing regions to seek good beans, help farmers understand the quality requirements of the specialty market, and thereby improve quality and obtain better prices through direct trade, forming positive interaction between producing regions and consuming countries and promoting upstream-downstream relationships.
6. Scientifically interpret coffee aesthetics: study coffee from top notes to bottom notes as an aesthetic discipline, emphasizing scientific research on seed selection, cultivation, processing, cupping, roasting, extraction, concentration, and extraction yield.
Finally
According to that "insider," "specialty coffee" should follow Baidu Translate and simply translate Specialty Coffee as "special coffee," and that would be correct. Is Baidu really that reliable and professional?
So the concept of specialty coffee is just that simple?
I cannot help but feel a little disappointed. Is it really just for the convenience of explaining to customers that one only needs to use simple, easy-to-understand names like "special" or "premium" to avoid customers' curious follow-up questions, pursuing only the simple routine of roasting coffee, brewing coffee, selling coffee, then collecting money and closing up? Is "specialty coffee" really just "coffee"? Is "specialty coffee" really only that superficial in the eyes of an "insider"? Or is it that he cannot even be bothered to take the time to flip through references and check an article?
No, no, no, I am not in the same profession as him!
If your customer asks you what makes specialty coffee specialty, please just throw this article at them... Do not fool them with talk of "special coffee."
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
