Specialty coffee, what you didn’t know!

I am sure that many of you, even if you are coffee lovers, have never heard of the term “specialty coffee”. Before a coffee can be called specialty coffee, it must first have gone through a rigorous evaluation, which is carried out through an international system to analyze its quality and assign it a score, this is what determines if a coffee is special or not. The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) are the ones that define the standards and parameters with which this qualification is evaluated and assigned.

What is specialty coffee?

All coffees that pass through the quality evaluation and obtain a score higher than 80 points are considered specialty coffees.  The people in charge of evaluating and scoring the beans are called tasters or Q graders, who have been previously certified by the Coffee Quality Institute.

In each lot of coffee they must analyze 10 attributes and qualify each attribute on a scale of 1 to 10 points. A score of 100 points would be for a perfect coffee, which would obtain 10 points in each attribute.  At the end, to evaluate the results, the taster uses a decagonal diagram.  This entire grading process is called “cupping”.

Specialty Coffee Beans

The beans must be of the Arabica variety, although nowadays there are many crosses with this variety.  The green coffee beans must be of high quality and not present defects such as black beans, sour or vinegar beans, dried cherry, fungus, foreign matter and beans with severe defects, called category 1 defects. Up to 5 category 2 defects are allowed, which are broken, immature, wrinkled, floating, shelled, parchment, shell or pulp, crystallized, discolored or marbled, crushed, or spongy coffee beans.

In order to obtain excellent quality beans, it is important that specialty coffee producers pay careful attention to each stage of the process, it is required to carefully cultivate the coffee plants and harvest at the right time, they must comply with the best practices in terms of harvesting, washing, drying and final processes such as roasting, grinding and preparation, including adequate storage.

Specialty Coffee Shop

Have you tried our delicious Pazifico Coffee? Pazifico is High quality Coffee, we are Specialty Coffee! Go to www.paifico.co and try it! You can buy just one bag of Paizfico or subscribe to one of our three categories: Resiliency, 1 bag a month; Hope, 2 bags a month; and Peace, and receive 3 bags of Pazifico a month in the comfort of your home!  Try it, you will rediscover Coffee and fall in love again, forever!

Specialty Coffee Association

The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) seeks to make coffee a sustainable, equitable and prosperous activity.  It is a non-profit, membership-based organization representing thousands of coffee professionals, from growers to baristas and roasters around the world. It works to raise standards to improve coffee through a collaborative and progressive approach.

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Cheers!