Specialty coffee is a conversation that is definitely revealed if we are discussing coffee or doing coffee business, nowadays the name coffee is increasingly circulating, there are those who make it based on personal or group tastes and some according to coffee language that might be close to scientific level.
Then whether there are scientific institutions that make definitions clearly discuss and determine the definition of the term coffee, as far as the author’s knowledge does not yet exist, which, there is still a term issued by educational institutions such as coffee institutes in America.
The terms of specialty coffee, premium coffee, commercial coffee and so on are officially not yet standardized in the form of general definition, and what is meant by specialty coffee is coffee that is specifically processed with special provisions ranging from green bean, roasted bean and cupping test
Specialty Coffee Green Bean Samples of 300 grams representing 1000 kg of coffee, must have:
Moisture content 12 – 13%,
80% seed size must be uniform or no more than 5% the number of coffee beans that pass the sieve on a 14-18 mesh filter,
Defect 0 – 4%,
There is no coffee bean that is full defect.
Good color
Roasted Specialty coffee must be fresh in color and from roasted results there should not be any quicker seeds (white or yellow coffee that is different from friends)
The characteristics of specialty coffee if we analyze the results of the cupping test are above the score of 8, in this case there are still differences of opinion, some call it 8.3 and above. The results of this cupping test must be from the person who has a Q-Grader certificate.
First
We are arabica coffee beans supplier such as the United States of America and Europe as Gayo specialty coffee, which in reality is not in accordance with the above provisions, because in terms of seed diversity, the value of defects is 8% even more and sometimes the color is not too good already consider Gayo Coffee as specialty coffee, it turns out they only need taste and aroma that is very different from other coffee in the world, meaning that according to most specilaty coffee buyers the most important is FLAVOR.
Second
Many buyers from worldwide who open businesses both as roasters and as resellers have not acknowledged that the taste of Gayo coffee is not special and is very difficult to recognize as archipelago coffee as specialty coffee ??
Apparently the answer was because they bought it only at most 50 kg to 1 ton. So the level of purchase and experience comparing with other coffees, we can differ in definition of specialty coffee. This means that if we have no experience comparing our coffee with coffee throughout the world, specialty coffee is difficult to find.
Third
How about the buyers who ask for the coffee to be a single variety, single origin
Fourth
What about long-berry coffee, coffee honey, pea-berry coffee, wine coffee etc. are included as specialty coffee?
Many questions about specialty coffee, but the key is taste, without mixing it with idealists and ego sectors. in my opinion whatever the product, name and type that is meant by the final key is taste.
But another problem arises, if we already have different beliefs about flavor then it is difficult to follow the provisions of cupping scores 8 or 8.3.
Specialty coffee definition (wikipedia)
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
The widely accepted definition of specialty coffee is coffee scoring 80 points or above on the 100-point Coffee Review scale. Coffee scoring from 90-100 is graded Outstanding, coffee that scores 85-89.99 is graded Excellent, while coffee scoring 80-84.99 is graded Very Good
The Specialty Coffee Association has a series of more detailed specifications (SCA is the union of the Specialty Coffee Association of American (SCAA) and Europe (SCAE)). The SCA sets standards for specialty coffee at every stage of the coffee production, including allowable defects in green beans, water standards, and brew strength. The SCA also sets clear standards on the coffee grading process
