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Why did you choose boutique coffee?

Published: 2026-08-20 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/08/20, Respecting the personality of each coffee bean, raising fine coffee on one side and soil and water on the other was first proposed by Ms. Erna Knustsen, who is known as the godmother of boutique coffee, in the Tea and Coffee monthly (Tea Coffee Trade Journal) in 1974. It shows that only in the most favorable microclimate and soil and water can we cultivate high-quality coffee with unique flavor.

Respect the personality of each coffee bean

One side of soil and water to raise the other side of coffee

Boutique coffee was first proposed in the Tea and Coffee monthly (Tea& Coffee Trade Journal) in 1974 by Ms. Erna Knustsen, who is known as the godmother of boutique coffee.

Highlight that "only in the most favorable microclimate and soil and water, can we cultivate boutique coffee with unique flavor", which aims to distinguish it from the bulk commercial coffee on the New York Futures Exchange.

▲ Erna Knudsen poster

Without the unique regional flavor, it is not fine coffee, but ordinary commercial beans or canned coffee (large canned coffee beans or powder).

Ms. Knudsen first put forward the concept of boutique coffee, emphasizing the relationship between upstream planting environment and coffee quality.

▲ Coffee planting Park in Brazil

The traditional coffee bean trading is sold to producers and large chain cafes through the international futures market after a large number of acquisitions by bean merchants in the producing countries. In this way, all kinds of beans are mixed together, and you have no idea what you are buying. In the same bag of beans, there may be more than a dozen varieties from different places with different environments and different ways of handling them. As for the taste, even if it is freshly baked, there is no guarantee for the quality of such beans.

On the other hand, high-quality beans are ripe bean producers such as cafes (coffee beans are plants, raw beans cannot be eaten, and we buy roasted cooked beans) and coffee farmers (manors, farms) are in direct contact with them, which is called direct trade or fair trade.

Of course, there are also many small bean merchants involved in direct trade.

▲ Maui Farm

An important part of direct trade is that buyers need to guide coffee farmers on how to grow, harvest and deal with coffee beans, which are very important factors that affect the taste of coffee beans.

Direct trade can also bring more benefits, such as quality control, traceability, lack of intermediaries can also increase the purchase price, increase the enthusiasm of coffee farmers, but will not increase the final sales price by much.

At the same time, direct trade will make buyers try to find better quality coffee beans, more suitable areas for growing coffee trees, and more experienced, technical and open-minded coffee farmers.

In this way, the quality of coffee beans has naturally improved a lot, and the taste style has been guaranteed. This is not only a good taste, but also a controllable taste.

When you like a certain taste, you can always buy that coffee bean, although the taste will vary with the climate change, but the overall style and quality are roughly the same.

This is another major feature of boutique coffee, which is directly related to taste and quality.

Suitable extraction method

Although there is no direct relationship between fine coffee and extraction methods, it has a great influence on the choice of extraction methods.

Every cup of coffee has to be peeled, fermented, dried, roasted, ground, and in the process of dialogue with hot cutters. From raw beans, shallow and medium roasting to deep baking, water is released again and again, but the volume expands and bulges, and the fragrant oil is gradually released. At this time, the sour, sweet and bitter taste of coffee reached the most perfect balance, and the character of coffee beans was also clearly depicted.

▲ is extracted by siphon pot.

Different brewing, boiling, soaking, dripping filtration, steam pressurization, cooking. Bring different taste, of course, in addition to the taste, it more expresses their different attitude and culture, different attributes and life, or frank, or wild, or noble, or mellow.

In an era when you don't know where the beans come from, a single way of cooking is not a very reliable choice. Everyone has different definitions and standards of good coffee. Expensive coffee is not necessarily fine coffee, and high-priced coffee is not necessarily bad. The most important thing is to let more people experience the perfect flavor of each kind of coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou China, selling freshly roasted beans from its own farm in Yunnan as well as dozens of carefully selected single-origin beans from around the world for both pour-over and espresso. The products deliver consistently excellent quality and great value, with shipping within 24 hours. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers, and the beans are now available online at the Tmall 。