WHAT is “Specialty Coffee”?
“Specialty Coffee” is a promise.
Coffee has evolved through several distinct "waves" since its industrialization in the late 1800s. To understand what you are drinking today, it helps to look at how far the bean has traveled.
The First Wave: Commodity & Convenience
Before the turn of the 20th century, coffee was a luxury. Post-industrialization, however, it transformed into a mass-produced commodity. Suddenly, coffee was accessible to everyone—filling the mugs of every diner, neighborhood drugstore, and home kitchen.
The Second Wave: Quality & Connection
In the 1970s, a handful of roasters began emphasizing quality and sourcing to set themselves apart. Several of these pioneering brands achieved massive success and still thrive today, inspiring the wave of regional and local coffee shops that opened in the decades that followed. This era introduced the world to coffee as an experience.
The Third Wave: Coffee as a Craft
By the early 2000s, globalization allowed roasters to focus deeply on sourcing. This era birthed what we now know as Specialty Coffee—originally defined, much like fine wine, as any coffee scoring above 80 points on a 100-point scale. Forward-thinking organizations like the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) became champions of sustainability, quality, and meticulous presentation, elevating coffee to an artisanal craft.
A New Global Standard
In January 2017, the SCAA and SCAE officially unified to form the global Specialty Coffee Association (SCA).
Since then, they have introduced the Coffee Value Assessment, a holistic grading system that evaluates both sensory attributes and market impact to determine a coffee's score. Along with this system, the SCA established a modernized, global definition:
“A coffee or coffee experience that is recognized for its distinctive attributes, resulting in a significantly higher value in the marketplace.”
Ultimately, Specialty Coffee is a shared commitment. It is a promise made by every producer, roaster, and barista that the coffee they grow, roast, or serve is truly distinct, unique, and exceptional.
To us here at Smooth Coffee Co, being a Specialty Coffee roaster does not only mean roasting great coffee, but also providing those experiences that make our coffee and brand distinct, unique, and exceptional. With this in mind, we commit to:
1) provide accessible coffee education programs to anyone who is interested;
2) offer the highest level of service to all of our patrons and partners;
3) operate with integrity, employing our values to drive every decision we make.
OUr Commitments
Smooth Coffee Co. was founded in 2024 by Owner/Roaster Noah “da Roastah” Reeves.
“My first exposure to specialty coffee was at my first coffee shop job, which was also my first service industry job. During my interview the owner and GM brewed a V60 of a washed Ethiopia Worka and… that was it.
That shop was growing quickly and I started bagging coffee twice a week. That lead to learning how to roast and eventually I was promoted to Lead Production Roaster, which was my title for about a year before leaving to explore more of the service industry, and myself.
I bounced around for another two years between breweries, wine tasting rooms, bakeries, a Michelin Starred restaurant, but a backburner dream of opening my own roastery burned throughout that time. Eventually I picked up a refurbished sample roaster and things quickly got out of hand. A week later I had a 30kg bag of green coffee living on my 400sqft apartment’s kitchen counter, was passing out samples to anyone who would take them, and thus the snowball began to roll.
Now, here at the bottom of the first mountain, I am nothing if not grateful for all those who have been a part of the journey. This business is for you, for all, and I cannot wait for us to share a cup of Smooth coffee together.
Nothing but love,
Noah
“
Our People: Noah
