What Are Commercial Coffee Beans? Which Commercial Coffee Beans Are Recommended?

Professional coffee knowledge exchange, more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style)

Which Came First: Commercial Coffee Beans or Specialty Coffee Beans?

We may never know the answer to this question, but since the concept of specialty coffee successfully rose to prominence, coffee green bean merchants and roasters from various regions have begun to vigorously promote specialty coffee while devaluing commercial coffee to be worthless, which is truly frustrating. Is commercial coffee really that bad? What does commercial coffee mean? Are there any good commercial coffee bean recommendations? FrontStreet Coffee continues to answer these questions for you.

The Origin of Specialty Coffee

In 1974, the "godmother of coffee" Ms. Erna Knutsen first proposed the term "Specialty Coffee" in "Tea & Coffee Trade Journal," creating this word to highlight that "only the most favorable climate, water, and soil conditions can cultivate unique-flavored specialty coffee," aiming to distinguish it from commercial coffee beans traded on the New York Futures Exchange.

In 1978, Ms. Knutsen delivered a speech to global coffee experts at the International Coffee Conference in Montreuil, France, further interpreting the meaning of "specialty coffee." In 1982, Ms. Knutsen, along with Donald N. Schoenholt, head of New York's Gillies Coffee, and four others, co-founded the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), making "Specialty Coffee" a global term.

(In 2017, SCAA and SCAE merged)

The Difference Between Specialty Coffee Beans and Commercial Beans

No matter how excellent the roasting technique, mediocre commercial beans cannot be beautified into specialty beans. Only estates or growing regions cultivated with care can, under the skilled hands of roasters, reveal the charming "terroir." Selecting good beans and removing defective ones is the first step of specialty coffee.

The word "terroir" refers to "taste of place" - that is, different soils, varieties, climates, and water conditions create different coffee flavors. It is the soul of specialty coffee. Without unique terroir, it is not specialty coffee but becomes general commercial beans or bland canned coffee lacking fragrance.

When Knutsen first proposed "specialty coffee," she focused more on the relationship between upstream growing environments and coffee quality. Today, the Specialty Coffee Association of America redefines it as: "Carefully selecting the most suitable varieties, grown in the altitude, climate, and water and soil environments most conducive to coffee flavor development. Carefully processed through washed and natural methods, selecting the highest grade defect-free green beans, transported with zero errors to customers. Through the masterful craftsmanship of roasters, revealing the richest terroir, then brewing delicious coffee using recognized extraction standards."

Thus, specialty coffee begins with the highest grade defect-free beans and ends with distinctive terroir in the cup. It must not only taste smooth but also be as mellow and sweet as nectar, with immediate sweetness that soothes the throat upon entry, to be called specialty coffee.

The biggest difference between specialty coffee beans and bulk commercial coffee beans from the New York Futures Exchange, such as Brazil Santos or Colombian "Supremo," is that commercial coffee beans taste monotonous and slightly bitter after drinking, requiring sugar to be palatable. Specialty coffee beans have obvious regional flavors, with rich aroma, acidity, and mellow body that is extremely full-bodied. Adding sugar or milk would be like destroying a treasure. Commercial coffee beans refer to those that are mass-produced and packaged. These coffee beans are generally cheaper, and both the green beans and roasting techniques can only be said to follow a standardized mass production process. The biggest difference between specialty coffee and commercial coffee beans lies in quality and price. A pound of specialty coffee beans might cost 90 yuan, while commercial beans could reach a minimum price of over 30 yuan per pound.

In summary, how to choose coffee beans depends on the coffee shop's own positioning. If your coffee shop has a casual style and pursues cost control, then you can use commercial beans. If you want to run a specialty coffee shop, providing authentic freshly ground coffee for everyone, then specialty coffee beans will be the best choice. Although commercial coffee is cheap and of poorer quality, its cost-effectiveness and flavor are not bad at all. For example, at our FrontStreet Coffee, we have several varieties whose cupping scores don't reach the 80-point specialty coffee threshold, but they still possess sufficiently pleasant and refreshing flavor characteristics. We usually recommend these commercial coffees as daily beans - good quality at a reasonable price. If you're interested, why not give them a try?

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473