Premium, Gourmet, or Specialty Coffee. What's in a Name?

March 21, 2025

There are a "gozillion" (to quote Forrest Gump) coffee companies in America and probably twice as many coffee advertising and marketing executives. Their goal is to convince you that their coffee is "special."

They do so by using words that sound impressive, but mean little to nothing.

Premium Coffee

Take the word Premium Coffee. Advertisers use this term a lot but, in reality, there is no such thing as a Premium Grade of coffee. Within the coffee industry, there is Specialty Coffee, Commercial Coffee, and Commodity Coffee which is, ultimately, a subset of Commercial Coffee.

So what is Premium Coffee and what are Premium coffee beans?

The answer is, no one really knows. They can mean whatever the coffee advertiser decides they mean because there are no objective, measurable standards for something called Premium Coffee!

The same is true of Gourmet Coffee. The grim reality is that these words are purely marketing terms that have no definitive meanings and point to no objective standards within the coffee industry.

In effect, if a coffee company says that they offer Premium or Gourmet Coffee, this is a statement of opinion - THEIRS.

They may make the case that they use premium or gourmet coffee beans, but these words by themselves mean nothing - not to the coffee lovers among us or to the Coffee Industry at large.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty Coffee stands far above these gimmicky, marketing terms because it has a very well-defined, objective meaning with measurable standards that range from the cultivation of the crop all the way to the brim of the cup. In short, the term Specialty Coffee actually means something.

This is what we roast and this is the product that we are intensely proud of. We are Specialty Roasters roasting Specialty Coffee for those truly special people who understand that coffee is not just a caffeine delivery system. It's not just a morning wake-up or an afternoon pick-me-up.

Instead, it is one of life's great pleasures to be anticipated, savored and enjoyed. In our view, we see great coffee as one of the many gifts that God has bestowed upon mankind purely for our enjoyment. And what a gift it is.