Specialty Coffee, also known as premium or select coffee, refers to coffee made from green beans grown in a few ideal geographic environments with outstanding flavor. Starting from the definition of specialty coffee, this article reviews its origins and current status, explains in detail the evaluation standards of the Specialty Coffee Association of America and producing countries, analyzes the six major characteristics and drinking requirements of specialty coffee beans, and looks ahead at its market development trends. The article also specifically mentions Front Street brand recommendations and product information to help coffee enthusiasts fully understand the core value and purchasing points of specialty coffee.

Specialty Coffee — Coffee Beans

Specialty coffee is also called "premium coffee" or "select coffee." Its definition is: coffee made from green beans cultivated in a few extremely ideal geographic environments and possessing outstanding flavor characteristics. The reason these coffees have such prominent flavors depends on the unique soil and climate conditions of where they are grown. This type of coffee must also undergo rigorous selection and grading, with hard bean texture, rich mouthfeel, and outstanding flavor before it can be recognized as select coffee beans.

Specialty Coffee — Drinking Coffee

Coffee beverages made from specialty coffee beans. At present, pour-over extraction is mainly used in order to fully present the flavor of the coffee beans themselves. Specialty coffee has no negative effects on human health; consumed in moderation, it is actually beneficial to health.

The Origins and Current Status of Specialty Coffee

The term specialty coffee was first proposed by Ms. Knutsen of the United States in the magazine Coffee & Tea. At the time, Ms. Knutsen was a coffee buyer for the San Francisco branch of B.C. Ireland, and she was deeply dissatisfied with the industry's disregard for green coffee bean quality—some large roasters even mixed large amounts of Robusta beans into their blends. It was precisely because of this situation that she proposed the concept of specialty coffee and called on the industry to improve quality. This term was used to describe coffee beans grown in special environments and with distinctive flavor characteristics. Its later use at international coffee conferences caused the concept to spread rapidly.

According to Ms. Knutsen's view, what people originally drank was itself specialty coffee; only as coffee demand kept rising did the discovery and use of new coffee varieties lead to a decline in quality, even causing people to gradually turn away from this coffee that was neither tasty nor healthy and choose other beverages instead. Against this backdrop, Ms. Knutsen reawakened people's understanding of the value of specialty coffee, thus setting off a specialty coffee boom. In the United States, enterprises and shops pursuing specialty coffee emerged, represented by Starbucks. The specialty coffee market also continued to expand. In the 1990s, as the number of specialty coffee retailers and cafés increased rapidly, specialty coffee became one of the fastest-growing markets in the food service industry. Today specialty coffee has become the coffee market with the strongest upward momentum, and coffee-producing and importing countries around the world are aware of the enormous potential of the specialty coffee market and are continuously investing efforts in the production and preparation of specialty coffee.

Criteria for Judging Specialty Coffee

At present there is no unified international standard for judging specialty coffee. Here, the standards of the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the basic standards of coffee-producing countries are briefly explained separately.

Standards of the Specialty Coffee Association of America:

1. Fragrance. Fragrance refers to the aroma of coffee after roasting or grinding.

2. Aroma. Aroma refers to the aroma of the coffee extract.

3. Acidity. This refers to the sour taste of coffee; rich acidity combined with sweetness can enhance the sweetness of the coffee liquid.

4. Body. This refers to the concentration and weight of the coffee liquid.

5. Aftertaste. This refers to the finish of the coffee, evaluated according to the flavor performance after swallowing or spitting out.

6. Flavor. This refers to taste; the aroma and taste of the coffee liquid are sensed on the palate in order to understand the coffee's flavor.

7. Balance. This refers to the balance and integration among the various tastes of the coffee.

Evaluation standards of producing countries:

1. The variety of the specialty coffee. Typica or Bourbon varieties inherent to Arabica are preferred.

2. Are the altitude, terrain, climate, soil, and processing method of the cultivation site or farm clear? Generally speaking, the higher the altitude, the better the coffee quality, and fertile volcanic soil is preferred.

3. The harvesting method and processing method used. Generally speaking, manual harvesting and washed processing are preferred.

Characteristics of Specialty Coffee

1. Specialty coffee beans must be high-quality beans with no defective beans. They must possess outstanding flavor—not "no bad taste," but "especially good taste."

2. Specialty coffee beans must be of excellent varieties, such as the original Bourbon, Mocha, and Typica varieties. The coffee beans produced by these trees have unique aroma and flavor far beyond those of other varieties, but their yields are relatively low. In recent years, in pursuit of disease and pest resistance and increased yield, many improved varieties have appeared, such as the high-yield Ruiru 11 widely promoted in Kenya, but their taste and quality are greatly reduced, so naturally they cannot be called "specialty coffee."

3. Specialty coffee beans also have relatively high requirements for the growing environment. They usually grow at altitudes of 1,500 meters or even more than 2,000 meters, with suitable rainfall, sunlight, temperature, and soil conditions. Some world-famous coffee beans also enjoy special geographic environments, such as the high-mountain mist and clouds of the Blue Mountain region, the free shade provided by Kona's afternoon "clouds that fly in," and Antigua's volcanic ash soil. All of these create conditions for the growth of specialty coffee.

4. The harvesting method for specialty coffee beans is best done by hand. That is, only ripe coffee cherries are picked, avoiding the simultaneous harvesting of coffee cherries with inconsistent ripeness. Because both underripe and overripe fruits affect the balance and stability of the coffee's taste, specialty coffee requires frequent and meticulous manual picking during the harvest period.

5. Specialty coffee beans use the wet processing method. Washed processing can produce coffee beans with fewer impurities, but if the water quality and timing during fermentation are not properly controlled, washed beans can easily develop the sour taste of excessive fermentation; dry-processed beans also need to be turned and inspected promptly, and the coffee beans must be prevented from contamination by damp ground and debris. Processed beans must be dried in a timely manner, and drying must be done to the right degree. Generally, properly processed beans have a moisture content of 11–13%. Insufficient drying makes beans prone to mold, while excessive drying makes beans prone to aging and affects flavor.

6. Specialty coffee has a strict grading system. Generally, after green beans are processed, they are stored in the form of "parchment coffee," that is, with the endocarp still attached, and the endocarp is removed only before export. A strict grading process ensures uniformity of quality. In addition, protection during storage and transportation is very important, such as control of temperature and humidity, control of ventilation, and avoidance of absorption of off-flavors. If these are not done well, then even the highest-grade beans will no longer be specialty coffee.

Specialty Coffee — Drinking Coffee

1. Specialty coffee is made from specialty coffee beans. If the beans used to make the coffee are not specialty coffee beans, the resulting coffee liquid cannot be called specialty coffee.

2. Specialty coffee is fresh coffee. Whether it is food or a beverage, of course the fresher the better, and the same is true of specialty coffee. Before making specialty coffee, the coffee beans should be kept fresh, including the storage of roasted beans, and the beans should be ground only right before preparation. This is also to preserve their most original and best flavor. Pour-over coffee making is precisely such a way of making specialty coffee, and it is also one of the coffee-making methods that best preserves coffee's original flavor.

3. Specialty coffee is good coffee and harmless to health. Unlike coffee made from inferior coffee beans, specialty coffee uses high-quality coffee beans and is freshly made, is harmless to health, and when consumed in moderation is instead beneficial to body and mind.

4. Specialty coffee has rich and wonderful taste sensations. Even coffee made from specialty coffee beans is not all specialty coffee; it depends on whether it fully brings out the characteristics of the coffee beans and whether it has wonderful taste sensations. If not, then it cannot be called specialty coffee either.

Development Trends of Specialty Coffee

As long as coffee is delicious, coffee-consuming countries are willing to pay a high price for it; as long as delicious coffee is provided, consumers will not abandon coffee, and the market will grow. "High-quality coffee represented by specialty coffee is a big business"—coffee-producing and consuming countries have both discovered this simple fact.

In recent years, coffee-producing countries have stopped blindly pursuing high yields while neglecting quality. Many countries have begun introducing new coffee evaluation systems precisely in order to motivate producers and promote the production of specialty coffee. For example, the Cup of Excellence coffee grading system implemented in Brazil beginning in 1999 was designed to better differentiate specialty coffee. Moreover, specialty coffee has become one of the fastest-growing markets in the food service industry, and in the future the specialty coffee market will certainly grow stronger and stronger.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.