When we talk about specialty coffeemany focus on exquisiteness. But the reality is that flavor is not the only thing that makes a coffee be classified as a specialty. specialty.
Behind every bean with the specialty coffee, hides a long and meticulous artisanal process of production, selection and treatment that guarantees an objective degree of excellence.
That's why today we want to highlight everything and everyone that makes it possible to offer you that coffee that you like so much and, at the same time, create a fairer market.
Coffee evaluation: specialty coffee standards
For some years now, there has been an international standardized protocol to determine the quality of a coffee. It consists of two phases: first the bean is analyzed and then it is cupped to evaluate its aroma, flavor and personality.
Only if at the end of these two tests the Q Grader or 'certified taster' gives the coffee a minimum score of 80 out of 100, it is considered a specialty coffee. specialty coffee.
Great level, isn't it? Well, wait until you find out the details...
1. Physical evaluation of coffee
In the first phase of the examination, it is necessary to provide a sample of about 350 grams of green coffee beans of 100% Arabica variety and to report its origin.
The beans, which must have a minimum moisture content of 0.70 aw, are inspected under a broad spectrum light of at least 4000 kelvin (K)/1200 Lux (lx)/120 foot candles (fc) on a table with a black grading mat.
In this inspection, we look for possible physical defects. That is, imperfections that affect the quality of the grain itself.
Although some of these defects are minor, others can create off-flavors in coffee, just as a bitter almond can ruin a delicious cake. For this reason, they have been classified according to their severity and a reference guide on ratios has been created:
- Primary defects (the worst): black grain; sour or vinegar grain; dry cherry; fungus; foreign matter; and grains with severe defects.
- Secondary defects : coffee beans split, unripe, wrinkled, floating, shell, parchment, husk or pulp, crystallized, discolored or streaked, flattened, or spongy.
For a sample to be classified as specialty coffee, it cannot contain any category 1 defect and a maximum of five category 2 defects. On the other hand, industrial coffee can have up to twenty-three defects.
2. Sensory evaluation
After the physical inspection, a qualified professional carries out a tasting to check the quality of the resulting beverage. Specifically, he analyzes these aspects:
- Fragrance/aroma
- Flavor
- Residual flavor
- Acidity
- Balance
- Body
- Sweetness
- Uniformity
- Cup cleaning
Who decides these quality standards?
These standards are those established by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), a non-profit association representing thousands of coffee professionals around the world, from producers to baristas.
It was born in 2017 after the merger of the SCAE (Specialty Coffee Association of Europe) and the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) and regulates everything related to specialty coffee.
He has taken on the task of defining as precisely as possible what a coffee needs to be considered a specialtyaccording to the FAO, has created has created the best evaluation method for the classification of green coffee, since it It has created the best evaluation method for the classification of green coffee, since it takes into account the relationship between defects and cup quality.
However, it is not alone in its efforts to standardize coffee quality. It is accompanied by other international organizations such as the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) and World Coffee Research (WCR).
In collaboration with the latter, it has also published the Rueda de Sabores del Catador de Café, possibly one of the most emblematic resources in the sector.
Key factors for a coffee to achieve the specialty coffee label
These evaluations may appear to be mere technicalities. However, they ensure that there are "objective criteria" and measurable criteria that do not depend on personal taste.
More importantly, they are key to creating a practical language and establishing common expectations among those of us who are part of the coffee chain, from farmers to importers to baristas.
This has the potential to create a fairer trade: coffee farmers can use these guidelines to meet clear quality parameters and thus charge more than in the commercial coffee market. the commercial coffee market. Something we at Syra Coffee support.
Syra Coffee's mission is to democratize good coffee. Therefore, we always prioritize quality over quantity. We try to offer the best conditions to the coffee growers with whom we collaborate and pass them on to you so that you can enjoy excellent coffee, knowing that it is also sustainable.
But how do producers manage to meet these standards? What makes a crop score so highly in the evaluations of professional tasters?
So that the coffee that arrives in your cup is authentic specialty coffee, it requires a lot of care and expertise.
Cultivation and harvesting
Coffee growers must not only take care of soil nutrition and weed and disease prevention without using products that are aggressive to either the plant or the environment.
They must also monitor humidity and store the grains in optimal conditions to prevent them from fermenting or being contaminated by mold or undesirable odors.
Many of the defects in coffee are directly related to the way it is grown and processed.
- A sour bean, for example, can appear at various points in the life cycle of the coffee cherry. It can be the result of dirty water or delays between harvesting and pulping. But it can also be caused by overfermentation during processing or by storage in an overly humid environment. The beans turn brownish, reddish or even yellowish and, when scraped, have a vinegary odor. The effect in the cup? A sour or grassy taste.
- Broken beans, on the other hand, arrive at the roaster broken or with fractures. This means that the coffee does not roast well, since the heat transfer is not uniform. The result is an unbalanced flavor. Normally, this is due to the machinery used in pulping, drying or threshing. However, moisture deficit or harvesting when the cherry is not yet ripe can also cause this defect.
In commercial coffee, cultivation is done in the sun and with machines because it reduces costs. During harvesting, the red fruits are mixed with the green ones, without taking into account that the flavor depends on it.
Meanwhile, in specialty coffee, the most suitable shade conditions are sought. The beans are picked by hand to select only the cherries that are at their optimum ripeness, dried without time pressure following traditional processes and re-sieved during pulping.
Therefore, behind the absence of defects characteristic of the specialty coffee there is a great investment of human capital that contributes its work and know-how to the.
Traceability
If the cultivation, processing and storage of coffee matter, so does the origin.
Knowing where a coffee comes from gives us a better idea of the substrates and climate in which it was grown. Imagine a wine that only says "Spain" on the label. It would not tell you anything because a Rueda is not the same as an Albariño.
But separating coffees by lots costs money. Therefore, only good coffees are "traceable".
In general, the farms where specialty coffee is planted are specialty coffee coffee is grown belong to small producers. These farmers may sell their crops to cooperatives or at private auctions (the best known is the Cup of Excellence auction of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence). Alliance for Coffee Excellencewhich only auctions coffees with a score of 87 or higher).
Unlike industrial coffee, in which beans from different producers and seasons are mixed in order to satisfy the high demand, in specialty coffee the lots are not mixed. That is to say, the final consumer as farm-grown or single-origin coffee. single-origin.
3. Toasting
Roasting has a great responsibility in the coffee production cycle because it is the step in which the flavors are developed and the characteristics of the bean are enhanced. the step in which the flavors are developed and the characteristics of the bean are enhanced..
Finding the right point of roasting, without over- or under-roasting, takes years of learning and is arguably an art. The specialty coffee has almost no defects, so the roaster has the difficult task of finding the right roast profile for each particular batch.
Depending on the bean and device used, it takes into account several factors: it measures the moisture level, density, size, shape or water activity of the green coffee bean.
Although these aspects do not explicitly affect the qualification of a coffee as a specialty coffee, it is important to note that they do not affect the specialty coffee, they do guide us as to how it will be roasted and how long it can last in good condition.
In general, roasting is less intense or bitter than commercial roasting, which tends to "burn" the coffee to hide defects. In specialty coffee, each batch is roasted naturally, that is to say, without any additives, and taking into account the specificities of the batch (the humidity of the bean, its density...) in order to enhance the organoleptic characteristics that are to be developed.
But the most significant difference is that in specialty coffee the roasting date is known, which is usually shortly before consumption.
If you want to know more about the differences between commercial and specialty coffee specialty coffeewe invite you to read this article in which we explain everything in depth.
In our next post, we will focus on how all these criteria are reflected in our coffees and how they can help you to choose the best specialty coffee for you.