what is specialty coffee
In café amroz, we receive questions such as “What is specialty coffee? ”Why specialty coffee?” or “what is the difference between specialty coffee and commercial coffee?” and so, we will try to Identify specialty coffee first and then show the differences between specialty, and commodity or commercial coffee.
What is Specialty coffee?
Specialty coffee is a term used to describe coffee that is produced using high-quality, specialty-grade coffee beans and a careful, artisanal approach to roasting and brewing. This means that starting from cultivation, through cherry picking, drying, roasting, and brewing coffee, specialty coffee receives very good care in all its stages.
But what is coffee brewing? Well, simply it means passing water (generally hot water) through the ground coffee to extract the soluble components in order to produce flavorful and aromatic cup of coffee.
Going back to specialty coffee world 😊
Specialty coffee beans are grown in specific regions with ideal environmental conditions and are carefully selected and processed to ensure the highest possible quality. They are often grown using sustainable and environmentally friendly methods. And are typically traded at a premium price to ensure fair trade.
In addition to the quality of the beans, specialty coffee also emphasizes the importance of the roasting and brewing processes. Roasting is done in small batches and is carefully controlled to ensure that the beans are roasted to their optimum flavor profile. Brewing methods are also carefully selected and executed to bring out the best in the beans.
Overall, specialty coffee is about providing a high-quality, enjoyable coffee experience that is both sustainable and ethically sourced. It is a growing trend in the coffee industry and is appreciated by coffee connoisseurs who appreciate the complexity and depth of flavor that can be found in a well-made cup of coffee.
Most specialty coffee roasters and coffeeshops like café amroz prioritize direct trade relationships with coffee farmers, ensuring that they are paid a fair price for their coffee and have access to resources that can help them improve the quality of their crops. This approach helps to promote sustainable farming practices, as well as economic sustainability for the farmers and their communities.
Specialty coffee partners also prioritize environmentally sustainable practices in their operations, such as using energy-efficient roasting equipment, composting coffee grounds, and reducing waste in their packaging and shipping processes.
Overall, specialty coffee and sustainability go hand in hand, as the focus on quality, ethical sourcing, and community building helps to create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly coffee industry.
It’s worth noting that there are more than 50 coffee-producing countries, and we will talk about them later, but what you should know here is that Brazil accounts for more than 35% of the world's coffee production.
The coffee trees can produce crops for about 15-20 years. Coffee trees can yield from about 0.9-3.5 kg per year, with 0.7-0.9 kg being the average. It takes 2.3 kg of cherries to produce 0.5 kg of beans.
Picking:
We must know that in specialty coffee world, only high quality- Mature cherries are picked and by hand, the ripe beans are picked by farmer, and the immature beans are left on the tree until they are ripe. Unlike commercial coffee, where cherries are often harvested by machines that can strip entire branches of coffee cherries, including both ripe and unripe fruit.