Specialty Coffee is The Best Coffee...Literally!
Here at The Pod Lab, we only use specialty grade coffee – which as the name suggests, is the highest quality coffee available to roasters in Australia and around the World.
It’s only fair to point out, the term ‘specialty grade’ has become a little generic over recent times, and has perhaps lost some of its kudos in the consumer coffee market. Lots of roasters and coffee marketeers use the term frequently, however shouldn’t however, diminish the significance of what it represents. Specialty coffee beans were defined as scoring >80 points on a 100 point scale by a certified coffee taster (SCAA) or by a licensed Q Grader (CQI). Specialty coffees are grown all around the globe, and all enjoy the hallmark of being grown at ideal conditions (altitude, season, soil) and then picked at just the right time.
To be graded ‘specialty’, this is a process done through both visual inspections at the green bean stage where any key defects are identified, and also by tasting (cupping) where the coffee’s attributes are judged (acidity, body, aroma, flavour). At this point the coffees are graded, and anything scoring >80 points can then be considered specialty grade. Now it’s the job of coffee roasting companies and their specialist roasters to use their skills and expertise to select which specialty beans (in green form) they want, and create unique blends of different varieties which get brought to life through the roasting process. The ability to extract the vibrancy and personality of each different bean through precise roasting profiles, is what separates a good roaster, from a great one.
So in summary – fundamentally, a specialty coffee should be a highly enjoyable experience in the cup. It should be an authentic representation all of hard work by farmers, pickers, tasters, importers, and roasters like us here at The Pod Lab, who all play a vital role in completing the humble coffee bean’s remarkable journey from plant to cup.