There is a growing demand for specialty coffee worldwide, the popularity of which began to grow in the 2000s, after more and more people became interested in quality coffee beans...
Specialty coffee is coffee that is of a higher quality than most of the market product. This term refers to the best available coffees, the entire supply chain of which is checked for compliance with the quality requirements set by the SCA (Specialty Coffee Association). Such a product is distinguished by the fact that the origin of the grain is traced to a specific farm or farming cooperative, producing a unique product that is not mixed with other grains. To use an analogy from the world of whiskey, it's like a single malt whiskey from a specific distillery, the barley for which was grown in a specific field with specific climatic conditions.
The basic conditions for calling coffee "specialty" are as follows:
• manual picking of ripe berries;
• SCA score between 80 and 100;
• 0-5 defects per 12 ounces (350 g) of beans.
"Defects" refers to a specific list of signs by which grains are screened out of the batch and are not suitable for roasting and making a drink. In particular, such:
• unripe/overripe;
• blackened;
• overfermented (sour/bitter/slippery, etc.);
• spoiled (those that have lost their shape and/or color or have become moldy);
• damaged physically or by insects;
• which contain foreign objects (stones/trash);
• which have husks/peach;
• empty grains;
• quakers.
All of these defects affect the taste in their own way, but all are negative, so they are avoided...
Specialty coffee can be grown in virtually any "coffee" country, but typically the most suitable climates are found in countries located at latitudes between 23.5 degrees north of the equator and 23.5 degrees south of the equator (between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn). In principle, this is a fairly large list of countries, covering those located in South and Central America, Asia, and Africa.
The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), already mentioned above, is responsible for establishing quality criteria and procedures relating to all aspects of the specialty coffee business. The organization has various branches and offshoots in other countries, and there are also local organizations that do roughly the same thing in a specific country. There are over 20 of them today. However, the most authoritative is the SCA headquarters and, in particular, its American branch, SCAA.
• For coffee to become a specialty, according to the coffee cupping protocol developed by SCA, a specific lot of coffee must score a minimum of 80 points on a 100-point scale:
• coffee with a score of 80–84.99 is rated as “Very Good”.
• coffee with a score of 85-89.99 is rated as “Excellent”.
• coffee with a score of 90–100 is rated as “Excellent”.
The vast majority of coffees that receive a score above 80 are geisha (40% of all specialty coffees). It is followed by the varieties Pacamara, Tipica, Caturra, Maracaturra and SL28.
As of 2024, there is no coffee in the world that has received a score of 100 points on the SCA. Actually, you can't even find grades in the range of 96-99. Apparently, the Organization believes that there is no other coffee in the world that truly deserves maximum points (although we see no reason why not). But there are coffee lots that received a score of more than 95: this is Hacienda La Esmeralda from Panama (Bokete province), which received 95.25. Below, with a score of 93.75, is The Monk of Mokha coffee, from Port of Mokah in Yemen. The list of "prize winners" also includes:
• El Injerto (Guatemala, 92.6 points);
• HR61 from Hacienda El Roble (Colombia, 93 points);
• Guarumo Coffee and Finca Sofia (both from Panama, 93+ points).
There are only a few coffee lots with scores above 90. The number of coffee lots with a score of 85-90 is estimated in dozens and hundreds with a score between 80 and 85. To understand: there are thousands of non-specialty, but quite good, varieties in the world, as well as average and bad ones.
For specialty coffee to reach its full potential, it must be brewed by a professional barista. That's why SCA holds annual barista and caper competitions, where they show off both their skills and reveal the potential of individual coffee varieties and lots. These competitions also aim to promote the culture of high-quality coffee consumption around the world.
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Od 2024 r. na świecie nie ma kawy, która uzyskała 100 punktów na SCA. Właściwie nie można nawet znaleźć ocen w przedziale 96-99. Najwyraźniej Organizacja uważa, że nie ma innej kawy na świecie, która naprawdę zasługuje na maksymalną liczbę punktów (chociaż nie widzimy powodu, dlaczego nie). Ale są partie kawy, które otrzymały wynik ponad 95: to Hacienda La Esmeralda z Panamy (Prowincja Bokete), która otrzymała 95,25. Poniżej, z wynikiem 93,75, znajduje się The Monk of Mokha coffee z Portu Mokah w Jemenie. Lista "zdobywców nagród" obejmuje również: