One of the boutique coffee (specialty coffee)

The term specialty coffee dates back to 1974, when Erna Knutsen of the United States first proposed the concept in the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal to refer to coffee beans with unique aroma and flavor grown in special environments. As B.C. Erna Knutsen, a coffee buyer for Ireland in San Francisco, was very dissatisfied with the industry's neglect of green coffee bean quality, and even some large roasters mixed a large number of robersta beans into the mixed beans, so he proposed the concept of fine coffee to advocate for industry quality improvement.

For more than three decades, specialty coffee has been quickly embraced and the specialty coffee market has grown rapidly with the proliferation of specialty coffee retailers and cafes, becoming one of the fastest growing segments of the food service industry, with sales reaching $12.5 billion in the United States alone in 2007. The National Coffee Association's 2008 coffee consumption trends survey, published in early 2008, showed a decline in total coffee consumption but an increase in specialty coffee consumption. Adults 'daily coffee consumption has fallen from 57 percent last year to 55 percent this year, while specialty coffee consumption among adults over 25 has increased from 14 percent to 17 percent.

In the coffee industry for three years, every day in drinking fine coffee, are making fine coffee, for the understanding of fine coffee, but also slowly in depth, in fact, Erna Knutsen for the "fine coffee" concept evolution to today has become narrow,"grown in a special environment with unique aroma and flavor of coffee beans" should be called "fine coffee beans" and "fine coffee" concept includes from green bean production, after roasting and grinding extraction, Throughout the course of a cup of coffee, the "boutique" standard extends from crop to cup.

(This article is reproduced)

First of all, coffee production.

Fine coffee beans must be excellent varieties, such as the original bourbon species, mocha species, tipica species, these species produced coffee beans have a unique aroma and flavor, far from other species can be compared, but the relative yield is low, in recent years in pursuit of disease resistance and yield improvement, there have been a lot of improved species, such as Kenya to promote a large number of high-yield rurial11 species, but taste and quality greatly reduced, of course, can not be called "fine coffee".

The growing environment of fine coffee beans also has its own uniqueness. Generally grown at an altitude of 1500 meters or even 2000 meters above sea level, with suitable precipitation, sunshine, temperature and soil conditions, some also have some special geographical environment, such as the mountain clouds in the Blue Mountains, the free shade provided by the afternoon "flying clouds" in Kona, and the volcanic ash soil in Antigua, which provide conditions for the growth of fine coffee.

The production of fine coffee also requires careful cultivation by coffee farmers from seedling to harvest. Among them, the picking of coffee fruits is particularly important, many experts emphasize that "only ripe fruits are picked", because those unripe and overripe fruits will affect the balance and stability of coffee taste, so fine coffee needs to be picked frequently and carefully during the harvest period.

The coffee fruit also needs to be processed in time. If not handled in time, the coffee pulp will spoil and affect the taste of the coffee beans. Generally, if the water quality and time of the beans are not properly controlled during the fermentation process, it will easily cause the coffee beans to be infected with excessive sour fermentation, and the beans processed by dry method also need to be inspected in time to prevent the coffee beans from being contaminated by wet ground and debris. Processed beans, to be dried in time, and drying should also have a degree, generally treated beans moisture content in 11-13%, drying insufficient easy to make beans moldy, drying excessive easy to make beans aging affect flavor.

Green beans are usually preserved in the form of parchment with endocarp after treatment, and the endocarp is removed before export, and then subjected to a strict manual classification process to ensure uniform quality. Generally from the country of production to the baker to go through more than a month of transportation turnover time, the preservation of raw beans in this process is also very important, appropriate temperature, humidity, avoid exposure, good ventilation and so on are necessary, otherwise even if the quality of fine raw beans are easy to appear problems and can not continue its "fine".

Green beans account for 60% of the flavor of a cup of coffee, roasting accounts for 30%, and extraction accounts for 10%. Therefore, if the production and processing of raw beans are done well, 60% of the fine coffee has already been formed. The next key determinant of specialty coffee is roasting. Excellent bakers can analyze and judge the personality and taste characteristics of high-quality raw beans, so as to take appropriate baking to maximize their flavor, while improper baking will make high-quality raw beans lose their personality or even destroy a pot of good beans. Baking technique is important, and meticulous bakers even get quite exquisite raw beans, before and after baking also hand-selected, do not miss a defective bean, excellence.

90% of the quality of the fine green beans has been guaranteed after reasonable roasting, and then there is the coffee making factor.

Freshness is a major factor affecting coffee taste. Boutique coffee certainly pays more attention to freshness, which is why some boutique coffee shops pursue their own roasting. Generally, the flavor of coffee is fully displayed after 3 days of roasting. If it is properly stored, you can enjoy fresh coffee with unique flavor within 2 weeks.

Different coffee extraction methods have different requirements for the grinding degree of coffee beans, the extraction temperature, and the ratio of coffee to water. For example, espresso requires extremely fine grinding, rapid extraction (about 25 seconds), and extremely high concentrations.(Coffee powder and water is 1:3), while hand-brewed coffee requires relatively coarse grinding degree, longer extraction time (more than 1 point), relatively low concentration (coffee powder and water 1:15), of course, different production methods to make the taste has its own characteristics, but if the grinding degree, extraction time, etc. are not properly grasped, it will cause insufficient extraction or excessive extraction, which will make 90% of the fine coffee beans destroyed in the cup.

Looking at the above elements, the so-called fine coffee should be defined comprehensively as: a cup of coffee with unique aroma and flavor obtained by growing excellent coffee trees in unique geographical environment, carefully producing, processing and processing, reasonably roasting, and properly grinding and extracting under the premise of ensuring freshness.

In addition, I personally believe that all fine things must be carefully managed by people, sincere investment, fine coffee is no exception. From the initial coffee farmer's hard planting, to the rigorous roasting operation of the roaster, and then to the dedicated production of the barista, the process of coffee from crop to cup is actually through dialogue with many pairs of hard hands and sincere hearts, only along the way, out of a fine coffee road.