What Is Specialty Coffee? SCA Scores, Grades and What They Mean
Specialty coffee has a real, technical definition, and this lesson explains the SCA's scores and grades, how the system is changing, and how to spot the real thing on a bag. About a 7-minute read.
Specialty coffee is coffee that scores 80 points or higher on the Specialty Coffee Association's 100-point cupping scale and passes its green grading standard. To make Specialty Grade, a 350-gram sample of green beans can have no primary defects and no more than five secondary defects. The term also signals traceability: you can usually see the origin, producer and process on the bag.
"Specialty coffee" is printed on bags everywhere from grocery stores to gas stations. It is fair to wonder whether it means anything. It does, and once you know the standard behind it, labels get a lot easier to read.
This lesson explains the Specialty Coffee Association's definition, how green beans and brewed samples are graded, and what changed when the SCA introduced its Coffee Value Assessment. It ends with practical ways to tell whether a bag is specialty coffee.
Every coffee on our site comes from roasters who publish details about their beans. If you want to see what those details look like across our catalog, Lesson 05, coffee by the numbers, breaks them down.
What is specialty coffee?
Specialty coffee is coffee that meets the Specialty Coffee Association's quality thresholds: a cupping score of 80 or more on a 100-point scale, and a green bean sample with zero Category 1 defects and no more than five Category 2 defects. Below 80 points, the SCA classifies coffee as below specialty quality.
The SCA is a nonprofit trade association for the specialty coffee industry. Its grading standards are used by importers, roasters and buyers around the world to agree on quality. The standard covers both what the raw beans look like and how the coffee tastes when cupped by trained evaluators.
In everyday use, people also use "specialty coffee" to mean a whole approach: traceable beans, careful roasting and brewing, and transparency about where the coffee came from. The technical definition is the score and the grade.
Where did the term "specialty coffee" come from?
The term "specialty coffee" was coined by Erna Knutsen in a 1974 issue of Tea & Coffee Trade Journal. The Specialty Coffee Association of America was founded in 1982. Today the Specialty Coffee Association sets the standards most of the industry uses.
The SCA's own magazine credits Knutsen with naming this new niche of high-quality coffee and helping launch it. Within eight years the niche had its own trade association, which went on to write the grading standards covered below.
A European counterpart, the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe, was founded in 1998. Today's Specialty Coffee Association is the body behind the standards in this lesson.
How is specialty coffee graded?
Specialty coffee is graded in two steps. First, a 350-gram sample of green beans is checked for defects, color and odor. Then trained cuppers roast, brew and taste the coffee and score it. A coffee must pass the physical grade and score 80 or more on the cupping form to be called specialty.
Green grading
Graders sort a 350-gram sample of unroasted beans and count defects. Category 1, or primary, defects are the most serious flaws. Category 2, or secondary, defects are less severe. A Specialty Grade sample must have zero Category 1 defects and no more than five Category 2 defects.
The SCA's protocol also requires acceptable color, from blue-green to green, and no foreign odors. Royal Coffee notes that roasted samples should have no quakers, underdeveloped beans that stay pale when roasted, in a 100-gram sample, and that water activity should be below 0.70.
Cupping score
For years, specialty coffee was scored on the SCA's 100-point cupping form. Cuppers rated 10 attributes, including fragrance and aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance and sweetness. A total of 80 or more meant specialty.
| Cupping score | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Under 70 | Defective coffee |
| 70 to 79.75 | Commodity or commercial grade |
| 80 to 84 | Specialty, often used in blends |
| 85 to 89 | Specialty, often sold as single origins |
| 90 and above | Rare, top-tier specialty |
Score bands as described by Royal Coffee (2026) for the SCA 100-point form.
What changed with the SCA's Coffee Value Assessment?
The SCA's Coffee Value Assessment, or CVA, replaces the single 100-point cupping score with four separate assessments: physical, descriptive, affective and extrinsic. It still grades green beans for defects, but it separates describing a coffee from judging it, and it adds information beyond the cup, like traceability and certifications.
| CVA part | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Physical | Bean color, defects, moisture and size, based on the SCA's 2004 green grading system |
| Descriptive | Aroma, flavor, texture and aftertaste, recorded with standard terms |
| Affective | An evaluator's overall impression of quality, which can reflect a target market |
| Extrinsic | Information beyond the cup, such as certifications, traceability and processing |
Descriptions from the SCA's Coffee Value Assessment page.
According to Royal Coffee, the affective form scores eight categories from 0 to 9, for a maximum of 72 points, and the SCA published a calculator that converts that total to the familiar 100-point scale. Royal Coffee also reports that in April 2025 the Coffee Quality Institute sold the licensing rights for its Q grader certificate to the SCA.
