If you’ve spent any time around coffee roasters or green bean buyers, you’ve probably heard the term “specialty coffee” thrown around a lot. But what does it actually mean, and why does it matter so much to the people sourcing beans?
In simple terms, specialty coffee refers to coffee that scores 80 points or above on the 100-point scale used by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). That score isn’t just a number pulled out of thin air — it comes from a formal cupping process where trained tasters evaluate the coffee’s aroma, flavor, acidity, body, and aftertaste, among other things.
Regular commercial-grade coffee, by contrast, is often a blend of beans from different farms and harvests, prioritizing consistency and low cost over distinct flavor. There’s nothing wrong with that coffee — it serves its purpose — but it’s a different product entirely from what specialty coffee is trying to be.
A few things set specialty coffee apart:
Traceability. Specialty coffee can usually be traced back to a specific farm, cooperative, or even a single lot within a farm. Buyers know exactly where their coffee comes from, and often who grew it.
Processing method. How the cherry is processed — washed, natural, honey, anaerobic — has a huge impact on the final cup. Specialty producers pay close attention to this step because it’s one of the biggest levers for flavor.
Defect control. Specialty-grade green beans have almost no primary defects and very few secondary defects. That’s a big reason grading and sorting matter so much before export.
Flavor complexity. Instead of tasting flat or one-dimensional, specialty coffee is expected to show distinct notes — fruit, florals, chocolate, spice — depending on origin and processing.
For roasters and buyers, working with specialty-grade green beans means more predictable quality, a clearer story to tell their own customers, and — often — a coffee that’s simply more interesting to work with. That’s exactly what we aim for with our Arabica beans grown in the Ijen highlands of East Java.