Specialty coffee: what really makes it different

We get asked all the time at the counter: so what actually is specialty coffee? It isn't a brand, a recipe or a “stronger” coffee. It's a way of working with coffee, from the farm to the cup, where every step matters.

A score, first of all

The term has a fairly precise definition. A coffee is called “specialty” when it scores at least 80 points out of 100 in a standardised tasting (called cupping), following the Specialty Coffee Association protocol. Tasters assess aroma, acidity, body, balance, sweetness, aftertaste… and the absence of defects.

In practice, that's only a small share of the world's coffee. The rest is commodity coffee, bought at market price, blended, and often roasted very dark to hide its flaws.

We know where it comes from

Specialty coffee is traceable: we know the country, the region, often the farm or cooperative, the altitude, the variety and the process (washed, natural, honey…). That information isn't decoration — it explains what you're tasting. A washed Ethiopian has nothing in common with a natural Brazilian.

That transparency also means farmers get paid for quality rather than weight.

Roasting that respects the bean

Specialty roasters try to reveal a bean's character, not burn it. The result: lighter, more aromatic profiles, with notes of fruit, chocolate, hazelnut or flowers — without any added flavouring.

At Full Bloom we work with carefully chosen European roasters, and we serve one coffee at a time, changing every week. It's our way of taking you somewhere new without ever getting boring.

The barista's work

A great bean can still make a bad coffee if it's badly prepared. Every morning we “dial in”: grind size, dose, extraction time, until we find the right balance between acidity, sweetness and bitterness. Coffee is ground to order and milk is steamed for each drink.

Specialty coffee isn't a more expensive coffee. It's a coffee where nobody cut corners.

So what changes in the cup?

• Less bitterness, more natural sweetness — many customers find they no longer need sugar.
• Clean, recognisable flavours.
• A real difference between origins, which you quickly learn to tell apart.

The best way to understand it? Taste it. Order an espresso or a batch brew and ask us what you're drinking — we love talking about it.