Is Specialty Coffee Just a Fancy Way of Saying Expensive Coffee?
One of the questions we get asked most often is: "What's the difference between regular coffee and specialty coffee?"
Usually followed by: "And why is it more expensive?"... Fair question.
"Specialty coffee" does sound a little suspicious at first. Like one of those words people use when they want to charge more for something.
Specialty burger. Specialty candle. Specialty dog shampoo. You get the idea.
So when someone tells you a coffee is "specialty," it's reasonable to ask what exactly makes it special.
The short answer is: there actually is a definition. The longer answer is a long discussion over coffee.
The official answer
In the coffee industry, specialty coffee refers to coffee that meets a certain quality standard.
Coffee is evaluated by trained tasters called Q-graders and scored based on factors like flavor, aroma, sweetness, balance, and the absence of defects. Coffees that score 80 points or above on a 100-point scale are generally considered specialty coffee.
That's the industry answer. And while it's important, it doesn't really explain why people care about specialty coffee in the first place.
Because nobody has ever taken a sip of coffee and said "Wow. This tastes like an 84." In reality and in practice, what people notice is the experience.
Maybe it's sweeter than they're used to. Maybe it's cleaner. Maybe it tastes like fruit and sends them into a mini out of body experience (maybe not, OA naman) because they thought coffee was only supposed to taste like coffee.
That's usually where the conversation starts.
So what actually makes specialty coffee special?
For us, specialty coffee isn't really about chasing a score. It's about paying attention.
Paying attention to how the coffee was grown, harvested, processed, roasted, brewed, and served. Every step matters because every step affects what ends up in the cup.
The result is a coffee that's often more expressive and more transparent. Instead of tasting generically like "coffee," it starts a conversations about where it came from and how it was produced.
One coffee might remind you of chocolate and nuts. Another might taste citrusy. Another might be floral. And yes, some of them really do taste suspiciously like berries. All of these are naturally occurring taste profiles from a higher grade coffee = a more specialty coffee.
The deeper you get into specialty coffee, the more you realize that coffee isn't one flavor. It's an entire spectrum.
But what does specialty coffee mean in the Philippines?
This is where the industry definition starts to feel a little incomplete. The scoring system gives us a useful benchmark for quality, but it doesn't answer a bigger question:
What should Philippine specialty coffee look like?
And the truth is, maybe we're still figuring that out.
Every year, we see producers experimenting with new processing methods. Roasters are becoming more intentional. Cafés are becoming more thoughtful about how coffee is presented and served.
More importantly, customers are becoming more curious. Questions that used to come from coffee professionals are now coming from everyday coffee drinkers.
Where was this grown? Why does this taste different? Who produced this?
In many ways, Philippine specialty coffee is still being shaped - not just by farmers and roasters, but by everyone who chooses to engage with it.
Our take
At Candid, we don't think specialty coffee is a finish line.
We think it's a commitment - to keep improving, learning, and to keep asking questions. To keep finding better ways to serve coffee and create experiences people genuinely enjoy.
Which bring us back to the question - "Is specialty coffee just expensive coffee?"
Sometimes it costs more, yes. Higher-quality coffee often requires more care, more labor, and more skill throughout the supply chain (watch this).
But price isn't what makes it specialty. Specialty coffee is really about intention. People paying attention at every stage, from the farm to the café, in pursuit of a better cup.
And here in the Philippines, that pursuit is still evolving, which means the story of Philippine specialty coffee is still being written.
We're fortunate to be part of it and excited to contribute to what it can become.
Philippine specialty coffee is still being written.
Every farmer, roaster, barista, and coffee drinker contributes a small chapter to that story. We're doing our part - and we'd love for you to see what we're working on.