| Specialty gourmet coffee is a very hot | | | | help set quality standards for the specialty coffee |
| commodity in today's market. The consumption | | | | trade. |
| of gourmet coffee has steadily grown with | | | | Since the 1990's the growing popularity of the |
| consumers enjoying the more sophisticated | | | | coffee houses and specialty gourmet coffee |
| tastes of gourmet coffee beans. | | | | retailers, have made gourmet coffee one of the |
| Specialty gourmet coffee, sometimes called | | | | fastest growing food services markets in the |
| premium coffee, is exceptional coffee beans | | | | world. In the United States alone, it nets |
| grown only in ideal coffee-producing climates. | | | | approximately $8.5 billion a year. |
| These coffee beans have unique characteristics | | | | Some have compared specialty gourmet coffee |
| because of the soil they grow in which produce | | | | to wine. The aromas and flavors have similarities |
| very distinctive flavors. | | | | in how the consumer connects with the two |
| Gourmet coffee has a more balanced flavor and | | | | beverages. The characteristics of gourmet coffee |
| richer taste than the standard mass-produced | | | | however, are more even complex than wine. The |
| coffee. Gourmet coffee beans go through a | | | | coffee bean is more dependent on altitudes, |
| rigorous process of certification that is stricter to | | | | climate and soil variation than with the grapes |
| help keep the quality high. | | | | used for wine. |
| In the 1974 issue of the "Tea & Coffee | | | | The history and tradition of the specialty coffee |
| Trade Journal", Erna Knutsen first used the term | | | | grower makes this a very complex beverage. So |
| 'specialty coffee' to describe these unique coffee | | | | pour yourself a cup of your favorite specialty |
| beans that are produced in special microclimates | | | | gourmet coffee, sit back and enjoy, you deserve |
| with these distinctive, exceptional flavors. | | | | it. |
| In 1982 the Specialty Coffee Association of | | | | Copyright © 2005 All Rights Reserved. |
| America was created by coffee professionals to | | | | |