What is so special about Specialty Grade coffee?

Sand and Sea Coffee's specialty grade coffees are in the top 3-5% of all coffees harvested in the world. That is why our coffee smells and tastes so good, they are better than 95% of the coffee in the world. Furthermore, we roast our coffee after your order is received, guaranteeing that you get the freshest, highest quality coffee possible.

Sand and Sea Coffee is proud to carry ONLY specialty grade coffee. We thought we would share with you why that is so important and how it makes such a big impact on the aroma and taste of our coffee.

Specialty grade coffee is the prime pick of the entire world coffee stock – it comprises approx. 3-5% of the global yield of coffee. So, needless to say, our coffee is top tier and a very rare level of quality. Higher than 95% of the world's coffee harvested.

Specialty coffees are markedly different from regular coffees in the sense that they are grown at higher elevations, are traceable from farm to you and processed carefully and harvested exclusively BY HAND. Every step from growing to brewing is monitored and understood to improve the quality every day. 

Once the harvesting is carefully completed by hand, then the coffee cherrys are graded and sorted by trained experts. The defective or unripened produce is separated and is not eligible for specialty grade valuation.

Next, the coffee cherrys are laid out and naturally dried in the sun. This process is an eco-friendly method that reduces pollution and carbon emissions by not utilizing machinery and improves the quality of the coffee by utilizing natural methods.

What this means is that our coffee has an aroma and taste that is much smoother, more robust and more flavorful than most coffees. Our coffees lack the bitterness and acidity that you find in many of the other coffees. Many of our customers comment on how they normally don't like coffee without creamer or other enhancers, but love the taste of our coffee by itself without additives.

There is quite a bit of science, as well as nature, around coffee. Particularly, how it is grown, where it is grown, the conditions it is grown in, harvested and processed in. After all of the stars align and there is a green coffee bean left, the age old question is, how good is it?

That is where the science part really comes in to play. The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has developed a system that grades coffee beans and ranks them based on their appearance, number of visible defects and attributes, such as acidity, body, flavor and aroma. This grading is conducted by experts or "certified Q graders" that undergo extensive training and peer reviews to remain proficient and consistent in their craft.

Green coffee is graded on the basis of visual inspection and cupping after being roasted. Visual inspection involves taking a 350g sample of green coffee beans and counting defective beans. There are two types of defects, Primary (e.g. black beans, sour beans) and Secondary (e.g. broken beans).

Coffee qualifies as ‘specialty’ when it has zero Primary defects and less than five Secondary defects. Cupping is a process that involves roasting the coffee and simply brewing it by adding hot water to the ground beans; specific scores for each of the attributes such as acidity, body, flavor and aroma- are assigned by certified Q graders. Here is the SCA scoring system that is used:

Specialty Coffee- The Q Grade Score Sheet

**ALL SAND & SEA COFFEE IS SPECIALTY GRADE**

In summary:

• Green coffee is graded on the basis of visual inspection and cupping after being roasted. Visual inspection involves taking a 350g sample of green coffee beans and counting defective beans; defects can be Primary (e.g. black beans, sour beans) or Secondary (e.g. broken beans).

• Coffee qualifies as ‘specialty’ when it has zero Primary defects and less than five Secondary defects. Cupping is a process that involves roasting the coffee and simply brewing it by adding hot water to the ground beans; specific scores for each of the attributes such as acidity, body, flavor and aroma- are assigned by certified Q graders. 

• Specialty coffee is a term used to refer to coffee that has scored over 80 points on a 100 point scale by the SCA (Speciality Coffee Association).

• Simpler definition: Specialty grade coffee represents those coffees at the top tier of coffee bean quality evaluation. This evaluation allows for a maximum of 5 defective beans in a 350 gram sample and considers other factors, such as bean size, taste notes and moisture content. It is estimated that no more than 5% of green coffees in the U.S. market make specialty grade status.

After all of that, we still want to guarantee our customers the best coffee, so what else do we do?? We wait until we receive your order, then roast your beans. We roast your beans to the specified roast level and grind them (if applicable), then bag them or pack your single use pods, by hand, (if applicable). Then your packaged coffee gets shipped to your door and you get the freshest, highest quality specialty grade coffee possible.