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  • Writer's pictureHelena Coffee Vietnam

Specialty coffee: what is it? The origin of the phrase "specialty coffee"

Updated: Sep 18, 2022


Specialty coffee: what is it?


There are numerous definitions for Vietnamese specialty coffee, but this one is thought to be the most thorough. According to the World Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and the World Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), "Specialty coffee is a coffee product from a region with natural conditions, along with a special process of tending, harvesting, and processing when it tastes its own flavor and reaches 80 points or more according to the standard.


Specialty Coffee has currently earned the hearts of coffee connoisseurs with its quality and sophistication. The most intriguing aspect of speciality coffee, however, is arguably not its flavor but rather the intricate production procedure required to guarantee the crystallization of the purest bitter droplets in each specialty coffee.




Specialty coffee beans are chosen with great care. All steps of fruit picking must be carried out by hand in order to guarantee that only fully ripe coffee berries are harvested, resulting in the best possible selection of beans.


Because each individual coffee-growing region will produce a different flavor of coffee, factors including climate, terrain, and soil are also extremely evident. Arabica seeds, which have a distinctive aroma, are still employed more frequently even though specialty coffee varietals can produce a diversity of coffee.

Three common procedures are used to process specialty coffee: Wet processing is the most popular technique. Following harvest, the coffee beans are separated from the beans and submerged in water to allow the coffee to ferment and the viscous component to be eliminated. After that, the coffee beans are put through a trough, taken out once more, and dried for about a week.


- Dry processing technique: Common in Africa, where there is a lack of water. The cherries will be cured for a few weeks or maybe a month after being collected. The cherries will be ground and separated after drying. By using this technique, the fruit's sweetness will be fully absorbed by the coffee beans, resulting in a sweeter, more nuanced coffee flavor.


- "Honey" processing method: As soon as the fruit is harvested, the flesh is stripped away, and the coffee beans—still smeared with honey or mucus—are left to dry. Coffee beans will take this mucous' sweetness in.


Products made from coffee beans that have gone through one of the three phases of processing will be examined for quality. A coffee product will only be certified as specialty coffee after completing the rigorous SCAA testing process with a minimum score of 80.


Each batch of roasted meats' flavor should be crystallized



It is also a requirement for the taste of coffee, along with the selection, processing, and roasting processes. Coffee's flavor and aroma are enhanced through roasting through intricate chemical processes. For instance, the Mailard reaction results from the interaction between heat and sugar and amino acids, giving the batch of coffee hundreds of various aromas.


Coffee's flavor is preserved via the roasting process, which also reduces the acidity of the coffee beans. The flavour of Kenyan coffee is roasted without fire, precisely like the flavor of tomato sauce, according to coffee roasting specialist Anne Cooper.



Helena Coffee believes that readers of this post will have more insightful knowledge about speciality coffee and the myths surrounding the phrase, as a result of which we value each Specialty Coffee. Specialty coffee is a classic product of human effort and nature's bounty.

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