Specialty 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. Knutsen used
specialty coffee to describe beans of the best flavor which are produced in special
micro-climates.
Specialty coffee is related to the farmers and the brewer what is known as the third
wave of coffee, especially throughout North America. This refers to a modern demand
for exceptional quality coffee, both farmed and brewed to a significantly higher than
average standard.
Specialty Coffee refers to high-quality coffee graded 80 or higher on the SCA scale with
special flavors, such as caramel, citrus, fruity or even floral (exotic coffees); Commercial
Coffee revolves around flavors from cacao, chocolate and nuts, potentially different
beans and from different sources.
The reasons for this can vary: the delicious flavor of coffee, the caffeine that makes
you feel stimulated, or the social occasion that constitutes drinking coffee with your
friends and family. Whatever the reason might be, people love coffee. This makes coffee very valuable.
In the last century, the coffee industry amounted to millions of dollars worldwide; this
century, coffee has become the second most valuable traded commodity, only second
to petroleum (gas).
This increase in popularity, of course, means that the market is flooded with subpar
coffee, commercial varieties of coffee that offers only a shadow of what coffee can be.
Specialty coffee is very important among the community of coffee lovers. Many people
dedicate themselves to making good coffee, whether this means growing, roasting, or
brewing better coffee.The most important difference is that commercial coffee is largely made up of
Robusta coffee beans, while single-origin and single estate coffee is composed only of Arabica
coffee beans.
Coffee beans are actually the seeds of a cherry-like fruit tree. The small, round fruit
looks like a cherry and turns red when it’s ready to be harvested, which is why coffee
fruit is called coffee cherries.
Coffee cherries are made up of several layers, shown below, that range in texture from
the tough, bitter outer skin and slimy fruit pulp through to thinner, paperier layers
encasing each bean.
Coffee cherry husk isn’t typically used in the coffee making process, though some
specialty drinks like cascara are made from the coffee fruit instead of the bean.
The green beans on the inside of the cherries are what get roasted to make
Coffee, before that happens, the coffee beans have to be extracted
from the thick cherry husk around them.
Once coffee cherries are harvested, they’re typically manually sorted and visually
processed on the farm to select the best fruit. This is when fermentation can come into
play. It’s used to remove that tough cherry husk, which is referred to as “processing”.
There are two main methods for processing coffee cherries: “wet”; and “dry”.
Dry processing is most commonly used in regions with limited water resources or arid
conditions. Coffee cherries are spread out on large “beds”; to dry in the sun. This dries
the thick outer layer and turns the cherries from a red to dark brown color. At this point
the outer layers can be hulled off to remove the green beans inside.
Wet or “washed” processed coffee harnesses a form of natural spontaneous
fermentation triggered by soaking coffee cherries in water after harvest. The soaking
process starts to make the coffee cherry fruit ferment. Each layer inside the cherry
starts to naturally peel away from the beans. This makes the cherry husk and pulp
layers easier to remove.
Beans are then steeped in large troughs of water to remove any mucilage (fruit pulp)
still stuck to the parchment layer around the beans. Green coffee beans are then set out
to dry on large beds like the one below in Uganda.
Many believe the wet or washing process lends a smoother, silkier mouthfeel to the
coffee versus dry processed beans. In contrast,techniques are often steeped in local
tradition or tied to climate.
Because of that, tasting a variety of processed coffees is a fun way to taste-test your way
around the coffee growing world.
While wet processed coffee may use natural fermentation to remove the cherry material
from around the bean, the health benefits from this fermentation are limited, vary from
bean to bean and largely unmonitored.
Once coffee beans are roasted ready for sale, very little of the coffee you buy at your
local café or store will have many fermentation benefits left inside.
It is a special technique for fermenting beans green coffee beans after they’ve been
harvested, whether they’ve been wet or dry processed on the farm. Each green bean undergoes a
consistent level of fermentation. This process ensures a consistent level of health
benefits in each bean before roasting. The controlled fermentation produces a smoother tasting, more
digestible and energy-supporting coffee all thanks to the humble microbe. A consistent level of health
benefits get locked in to each bean even after roasting.
The four major types of coffee roasts and their characteristics
Arabica beans have more sugars while Robusta beans have nearly double the caffeine
The History and Popularity of Coffee: From Ethiopian Discovery to Worldwide Consumption
