Ana M. Grajales
Oct 19, 2024
What Defines a Specialty Coffee
Specialty coffee is about much more than achieving a minimum score of 80 out of 100 in a certified cupping evaluation. A true Specialty Coffee is an artisan product, crafted for the passionate consumer — someone who values exceptional quality and has a refined taste. This is not a coffee drinker who settles for mass-market offerings, even when labeled as “gourmet.”
Specialty coffee is possible thanks to the work of many people dedicated to ensuring the highest quality at every stage of the process — from planting and caring for coffee trees on the farm, through green coffee production, fermentation, and roasting, to the final preparation of the drink itself..
That’s why specialty coffee is defined not only by the high quality of the cup but also by the rigorous and thoughtful processes that each bean goes through before it becomes the coffee you enjoy.
At Perpetuo Café de Altura, we ensure that this journey — from our coffee fields to your cup — maintains its artisan essence every step of the way.
We take pride in offering three core aspects through every cup of Perpetuo:
Traceable flavors, connecting variety, process, and brewing method to the cup profile.
The uniqueness of our coffee’s flavor.
And the environmental and social sustainability behind every batch we produce
Traceable Flavors
Many sellers of so-called “specialty” coffees don’t fully control key processes like cultivation, harvesting, processing, drying, and milling. While they may select good beans, this lack of traceability prevents consumers from connecting a coffee’s unique flavor profile with the specific farming and fermentation methods that shaped it — compromising essential values like transparency and trust.
At Perpetuo Café de Altura, we control and document every step of the production process, from farm to cup, ensuring full traceability. This allows us to explain in detail our cultivation, fermentation, and drying methods — and directly link them to the sensory profile of each lot.
This traceability enriches the consumer experience — because our customers don’t just enjoy the flavor, they also discover the knowledge and story behind every cup.
Uniqueness
Coffee sellers often blend beans from different farms, diluting the distinct characteristics of origin and producing a more generic, less memorable flavor. This not only affects flavor but also consistency and sustainability.
At Perpetuo Café de Altura, our coffee is grown and processed exclusively at our own farm. We use precise techniques to highlight the unique characteristics of our terroir, ensuring each cup has a distinctive flavor profile and consistently high quality.
Choosing our coffee means tasting true authenticity and excellence — a unique specialty coffee experience crafted from the source.
Sustainability and Control over Agricultural Practices
Many specialty coffee vendors rely on third-party suppliers and can’t always verify if sustainable agricultural and social practices are followed — potentially compromising the ethical value of their product.
At Perpetuo Café de Altura, we apply sustainable farming practices that respect the environment and benefit our local community.
We are committed to responsible resource use, and we support our workers and their families — especially women and migrants in the city. This ensures that every cup is not only delicious, but also ethical and responsible.
Our customers, who care about environmental and social impact, can enjoy their coffee with the peace of mind that it has been cultivated and processed sustainably and in harmony with the land and people behind it.