How is specialty coffee different from commercial coffee?
Specialty coffee is graded, scored and usually traceable to a region, farm or producer. Commercial coffee falls below those thresholds or is never scored, and it is often blended from many sources with few details on the bag. The difference shows up in defects and in how much you can learn about what you are drinking.
| Specialty coffee | Commercial coffee | |
|---|---|---|
| Cupping score | 80 points or more | Below 80, or not scored |
| Green grade | Zero primary, no more than five secondary defects per 350 g | Does not meet Specialty Grade limits |
| Traceability | Country, region, often farm or producer | Often country or "blend" only |
| Bag details | Often process, variety, tasting notes, roast date | Often roast name only |
Plenty of shoppers already drink it. The National Coffee Association reported in 2025 that 46% of American adults had a specialty coffee drink the previous day. The NCA's survey defines specialty broadly, though, counting any espresso drink, cold brew or coffee people perceive as premium, so that number is wider than the SCA grade.
How can you tell if a bag is specialty coffee?
Look for details a commodity bag would not bother to print: the country and region, the farm, producer or washing station, the process, the variety, specific tasting notes and a roast date. A cupping score, when listed, should be 80 or higher. The more specific the bag, the more likely it is specialty.
Here is what that looks like on real listings from our catalog:
- Onyx Coffee Lab Honduras Fredy Perez names the producer and the washed process, and the roaster lists tart apple, pecan, fig and allspice.
- Spirit Origin Coffee Honduras Paraideli Parainema names the Parainema variety and a Cup of Excellence connection, with notes of hibiscus, lime and tangerine.
- Black & White Coffee Roasters Diego Horta names the producer, the Huila region of Colombia and an anaerobic natural process.
- Canyon Coffee Gedeb names Gedeb, Ethiopia, a washed process and organic status, with notes of persimmon, lime and bergamot.
- Highwire Coffee Roasters Carrier Wave names Ahuachapán, El Salvador and a washed process.
Missing details do not always mean low quality. In our catalog data, 35% of listings do not publish a roast level at all. When something is missing, the tasting notes and the roaster's own description help fill the gap. Our guide to coffee tasting notes explains how to read them.
How do you brew specialty coffee so you taste the difference?
Brew it with a recipe close to the SCA's own standard: about 55 grams of coffee per liter of water, with water at 200°F (93°C), give or take 5°F (3°C), when it hits the grounds. Use freshly ground whole beans and filtered water. Good coffee brewed badly can taste like any other coffee.
That 55 grams per liter works out to roughly 1 gram of coffee for every 18 grams of water. For a 12-ounce (355 ml) mug, that is about 20 grams of coffee. A digital scale and a burr grinder make the biggest difference for the money.
- Grind just before brewing, since ground coffee loses aroma quickly.
- Taste black first, then add milk or sugar if you like. The bag's tasting notes are easier to pick out in a black cup.
- Try the same coffee two ways, like pour-over and French press, to see how brew method changes it.
Frequently asked questions
What makes coffee specialty coffee?
Under the Specialty Coffee Association's standard, specialty coffee scores 80 points or more on a 100-point cupping scale and passes green grading, with zero primary defects and no more than five secondary defects in a 350-gram sample.
What is an SCA score?
An SCA score is the total from the Specialty Coffee Association's cupping form, where trained cuppers rate attributes like flavor, acidity, body and balance. Scores of 80 and above count as specialty, and 90 and above is rare.
What does specialty grade mean?
Specialty Grade is the SCA's top green coffee grade. A 350-gram sample of unroasted beans must have zero Category 1 defects, no more than five Category 2 defects, acceptable color and no foreign odors.
Who decides if coffee is specialty?
Trained, calibrated evaluators, such as licensed Q graders, grade and cup the coffee using SCA protocols. Importers and roasters usually handle this before the coffee reaches you, so the bag reflects their grading.
Is specialty coffee worth the price?
If you care about flavor and knowing where your coffee comes from, usually yes. Specialty coffee has fewer defects, more distinct flavors and more information on the bag. Brewing it well at home matters as much as buying it.
Sources: Specialty Coffee Association, Protocols and Best Practices · Specialty Coffee Association, Coffee Value Assessment · SCA 25 Magazine, Celebrating Erna Knutsen's Specialty Coffee · Royal Coffee, Scoring Specialty Coffee: What Do the Numbers Mean (2026) · National Coffee Association, Specialty Coffee Consumption Hits 14-Year High (2025)