What Makes Coffee Specialty?

Coffee can be a daily habit, a caffeine fix, or something you slow down and pay attention to. At BBCR, we think it can be all of those things.

I don’t think coffee divides neatly into “good” and “bad.” Taste is personal. Some people love a deep, chocolatey cup; others want something bright and fruit-forward. What we can talk about is how a coffee is grown, bought, roasted, and brewed—and what makes one coffee different from another.

Commodity and specialty: what’s the difference?

Coffee is one of the world’s major traded agricultural products. Much of it moves through commodity markets, where coffee is bought and sold in large volumes and benchmark prices help set a reference point. Those systems keep coffee moving around the world, but they don’t tell you whether you’ll enjoy a particular cup.

“Commodity” and “specialty” aren’t two perfect bins that every coffee fits into. Commodity describes a way coffee is traded and valued. Specialty coffee is differentiated for the qualities that make it distinctive. And specialty coffees can still be priced with reference to commodity benchmarks—the difference is that their price also reflects the specific qualities buyers value.

Those qualities might be things you taste, such as flavour, aroma, sweetness, or mouthfeel. They might also be things you learn about the coffee: where it was grown, who produced it, or how it was processed. The Specialty Coffee Association’s current definition considers these distinctive attributes and the additional value they bring. It also recognizes that people and markets may value different things.

You may have heard the “80-point rule”: specialty coffee scores at least 80 points out of 100. That’s familiar industry shorthand, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. A score can help describe a coffee; it can’t tell you whether you’ll personally enjoy drinking it. And specialty doesn’t have to mean single-origin. A well-made blend can be specialty coffee, too.

So the difference isn’t that every specialty coffee is automatically better than every commodity coffee. Specialty coffee is bought, sold, and appreciated for the things that make it particular—and for the extra value people find in those things.

The four waves of coffee

People use “waves” as shorthand for changes in how coffee is produced, sold, and enjoyed. They aren’t official grades or strict historical periods, and they overlap. The framework is most often used to describe changes in North American coffee culture.

First wave: coffee becomes widely available

The first wave was about making coffee convenient and familiar. Packaged, pre-ground, and instant coffees helped bring it into more homes and make it an everyday drink. For many people, coffee was a dependable cup in the morning, made without much fuss.

Second wave: coffee becomes an experience

The second wave brought café culture into the picture. Coffee shops became places to meet, take a break, or enjoy a drink made by someone else. Espresso drinks such as cappuccinos and lattes became familiar, and people began noticing different origins and roast styles.

Coffee wasn’t just something to make at home anymore. The café, the menu, and the ritual became part of what people enjoyed.

Third wave: coffee gets treated like a craft

The third wave puts more focus on the coffee itself: where it was grown, who produced it, how it was processed, and how roasting and brewing affect the cup. Coffee is an agricultural product, and the choices made at every step can influence what you taste.

That can mean learning about a region, farm, or variety; roasting a coffee to bring out its own character; and sharing information that helps customers understand what they’re drinking. The phrase “third-wave coffee” is commonly credited to coffee professional Trish Rothgeb, who wrote about it in The Flamekeeper, the Roasters Guild newsletter, in 2002.

Fourth wave: what comes next?

There isn’t one agreed definition of fourth-wave coffee. Some people use the term for a more scientific and precise approach to coffee. Others focus on making high-quality coffee more accessible or on building stronger relationships across the coffee supply chain.

At BBCR, we see fourth wave as an area to keep exploring—not a badge that makes one coffee superior to another. Our Select coffees are where we’ll explore that direction: micro-lots, honey and fermented processes, and very light roasts that let us explore berry and fruit flavours.

Those qualities aren’t exclusive to a fourth wave. Lighter roasts and distinctive flavour notes are already part of how many people describe third-wave coffee. For us, Select is a way to take that curiosity further and share coffees that offer something different to explore.

Where BBCR fits

We’re a specialty coffee roaster, and our approach is firmly rooted in third-wave coffee. We pay attention to the coffees we buy, how they’re grown and processed, and how we roast them. Our goal is to bring out a coffee’s character—not make every coffee taste the same.

At the same time, specialty coffee shouldn’t feel intimidating. You don’t need a trained palate, special vocabulary, or a tiny notebook to enjoy a good cup. Tasting notes are an invitation to notice something, not a test you can fail. And if the notes on the bag don’t match what you taste, that’s fine. Your cup belongs to you.

We want to offer coffees that reward curiosity and are still easy to enjoy. Some will be familiar and comforting; others might surprise you. Neither choice is the “right” one. If you love a bright, fruit-forward cup, Select may be for you. If you prefer chocolate notes or something familiar, we’ve got you there too.

Stay curious. Find a coffee you like. We’ll take it from there.