One of the questions we are asked most frequently in coffee shops is: "What is specialty coffee?". New customers are often attracted by the blackboard where we briefly list the coffees we offer with their characteristics and they enter the café curious to discover a new reality. Everything has happened to us: from those who fall in love with it at the first sip to those who calmly appreciate it and still others who just don't understand it. Usually when a new customer comes to us, totally unaware of the world of specialty coffee, we propose a sort of journey with different stages starting from our most traditional blend to arrive at experimental products that are totally different from the common cup of coffee. Over time we have understood that this is the best method, step by step following the customer's habits and tastes. We understood that imposing an experimental coffee, which for us is excellent, on a sixty-year-old lady who has always drunk a mocha or the classic Neapolitan espresso makes no sense and certainly would not lead to a pleasant result. In addition to this, we are convinced that these types of coffee must always be explained and described to be truly understood; a cup placed there alone on the counter doesn't mean anything, but if you tell the story of the family that grows it, the techniques used, the processes carried out and the scents and aromas that the cup should release, then everything changes.
To answer the question with which this text opens, let's say that specialty coffees are very high quality coffees that are selected and treated in such a way as to enhance their characteristics, resulting in a cup with a rich and complex flavour. It is extremely important to underline that each phase of the production chain must take place with the utmost care and attention, starting from the selection of the beans up to the extraction into the cup.
International standards for evaluating coffee are established by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA); these include the appearance of the beans and the tasting properties of the coffee. To be considered "specialty", a coffee must obtain a cupping score of at least 80 out of 100, have zero primary defects and a maximum of five secondary defects. These standards help ensure the quality of specialty coffee at every stage of its production.
But what makes a specialty coffee so special? It all starts with the selection of the beans. The coffee beans used for specialty coffee come from specific crops, often small and managed with great care where each plant is cared for in the best possible way with the aim of guaranteeing the best possible growth. These beans are then harvested manually, selecting only those that have reached perfect maturation.
The journey of the beans continues with roasting, a process that must be carried out with skill to enhance the unique characteristics of each batch. Perfect roasting transforms green grains into flavor-packed brown ones without burning them or compromising quality. THEFinally, the specialty coffee is extracted by baristas with the use of techniques and equipment that allow the aromatic and taste profile of the coffee to be best expressed.
In summary, specialty coffee is an invitation to slow down and appreciate the complexity and richness that quality coffee can offer. It is a tribute to the dedication of the growers, the precision of the roasters and the art of the baristas.
In the world of coffee, specialty coffee represents excellence. It is not simply a type of coffee, but a philosophy that focuses on superior quality, a unique sensorial experience and product traceability.