What Is Specialty Coffee?

Specialty coffee isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a benchmark for quality, care, and transparency throughout the coffee supply chain. It starts with the beans themselves, which are grown in optimal conditions, often at high altitudes, and with close attention to the health of the soil, shade trees, and surrounding ecosystems.

To qualify as specialty, a coffee must score 80 points or above (out of 100) when evaluated by a certified Q Grader—a sort of wine sommelier for coffee. That score reflects clarity of flavour, sweetness, balance, and the absence of defects. In short, specialty coffee is about producing the best possible cup from the best possible conditions.

Unlike commodity-grade coffee, which is often traded on bulk markets and prioritised for quantity and shelf life over quality, specialty coffee is grown, picked, and processed with precision. Commodity coffees are usually blended from multiple farms and regions, resulting in a more generic flavour profile and often lower traceability. Specialty coffee, by contrast, is traceable, transparent, and far more expressive in flavour.

This care and attention means specialty coffee usually costs more—and with good reason. The higher price reflects fairer wages for farmers, better post-harvest processing, and smaller, more sustainable supply chains. You're not just paying for a cup of coffee; you're supporting a system that values quality, people, and the environment.

At Moon Roast, we focus on sourcing coffee that’s not just high scoring, but also responsibly grown and transparently traded. That means closer relationships with producers, fairer prices, and fewer links in the chain between farm and cup. The result? More distinctive, traceable flavour—and a brew you can feel good about.

This level of care carries through to roasting and brewing. Specialty coffee is typically roasted in small batches by skilled roasters who develop flavour without masking it. The aim isn’t uniformity—it’s to bring out what’s unique about each lot. That’s why we don’t over-roast. Instead, we work to develop balance, sweetness, and clarity in every cup.

Whether you’re new to coffee or looking to deepen your knowledge, understanding what makes a coffee “specialty” is the first step toward more rewarding brews.