The confusing terms "quality coffee" and "specialty coffee" are not the same thing

When it comes to good coffee, some people will immediately think of specialty coffee, while others will think of high-quality coffee. However, if you put the two together, most people can't tell whether specialty coffee is better or high-quality coffee is better.

Most coffee lovers or veteran coffee lovers are familiar with "specialty coffee". It can be said that specialty coffee is a kind of coffee at the top of the pyramid of the coffee world. The definition of "specialty coffee" was first proposed by a lady named Erna Knudsen at the Specialty Coffee Association of America in 1974. The early evaluation of specialty coffee was also processed by SCA through continuous evaluation, such as the world-famous Blue Mountain Coffee, Gesha Coffee, etc.

The coffee grade of "high-quality coffee" is relative to "daily coffee" or "mainstream coffee". The latter is the coffee we are most exposed to in daily life, that is, the coffee we drink in daily life. Compared with "mainstream coffee", some relatively rare coffee beans with limited origin, estate, and variety, whose flavor is unique to the origin, are called "high-quality coffee". If we want to talk about the connection and difference between "specialty coffee" and "high-quality coffee", then "specialty coffee" can be a part of "high-quality coffee", and it is the best part of "high-quality coffee".

In the early days of "specialty coffee", SCAA used the theory of micrometeorology, which is a very scientific approach.

Nowadays, everyone has adopted another way to score "specialty coffee", that is, to evaluate many coffee conditions such as flavor, aftertaste, acidity, etc. Moreover, many of these scores are also affected by the rarity of coffee varieties, plantation information and other value-added factors, making the original "specialty coffee" gradually move closer to "high-quality coffee".

As for so-called "high-quality coffee", the flavor of many "mainstream coffees" today is no worse than that of "high-quality coffees". Although this is off topic.

Even so, the quality of "high-quality coffee" or "specialty coffee" has never been bad. It's just that due to some external factors, the coffee industry's evaluation of coffee is slightly biased.

Therefore, there is no very clear boundary between "specialty coffee" and "high-quality coffee" nowadays, and it is difficult to have a clear boundary. After all, the world of coffee is quite complex and interesting. If you want to taste extraordinary coffee, you mostly need to keep exploring and trying.

If you are just an ordinary coffee lover, you can try more "high-quality coffee" in your daily life and check out "specialty coffee" from time to time. After all, there is a reason why it is expensive.