The best coffee in the world is available for us U.K. based consumers at just the touch of a button for the first time ever. But what defines the “best coffee”? The best coffee in the world is graded as “speciality coffee”. This elite grading is awarded to coffee with 80 out of 100 on the Specialty Coffee Association scale. (We know that the correct spelling and pronunciation is “speciality coffee”, but we can’t hold them responsible for being based in California!)
The Specialty Coffee Association
The Specialty Coffee Association builds and supports communities across the world in the huge world of speciality coffee. Despite the incorrect spelling of “speciality coffee” being central to who they are, they are pivotal in bringing the standards of coffee up and creating a fair industry for the vast supply chain. They work their coffee magic all the way from the skilled coffee farmers who plant the seed through to the highly talented roasters and baristas here in the U.K. Quality controlling the coffee production process all the way from start to finish means that the coffee in our cups is the best that it has ever been… bean? Been.
The Specialty Coffee Association is certainly a key aspect of the world of speciality coffee, but what does the term mean for the coffee workers on the ground? Well, the coffee itself will have been grown on specific dates, at specific altitudes, and at specific temperatures. Some coffee-growing countries are lucky enough to be able to grow high-quality produce all year round, such as Colombia. But others have very specific growing windows, that utilise ideal speciality coffee growing climates. Even the soil in which coffees are grown can play a huge part in how the end product tastes. Did you know that coffees are often grown in volcanic soils, which uses the highly nutritious soil qualities to make the coffee taste unique?
Growing Coffee Differently
How does the all-important speciality coffee grading come about? Pre-roast coffee beans, known as “green coffee beans”, are given visual assessments using a small sample. The inspection can identify defects in the beans, allowing an initial filtering out of bad coffee to take place. Specially trained coffee tasters then perform checks on coffees, once roasted, in order to taste the quality. They test the taste of the speciality coffee on acidity, body, flavour and aroma.
However, the best coffee wouldn’t be the best coffee without the best roasters. The U.K. has seen a surge in high-quality, driven coffee roasters here in the U.K. Since the mid-noughties, independent coffee roasters have been springing up all over the country, and the world! Coffee drinkers are beginning to care much more about the ethical sourcing of coffee, and the taste that goes with coffee drinking. This means that the best roasters here in the U.K are presented with a great opportunity to join the speciality coffee market’s explosion. If you want to learn more about the U.K’s best roasters, check out our blog post here!