What Is Specialty Coffee?

Part II: The stories green coffee tells

Recently, we discussed how to define specialty coffee. Now, we’re taking a deeper look into the process of evaluating the quality of green coffee, which is one of two ways that professionals determine whether or not a coffee is specialty.

Green Coffee Quality Matters

The first thing Blue Bottle Green Coffee Specialist and Lab Manager, Carly Getz does when green coffee arrives at our warehouse is assess its physical qualities. As with any other craft food or drink, where premium raw ingredients elevate a product from mediocre to outstanding, the quality of a particular green coffee determines its potential for deliciousness once brewed. In other words, neither great roasting technique nor expert preparation will ever make up for subpar coffee.

How Do We Know If A Coffee Is Specialty?

We have an open-door policy at Blue Bottle where any farmer anywhere in the world can send in their coffee for Blue Bottle’s consideration. Carly treats all samples the same, auditing them as she would the solicited pre-shipment samples of the coffees we intend to buy.

The process begins with a 350-gram sample, from which Carly sorts out individual beans with physical defects. “Physical defect” is a catchall term for the wide range of imperfections affecting the quality of the bean itself. To an extent, such imperfections are impossible to prevent on the farm level, but careful cultivation and processing methods can mitigate the frequency with which they occur. At the very least, thorough sorting during processing and milling can remove the majority of defect beans. Carly relies upon a rubric created by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA).

Stay tuned for the final installment in this three-part series that will cover the basics of the sensory assessment, or cupping which is the second way to determine whether or not a coffee is specialty.