7 Reasons You Should Drink Specialty Coffee

(modeling a real cup of specialty coffee from Laos: the best looking farmer around)

So most of you know we are starting (very beginning stages) a coffee co-op for specialty coffee in this region. Right now we are using most of our time getting more educated on the topic and educating others, farmers and the consumer. We just started our first trial of one of the specialty coffee processes, the honey process. It’s funny when I first started with coffee I really only thought about organic, which was a great start, but organic doesn't effect the taste as much as it makes the product perhaps more honest and your soil more healthy long term. Making coffee taste amazing...that is a whole other ball game. The more I learn, the more passionate and excited I get about specialty. If you don’t know what specialty coffee is, it is coffee that is single origin (meaning coming from one single area, not mixed or blended with other beans), is scored by SCAA and receives an 80% at least. The scoring is based on on flavor, quality, body, little defect etc. I know most of my friends are big coffee drinkers, so here are some reasons you should switch to specialty and why it matters.

 1. It is DELICIOUS. There. Simple as that. With most coffee at any cutesy coffee shop I always take cream. Because it makes it rich and tasty. But if I am drinking a specialty coffee done manually, no way will I ruin its pure distinct flavor with anything. I drink it black because it actually tastes amazing by itself. Most companies process by washing their beans and overcook them because they are trying to produce a consistent coffee flavor, because most people are hooked on caffeine they just want that coffee taste with cream and sugar. But when you start to try flavors of specialty coffee, you will be surprised that some coffee doesn’t taste at all like the coffee you know. Also you can buy different types and brew them according to what kind of tastes you like. Some coffee’s are fruitier and acidity, while others have more chocolaty and nutty tones. It all depends on what your in the mood for.

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      2. Every cup is different. It's like an adventure every cup. When your drinking coffee from one location, processed a certain way, cooked a certain way, and then brewed a specific way, there are endless possibilities of flavors. In fact you can get certified to be an expert on this endless palate of coffee flavors, a coffee Q-grader. It’s actually a super hard certification requiring focus, and engaging flavors you never have before. My particular favorite taste is honey process coffee (that is why we are trying to create first). You dry, and let the coffee ferment with all the mucilage still on it. It has a fruity taste like natural process (drying it in the coffee cherry) but not too acidity; a nice balance and if done right and really smooth. 

 3.You learn about the region your drinking from. Every region has signature flavors. If you really become pro you can guess where your cup is from and how it was processed. Like Sumatra coffee is known for it’s earthy flavored coffee, because of the unique way they wet process it, which is generally only done there. Your learning the area, what makes it's coffee unique, the way it was made and the people behind it. So if your drinking specialty you are really connecting with the product your consuming. And Who doesn’t like learning and enjoying coffee at the same time?

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    4. It is connecting the Farmer to the consumer. We eat and drink stuff everyday without thinking of who is laboring for it. Thats why there is so much illegal slavery happening. The journey for a product all the way to a consumer is so tricky, long and confusing it's easy for illegal activity to occur. Single Origin coffee is basically making a bridge connecting the product at it's beginning and the consumer at the end. Another great thing I'm learning about specialty coffee is it requires the farmer to be more educated and involved. There is this wonderful opportunity with this coffee to be a storyteller and allow a farmer to have pride and artistry in his/her beans that are being appreciated for their full potential and unique taste.

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       5. It can quickly become a fun hobby and lifestyle. If you’re a foodie, a wine lover, or a coffee enthusiast you will want to make the switch. Specialty coffee can quickly open new activities and opportunities for meeting new people and developing a sort of coffee community. If your are traveling in America or overseas, every country has some sort of coffee scene, and when you drink specialty and start to learn more about it, it’s easy to connect and explore new flavors and shops all over the world. Also specialty coffee shops and roasters do cuppings, (similar to a wine tasting but more involved). Coffee Cuppings are a super fun thing to do with friends or as a date. Look up cuppings in your local shops to see if you have any roasters that are holding one. It’s an easy way to learn more, expand your palate, taste great coffee, and do something fun.

     

 6. When you buy and drink specialty you are feeding a good industry, that isn’t just looking to make a buck, but really create something amazing. And it is trickling down (for the most part), to the farmers. For us just to be able to really pull off specialty, we have to train our farmers on coffee tastes, the market, quality control, processing methods and much more. Helping them obtain opportunities and be in control of their product. Our farmers have known little to nothing about the market, other types of coffee or processing, they have been paid poor wages, I'd say 80% of them are in debt, and have a sense of shame because of their profession. Specialty coffee changes that if you can pull it off. They get paid more, they have control, they get more educated in agriculture and coffee processing. Specialty coffee farmers typically know every little part of their bean and sell it to small companies that will tell their story. With the mass amounts of slavery we find today in the products we consume, products like this are changing the game. If done right it is giving a lot of freedom to farmers, and preventing injustice. 

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    7. It’s an art. Come on millennials, we love genuine products that are artistic. Manual brew and specialty coffee requires a lot of skill and artistry. Also it’s a product that has almost endless possibilities of creating new tastes, so farmers and processors can play. We dream of having a coffee lab like our friend Pendy here (pic to the left). He was a coffee genius, never measuring only smelling to create the perfect cup. Specialty gives so much room for creativity whether it’s growing, processing, or brewing. Ever heard of civet coffee? Some might think it’s gross or weird, but hey it’s creative. Already the young people in our village are thinking of new ways to process, I love watching their creativity have an outlet.

There are so many other reasons but basically, if you have money to be choosy about your products, which honestly even as a poor college kid I had that choice, be intentional with what you buy. A cup of coffee doesn’t just have to be a cup of coffee. You can make a difference in the products you buy, whether it’s paying the hard working producer more, creating more organic products, helping end slavery and changing demands for the fat cats, what you buy DOES matter. So many people ask me how they can make a difference well here is one way you can, and have fun while you do it.

Credit too:

scaa.org

perfectdailygrind.com

http://www.cornerofthecafe.com/the-coffee-belt/
http://www.ecnmy.org/engage/three-slaves-modern-slavery/