There are plenty of definitions of speciality coffee.
Some focus on scoring. Some focus on traceability. Others talk about origin, processing, flavour, the farmer, the roaster or the way it is brewed.
All of those things can matter.
But the simplest answer is this:
Speciality coffee is coffee that stands out because of what makes it distinctive, and because people value those things enough for it to be worth more.
That is close to the current definition used by the Speciality Coffee Association, which looks beyond a single score and considers things such as flavour, aroma, mouthfeel, origin, producer, growing practices and processing.
Which, frankly, is a lot more useful than pretending speciality coffee is just about hitting a number on a score sheet.
Is speciality coffee just really good coffee?
Pretty much, but there is a little more to it than that.
Traditionally, speciality coffee has often been associated with coffees scoring 80 points or above in formal quality assessment.
That is still useful context, and you will still see the 80-point benchmark used across the industry. But the SCA's current definition is broader because quality is not only about what a cupper writes on a form.
A coffee might be valued because of:
- how it tastes
- where it was grown
- who produced it
- how it was processed
- how traceable it is
- how it was roasted
- how sustainably or responsibly it was sourced
- the relationship between the producer, roaster and customer
In other words, speciality coffee is not just “this coffee scored 83, therefore it is good.”
There is a whole chain of people and decisions behind what ends up in your cup.
It starts with the people growing the coffee
No roaster can rescue poor coffee at the end of the chain.
The quality begins with the farmer and producer.
The variety being grown, altitude, soil, climate, when the coffee cherries are picked and how they are processed all affect the finished coffee long before the beans ever reach a roastery in London.
A lot of that knowledge is built over years, and often generations.
That is why origin information matters. Not because a farm name automatically makes a coffee better, but because understanding where a coffee came from helps explain what makes it distinctive.
At Capital, we buy coffees from a range of origins and work with trusted importers and brokers who help us find coffees that meet the quality and sourcing standards we are looking for.
Then comes the green coffee buyer
Most people buying a bag of roasted coffee will never meet a green coffee buyer.
But they are a pretty important part of the process.
Green coffee buyers and importers help connect producers with roasters, manage the logistics involved in moving coffee around the world and provide access to coffees that smaller independent roasters would struggle to source directly on their own.
Capital has worked with brokers in London and internationally for decades.
Those relationships mean we can concentrate on what we do best: roasting coffee and supporting the people who buy it, while working with suppliers who understand where the green coffee came from and how it was produced.
They also give us access to a much broader range of coffees than we could realistically source ourselves.
That matters because speciality coffee should not just be about finding one impressive lot and shouting about it.
It is about building a reliable supply of good coffee year after year.
Then somebody has to roast it properly
This is where we come in.
Green coffee does not taste much like the thing you drink in the morning.
Roasting develops the flavours and aromas locked inside the bean, and small changes in how a coffee is roasted can have a big effect on the finished cup.
The aim is not simply to roast everything as lightly as possible because somebody once told you that was more sophisticated.
Nor is it to roast it until every coffee tastes the same.
A good roast should suit the coffee and the way people are likely to drink it.
Our roasting team uses experience, tasting and modern roasting technology to get the best from each coffee, whether it is going into an espresso blend, a filter brew or something in between.
This is also where years of know-how make a difference.
You can buy an impressive roaster.
Knowing what to do with it takes a bit longer.
Then there is the person making it
You can do everything right up to this point and still make a fairly terrible cup of coffee.
Grind size, dose, water, temperature and brewing method all affect what ends up in the cup.
That does not mean you need a chemistry degree before you are allowed to make breakfast.
It just means that a little care goes a long way.
At home, that might mean grinding fresh and using an AeroPress, cafetière or filter brewer.
In a café, it means good equipment, properly set up grinders and baristas who have been trained to use them consistently.
The point is not perfection.
It is giving the coffee a fair chance.
And finally, there is you
The person drinking it is the final part of the chain.
And this is probably where speciality coffee can occasionally disappear up its own backside.
You do not have to identify bergamot, candied kumquat and the precise emotional state of the farmer before you are allowed to enjoy a cup.
You are allowed to just think:
That tastes really good.
Speciality coffee should give you more choice, more traceability and more interesting coffee to drink.
It should not make coffee feel like an exam.
Does speciality coffee always taste fruity or unusual?
No.
This is one of the more annoying misconceptions around speciality coffee.
A speciality coffee can be bright, floral and fruit-forward.
It can also taste chocolatey, nutty, rich, sweet and reassuringly like coffee.
The point is quality and distinctiveness, not forcing every coffee to taste like fermented pineapple because that happens to be fashionable this week.
Some people love experimental coffees.
Some people want a really good flat white.
Both are perfectly reasonable.
Is speciality coffee the same as ethical coffee?
Not automatically.
Speciality coffee and responsible sourcing often overlap, but they are not exactly the same thing.
A coffee can have excellent cup quality without every part of its supply chain being perfect.
Equally, sourcing claims should be specific rather than vague.
At Capital, we think quality and responsible sourcing should go together wherever possible. That is why relationships with trusted importers, producers and cooperatives matter.
We would rather explain how a coffee got here than slap a nice-sounding word on the bag and hope nobody asks too many questions.
So, do you actually need speciality coffee?
Need?
Probably not.
Nobody is going to confiscate your kettle if you buy supermarket coffee.
But if you care about how your coffee tastes, where it came from and the people involved in getting it from farm to cup, speciality coffee gives you much more to explore.
For us, the important bit is not the label.
It is whether the coffee is genuinely good, responsibly sourced, properly roasted and something you actually enjoy drinking.
Our focus has never been on making wanky coffee for the sake of it.
We just want to roast really good coffee and make it easy for people to enjoy it.
That seems complicated enough already.
Try something different
If you want to explore speciality coffee for yourself, have a look through our current coffee selection.
Some coffees are bright and unusual. Others are chocolatey, comforting and easy to drink every day.
You do not need to know which camp you belong in before you start.
Trying them is half the fun.
