What Are the Characteristics of Specialty Coffee? What Is the Definition of Specialty Coffee?

What is Specialty Coffee?

FrontStreet Coffee often receives questions from fans: What is specialty coffee? What are the characteristics of specialty coffee? What is the definition of specialty coffee? Indeed, as professional coffee practitioners, even FrontStreet Coffee sometimes gets confused by the various beans on the market claiming to be specialty coffee. Are tasty beans specialty coffee? Is single-origin coffee specialty coffee? Are coffee beans from famous, renowned estates necessarily specialty coffee? With so many specialty coffee beans on the market, who actually makes the decision?

We see many coffee varieties on the market: Blue Mountain, Mocha, Sumatra, Yirgacheffe, espresso, specialty, and single-origin... Seeing so many coffees, you must wonder how to choose good coffee. What are single-origin and specialty—are they more premium? Especially with the increasing number of specialty coffee shops nowadays, people talk about single-origin one moment and specialty the next. Is single-origin coffee the same as specialty coffee? Today, FrontStreet Coffee will explain this to everyone.

The Definition of Specialty Coffee

"Specialty Coffee" was first proposed in 1974 by Erna Knutsen, known as the "godmother of specialty coffee," in the "Tea & Coffee Trade Journal" magazine. It emphasized that "only in the most favorable microclimates and soil conditions can unique specialty coffee be cultivated," aiming to distinguish it from bulk commercial coffee traded on the New York Futures Exchange. In 1972, Knutsen and six others, including Donald Schoenholt, co-founded the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), and the term "specialty coffee" became a global term.

SCAA's definition of specialty coffee:

Carefully select the most suitable varieties, planted in the altitude, climate, and soil environment most conducive to coffee flavor development; carefully processed through washed and natural methods, select the highest grade defect-free green beans, transported flawlessly to customers; through the exquisite craftsmanship of roasters, bring out the richest terroir flavors; then use recognized extraction methods to brew delicious coffee.

Terroir flavor—the different soil, varieties, climate, and water conditions create different coffee flavors, which is the soul of coffee from specialty growing regions. In short, specialty coffee should be high-quality coffee that integrates "good green beans, good roasting, and good extraction."

But this still sounds somewhat vague—what counts as high quality? The later-established Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) proposed a standard: cupping scores must reach 80 points or above to be called specialty coffee. Now SCAA and SCAE have merged to become SCA, and the definition of specialty coffee has been consistently merged, meaning: through comprehensive cupping (blind tasting), beans scoring 80 points or above can be defined as specialty coffee beans. Blind tasting scores below 80 points are classified as commercial beans.

Is Specialty Coffee More Premium?

Specialty coffee is indeed better because specialty beans require extensive screening. From bean selection, roasting, grinding to being served in a coffee cup, every step is meticulously executed. The key point is that the coffee beans must score above 80 points in cupping to be called specialty coffee. Therefore, specialty coffee needs to undergo very strict and difficult screening to possibly become specialty coffee beans.

Here are translated excerpts from the world's three major specialty coffee associations' definitions of "specialty coffee":

(Three major specialty coffee associations: Specialty Coffee Association of America SCAA, Specialty Coffee Association of Europe SCAE, Specialty Coffee Association of Japan SCAJ)

Specialty Coffee Association of Europe:

Specialty coffee is [consumers' evaluation of high-quality coffee that has been meticulously crafted after drinking]. This coffee will possess unique qualities and outstanding flavors, different from the general coffee available everywhere. The European Specialty Coffee Association acknowledges that the market supply of specialty coffee has its limitations—it does not belong to coffee services available everywhere. It is high-quality coffee made from the highest standard green beans through exquisite roasting techniques, with all green and roasted beans adopting high-standard storage specifications, then brewed using high-standard brewing techniques.

Specialty Coffee Association of America:

Specialty coffee is [the result of five related people working together in their lifelong pursuit of quality]. From beginning to end, these people maintain consistent excellence standards to ensure quality and prioritize it as their work goal, and all participants can collaborate cooperatively—none of them are dispensable! They include "coffee farmers," "green bean buyers," "roasters," "baristas," and "consumers." From production to consumption in the entire cycle, everyone works together with excellent quality as the consistent effect, only then can the true meaning of specialty coffee be achieved.

Specialty Coffee Association of Japan:

Specialty coffee is [coffee that consumers drink with excellent flavor and are willing to give good reviews, and consumers feel satisfied]. The definition of excellent flavor means that the coffee's flavor leaves a distinct impression, with bright, crisp acidity and a special character, while the aftertaste of the coffee carries sweetness; the coffee itself must maintain consistent and strict production procedures, unified processes, and rigorous quality management from green beans to becoming a cup of coffee in all stages. Only coffee meeting these conditions belongs to specialty coffee.

From the definitions of specialty coffee by the world's three major specialty coffee associations, we can find that specialty coffee refers to the entire process from "one coffee seed to one cup of coffee." Only by taking care of every link and understanding from source to end can we truly understand "specialty coffee."

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