Specialty coffee shop. Specialty coffee roastery (that's us). But what the f*** does that actually mean?

There's a scoring system run by the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) that uses a 100-point scale to grade coffee quality. Score 80 or above and you're classified as specialty grade. The scoring is done by Q Graders - licensed professional who go through a rigorous and expensive certification process run by the Coffee Quality Institute. Our founder Casey is one of them, so we know this world well.

Before we get into the nuance, we understand the point of it. It's a framework for quality that didn't exist before. For smallholder farmers, a high score can mean a price three or four times above commodity rate. That price difference can be genuinely life-changing. We're not here to burn the system down!

But… Like many things built by a specific type of person, it has a problem. The SCA scoring system was largely developed by Western,predominantly male coffee professionals and their taste preferences got baked into the criteria from the start. Coffees traditionally loved in their countries of origin sometimes don't have the "correct" characteristics for Western palates and get scored lower, even when they are culturally significant and genuinely delicious. The system presents itself as objective science. It isn't. 

Here's the part that sits uncomfortably with us.

The women who grow this coffee - who pick it, process it, and rely commercially on the price it commands, have that price determined by a score assigned by a Q Grader who almost certainly doesn't speak their language and has never visited their farm.

There are three groups this score is supposed to matter to. Growers and producers; absolutely, it directly affects their income. Roasters; yes, it's an incredibly useful signal. Consumers; most consumers have no idea what it means. 

The coffee industry is pretentious. It gatekeeps with jargon. It makes people feel stupid for not knowing the difference between washed and natural process, for using a cafetière etc. A score on a bag communicates nothing useful to someone making coffee at 7am unless they already speak the language of specialty coffee. Without context it means nothing.

We exist in this world. We know the scores. Casey is a Q Grader. Our coffees are exceptional quality. But we refuse to use that as a gatekeeping tool. Our sourcing philosophy is built on something simpler than a number. Long term relationships with the women who grow our coffee. 

Ridiculously delicious coffee. Grown by women. ALWAYS. That's it.

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