What is the difference between coffee roasters and coffee shops?

Most people assume that being a coffee roaster also translates to having a coffee shop, when in fact that is not always the case.

The major difference between coffee roasters and coffee shops (who are not roasters), is that roasters focus more on roasting! They typically sell roasted coffee bags directly to consumers either via e-commerce or in a retail brick-and-mortar model, through wholesale accounts via b2b (business to business), or to major retailers, such as your local grocery store.

Although some may also have a coffee bar or coffee shop, roasting coffee beans takes priority. A lot goes into this process: sourcing green coffee, learning profiles of new coffee, creating new profiles/roasts, cuppings, maintaining quality, etc.

Coffee shops or cafés fall under “restaurants” and focus more on brewing espresso-based drinks and food, From barista skills to creating food/drink menus. They typically get their coffee beans wholesale from a local coffee roaster.

When I first thought of going into coffee, my goal was to open up a coffee shop. But I fell in love with roasting, which has completely won me over.

Déborah

What does specialty coffee even mean?

Specialty Coffee is coffee that has almost no defects and has gone through a rigorous and peculiar quality check. In order for coffee to be labeled as Specialty Coffee, it needs to have a specific score—of 80 or more.

Q-graders

Think of wine, for example. There are certified sommeliers to ensure the quality of wines is of a certain standard. There is a similar process in coffee. We have what we call Q-graders. Q-graders are trained and certified professionals, here to evaluate the quality of coffee. Similarly to wine, coffee has to go through a certain process of quality checking and tasting (cupping) in order to be qualified as specialty coffee. Q-graders are the sommeliers in coffee. They utilize cupping, a score sheet, and a flavor wheel to come to that conclusion. It all comes down to how the coffee was cultivated: region, climate, elevation, process, and more.

Grades

The coffees we produce here at Kanfuela Kaffé are all scored 84 and above and are Grade 1.

Coffee is graded like this:

1. GRADE 1: SPECIALITY-GRADE COFFEE BEANS. (What is usually found at locally-owned specialty shops/roasters- like us)

2. GRADE 2: PREMIUM GRADE COFFEE BEANS (also found at coffee shops/restaurants)

3. GRADE 3: EXCHANGE GRADE COFFEE BEANS (usually found at supermarkets/hotels)

4. GRADE 4: STANDARD GRADE COFFEE BEANS (That tasteless coffee from those gas stations and motels.)

5. GRADE 5: OFF GRADE COFFEE BEANS (Stay away from these!)

Now you know the difference between what makes a cup of coffee so special when you go to a local coffee shop vs one that is tasteless from a hotel/gas station/hospital?

But make no mistake, there is more to it. It takes a whole team to deliver top notch specialty-grade coffee to customers.

All the players:

• The Farmer

• The Green Coffee Buyer/Exporter

• The Roaster (like us)

• The Barista

• The Consumer (you)

  Read more about it here on the Specialty Coffee Association site.

  To learn more about the difference between specialty coffee and regular coffee, read here!

Hope this helps!