What Makes Coffee Specialty Coffee?

TL;DR

Specialty coffee is defined by quality, traceability, and flavour integrity. It must score 80+ points on the global grading scale, be free from major defects, and have a clear origin with intentional processing. In short: someone cared, and it shows. 

Expanded Answer

Specialty coffee isn’t about the price tag, the font on the bag, or whether the café has hanging plants. It’s a globally recognised quality classification, assessed through rigorous sensory evaluation and verified farming and processing practices. All of our coffees score well above 80+ points, some as high as 90+, many over 88 points.

Coffee is judged on aroma, flavour, acidity, body, balance, and cleanliness. No shortcuts. No hiding behind milk or sugar. Only coffees that meet strict standards earn the specialty label, which creates transparency and accountability from the farm all the way to the roaster.

If you know where it came from, how it was grown, and why it tastes the way it does, you’re probably in specialty territory. If not, you’re just guessing confidently.

Roaster’s Take

At Groundskeeper Willie, we choose coffees we can explain without clearing our throat or reaching for poetry. If we can’t tell you where it came from, who grew it, and why it tastes like it does, it doesn’t make the cut. Life’s too short for mysterious brown liquids...!