4 Reasons Specialty Coffee Costs More | Third Wave Coffee
You don’t have to be a revolutionary of the third wave coffee movement to enjoy a good cup of speciality coffee. Now more than ever, specialty coffee is becoming an everyday staple in the lives of those who know what quality and enjoyment are all about. The third wave coffee movement may have taken a certain aspects of coffee snobbery to extremes, but you only need to taste one immaculate specialty coffee to understand where all this passion stems from.
Still, if you’ve taken the time to experience your fair share of specialty coffee to date, you’ll have discovered they aren’t always economically priced. In fact, some examples of third wave coffee are downright expensive. Particularly when compared to generic coffees, specialty coffee is considered a premium or even exclusive purchase.
But why is it that the most revered third wave coffee costs more? Is it simply a case of prestige and image, or are there characteristics to specialty coffee that justify the additional expense?
In answer to the question, here’s a quick look at four reasons the very best specialty coffee costs more:
1) 100% Arabica Coffee
First and foremost, the very best third wave coffee in the world are almost always made exclusively using the highest-quality Arabica coffee beans. Produced in significantly smaller quantities on an annual basis, Arabica coffee beans are also generally regarded as significantly more aromatic and delicious than their Robusta counterparts. Hence, you’re unlikely to find a low-priced speciality coffee made from 100% Arabica beans.
2) Traceability
One of the most appealing characteristics of the best speciality coffee is the way it can be traced all the way back to its origins. If the roaster can tell you everything about the beans – including the exact farm they were grown and processed on in the first place – you know you’re looking at a premium product you can trust. Nevertheless, this kind of specialist knowledge and traceability has a direct impact on the costs of producing and procuring the beans respectively.
3) Laborious production and processing methods
Just as is the case with all fruits and vegetables, there’s a single perfect moment that represents the best time to harvest and process every coffee cherry. In the case of the world’s best speciality coffee, farmers use the most meticulous cultivation, picking and processing methods to ensure that every single bean they produce is of consistently superior quality. Rather than attacking things at random with heavy machinery, it’s a much more laborious and precise approach.
4) There’s less of it to go around
Last but not least, all of the above contributes to the production of exceptional quality coffee that’s available in significantly smaller quantities. And when there isn’t as much of something to go around, it naturally commands a higher price-tag. The simple fact of the matter being that speciality coffee is so much more delicious and desirable than generic coffee, it’s never going to be given away for beans… no pun intended!
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