Specialty Coffee: What, How, and Why?

Specialty coffee—a term thrown around more casually than it deserves. But what causes all the hype?

Specialty coffee should be regarded as coffee belonging to the highest quality category.

'Specialty' is not a throw-away adjective but a title and mark given to beans that reach a peak standard established by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), which separates high-quality coffee from low-quality coffee. Flavors, aromas, body (texture), and more must all pass scrutinizing examinations to meet the specialty criteria.

The term doesn't merely denote quality, however, but encapsulates a journey of meticulous care. From planting and growing the seeds to roasting and packaging the beans and everything in between, specialty coffee requires diligent production through and through to achieve its upper status.

Why, then, is the term used so carelessly despite describing less than 10% of all coffee worldwide? What exactly makes coffee become classified as specialty, and how does it get there? We'll answer these questions and more, proving why authentic specialty coffee reigns supreme.

 

Specialty Coffee: The What

A-Grade Beans

To be specialty authenticated, coffee beans must score 80 points or higher out of 100 on the SCA's cupping evaluation—a challenging feat.

Coffee professionals known as Q-Graders carry out the cupping examination, considering aspects such as sweetness and flavor profile, body, acidity, aftertaste, and aroma.

Less than 10% of beans worldwide are estimated to reach the 80+ threshold, indicating specialty coffee's rare nature and the degree of difficulty in cultivating prime-rate beans. While not the only basis for reaching specialty grade, the cupping test is generally what coffee connoisseurs are most interested in as it examines the drinking experience we have all come to love and crave.

The vast majority of beans from commercial-grade coffee companies (the big names) only reach scores ranging from 60-79. Be mindful of their labels, such as 'premium' or 'gourmet,' designed to pique your interest and create the illusion of top-tier quality.

'Premium' coffee refers to beans scoring anywhere from 70-79. Meanwhile, 'gourmet' is a term used to evoke the notion of expert preparation or upscale ingredients despite lacking any precise meaning in the domain of coffee grading.

Defect-Free

In addition to achieving a superb score on the 0-100 scale, specialty coffee must be completely free of primary defects and quakers. These nasty flaws detract considerably from coffee's consistency, so even the most novice coffee aficionados can usually detect these imperfections.

Common primary defects include entirely black (over-fermented) or fully sour (overripe) beans, often delivering a spoiled flavor.

Quakers, meanwhile, are unripe or immature beans that can also result from poor health or nutrition in coffee plants. In whichever case quakers occur, they are immune to roasting and produce undesirable bitterness in the final product.

By avoiding all major defects, specialty coffee provides peace of mind, ensuring you'll never experience any unwanted surprises in your morning cup of joe.

 

Specialty Process: The How

While official testing for specialty grade status comes closer to the production cycle's end, these beans are created from the initial planting stage. Each subsequent phase requires maximal care and attention, as upkeep can be tedious.

Implementing the following methods and practices before evaluation is expected to increase the chances of attaining specialty grade.

Non-GMO Coffee

Planting unrefined and non-GMO coffee plants is the first crucial step. Genetically modifying coffee is invasive and discouraged outside of lab experiments. Accordingly, the uncertainty of sacrificing bean purity is still risky, potentially harming the likelihood of reaching specialty grade status.

GMO procedures are not to be confused with genotyping or phenotyping, which we fully support for their advances in coffee sustainability and resilience. 

(As an aside, specialty robusta beans in their unaltered state, which we use in each of our blends, are already more resilient to bad weather and harmful pests when compared to their Arabica bean counterparts.)

Farm Size

Although small farms can try to throw their hat into the ring of specialty coffee, medium to large-scale farms are better equipped to meet the demands of the arduous production owing to the significant investment in physical and human capital needed to grow and maintain the beans for their entirety.

That said, the farm size requirement doesn't mean that large, corporate-owned and operated farms are the exclusive producers of specialty coffee. On the contrary - family-owned farms are more likely to produce specialty coffee because of their care and attention to detail.

Whether family-owned or not, farms with substantial amounts of land and better access to investment are more suitable for making specialty coffee beans.

Processing

Once the coffee tree has grown for years and farmers pick the ripe fruit, the cherries must be dried or processed. There are multiple ways to process and dry beans, and these differing methods affect flavor.

Robusta beans are more likely to use the dry or sun-dry method, which, as the name suggests, involves laying cherries in the sun for several days.

Drying produces what is known as natural coffee and can offer more fruity notes.

On the other hand, Arabica beans generally undergo the washed process.

The washed process, also called wet processing, sees the beans go into a vat of water to be de-pulped, removing the outermost layer of the cherries. Washing coffee can evoke clean and bright flavors.

Small-Batch Roasting

The final integral production stage before being shipped and handed off to consumers is roasting.

Whereas specialty coffee benefits from large-scale operations at the farming stage, the roasting stage favors small batches to achieve optimal flavor. That's why small-batch craft roasting is the method of choice for our specialty coffee beans.

Small-batch roasting grants the process greater control and fine-tuning capabilities, resulting in precise and predictable flavors.

Conversely, large-batch roasting is prone to allowing the occasional bean to desynchronize from the batch, creating over or under-roasted anomalies and inconsistencies in the final product.

Any batch weight under 50kg is considered a small batch roast. Nevertheless, we at Steim opt for 10kg drum roasters, a testament to our dedication to excellence and our ambition to surpass the average.

 

Specialty Advantage: The Why

Specialty coffee should make you anticipate superior flavors, textures, and aromas versus over 90% of all other coffee worldwide. You can expect top-quality in every brew.

With fewer artificial interventions and potentially dangerous defects, specialty coffee's transparent production process makes it safer and healthier than non-specialty varieties.

Morning routines dictate your mood and impact how you feel for the day. Thus, the beverage that fuels you each morning shouldn't damage your health or impede your flow.

A winning morning deserves a coffee with scents and flavors that stimulate your senses - a coffee that uplifts your physical and mental energy. The perfect morning beverage is too sacred to our health and well-being to sacrifice for cheap alternatives.

We invite you to reinvigorate your morning ritual with our specialty coffee blends.