What is Specialty coffee? The story behind the term Specialty coffee

What is specialty coffee?

There are many different definitions but this is considered the most complete definition for Vietnamese specialty coffee. “Specialty coffee is a coffee product from a region with natural conditions, along with a special process of tending, harvesting and processing, when it tastes its own flavor and reaches 80 points or more according to the standard. and the evaluation process of the World Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and the World Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) ”

Currently, with its quality and class, Specialty Coffee quickly won the hearts of coffee connoisseurs. But the most interesting thing about Specialty Coffee is probably not its taste, but the complicated production process, to ensure the crystallization of the most quintessential bitter drops in each specialty coffee.

The essence of each specialty coffee bean

Specialty coffee beans are strictly selected. To ensure this, all fruit picking stages must be done by hand, in order to ensure only ripe ripe coffee berries, bringing the best kind of beans to be selected.

Factors such as climate, topography, soil are also very noticeable, because each different cultivation area will give different coffee flavors. Specialty coffee varieties to produce a variety of coffee, however, Arabica seeds, with special aroma, are still used more often.

Meticulous processing

There are 3 common methods for processing specialty coffee

– Wet processing method: Is the most common method. After being harvested, the coffee beans will be separated from the beans, and soaked in a water bath, so that the coffee is fermented and the viscous part removed. The coffee beans are then passed through a trough, removed again, and finally dried for about a week.

– Dry processing method: Popular in Africa, where water is limited. After being harvested, the cherries will be dried for several weeks, even a month. After being dried, the cherries will be grinded and separated. This method will help the beans absorb all the sweetness from the fruit, creating a sweeter, more complex coffee flavor.

– Processing method “honey”: Immediately after the fruit is harvested, the flesh is removed, and the coffee beans, which are still covered in mucus, or honey, are left to dry. Coffee beans will absorb the sweetness from this mucus.

After going through one of the three stages of processing, coffee bean products will be subject to quality control. Only after passing rigorous SCAA testing process, with a minimum score of 80, will a coffee product be recognized as Specialty Coffee

Crystallize the flavor in each batch of roasted

Along with the selection, processing and roasting process, it is also a prerequisite for the taste of coffee. Through roasting, the aroma and flavor of coffee are refined from complex chemical reactions. The Mailard reaction, for example, comes from the effect of heat on sugar and amino acids, creating hundreds of different flavors for the coffee batch.

From the roasting process, the acidity in coffee beans is also adjusted, helping the taste of coffee not be spoiled by sourness. Anne Cooper, an expert in coffee roasting, made a very interesting comparison: “The taste of Kenyan coffee is roasted without fire, just like the taste of tomato sauce”.

Through this article, Ritachi Coffee hopes, coffee lovers will have more valuable insights about what specialty coffee is and the stories behind the term Specialty Coffee, from which we treasure each Specialty Coffee Specialty Coffee – a quintessential gift from nature and hard work of the people.

Source: Compiled from ABC News