If you are new to the specialty coffee world, you are probably starting to learn that there is so much to coffee—much more than you would have ever imagined. When I was new to this coffee world, culture, and community, I thought I knew enough about coffee. I have learned so much and am still learning daily, but I love to share what I have learned in my years in coffee thus far.

To put it plainly: the main difference between specialty coffee and regular coffee is that specialty coffee just tastes sooo much better and is of better quality! You might wonder why that is? Grab a cup of coffee, and read on.

What is Specialty Coffee?

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. 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. I wrote about this in detail here.

Flavor score wheel:

As I mentioned earlier, the score should be between 80 and 100. If it falls within the 80 and 90 range, then it is labeled as Excellent, while anything above 90 is Outstanding. If it falls under 80, then it is not considered to be specialty coffee. It could be premium coffee and then it goes further down the line, which is, for example the coffee that you see at some gas stations or cheaper hotels. This is why the quality is not so good at places of that sort. Now the catch here is that specialty coffee typically is more expensive, for consumers as well as roasters/coffee shop owners.

What should specialty coffee taste like? For consumers?

Depends on your palette, but it should generally taste excellent and full of a variety of taste notes. When people try excellent specialty coffee for the first time, their first reaction/question is often: “This is so good! Not bitter at all! So smooth! How come?” So, you may ask yourself why that is? Why does specialty coffee taste so good? Unfortunately, a lot of people have the mindset that coffee should not taste good for whatever reason. Well, I know the reason. The reason being that they have never had specialty coffee before. Most of the coffee they've had is lower grade coffee that had lots of defects, for example. Much lower-grade coffee tends to be bitter or sour. It often requires lots of sugar or milk/creamer to cover the defects.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of specialty coffee?

From a consumer standpoint? Oh, there are no disadvantages in my opinion because you're getting the best of the best. Now from a business owner standpoint, as a roaster, I do see some disadvantages, especially because I have close relationships with producers. I had the opportunity to go to eastern Congo in Kivu and visit some of the farms. Some of the producers/farmers, for example, have good quality coffee that can be labeled/sold as highly-scored specialty coffee; however, they lack the resources (washing stations etc) training, and knowledge to know what their coffee should taste like or score. Any Q-grader can label it what they want for their advantage and not of the farmers’. Many farmers are lacking that training to be able to sell their coffee as highly-scored specialty coffee, and nowadays most roasters and green coffee importers are seeking the best of the best in specialty coffee because that's what consumers want.

Once the Q-graders give a low score to a particular coffee, producers are not able to sell their coffee at a higher price or at all and what ends up happening is that the coffee ends up getting looted out of the country to neighborhood countries, such as Rwanda or Uganda. And because the farmers want to sell their coffee and nobody's buying them, they strike up the cheapest deal with whoever will buy. All this simply because the producers didn't get proper training to give their coffee the best shot. In conclusion, those are the few disadvantages that I see as a consumer, someone who loves coffee and drinks it daily, and as a business owner.

You may wonder why certain coffee producers in D.R. Congo lack the proper training to begin with? That is another blog post for another day!

So where can you find and buy specialty coffee?

1. Local roaster or coffee shop

You can find specialty coffee at your local roaster or coffee shop of whatever city you're in. For example, we are coffee roasters based in Phoenix, Arizona and there are lots of specialty coffee roasters close by as well. This is where I recommend that your start: locally. Not only will you be supporting a local business, but you’ll be getting the most freshly roasted coffee. If there’s a coffee shop near you that doesn’t roast, chances are, they're getting their coffee from a roaster that roasts/sells specialty coffee.

2. Farmers’ Market

Most farmers market only have local produce or products. Here at Kanfuela we often sell our coffee at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market, for example, and there is usually at least three other coffee vendors there as well.

3. Local grocery stores, such as Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, or Whole Foods.

If you go this route, pay attention to the label and description on the bag. Where was it roasted and how long ago?

4. Online

We are specialty coffee roasters who sell coffee online and there are many like us so this is an option that you can always explore. There are so many brands to choose from by simply googling where to buy specialty coffee.

Why should you drink specialty coffee?

There are many reasons to drink specialty coffee. I always advise that people try specialty coffee. The first reason is simply because it is much healthier for you and it tastes so much better. When I say healthier, that is because specialty coffee typically does not require you to add sugar or creamer in your coffee. Drinking coffee black is always a healthier option, but of course some people have a sweet tooth so sugar can be added, but in my personal opinion, it is not required.

So how much does specialty coffee cost?

Because roasters buy it at a higher price, it will also cost a little bit higher for consumers, which is you. For example, if you go to your local grocery store, you can get a, let's say 8 oz bag of coffee for maybe $10. But if you go to your local roaster, that 8 oz bag of coffee may cost you $15 or more. Because of the quality. So, the higher the quality, the more expensive it will be. But the results in your cup of coffee at home each morning will be quite worth it. I have heard from customers that, once they started drinking good specialty coffee, it was very difficult for them to go back to whatever they were drinking before. Personally, when I started drinking coffee a decade ago, I did not know the difference. I started with instant coffee thinking that it was the best thing ever, but the deeper and deeper I got into coffee, I started to realize how clueless I was about coffee.

I hope this information was helpful. This was my personal/professional input on what specialty coffee is and the different ways that it impacts the farmers and the consumers all around.