精品咖啡（Specialty coffee ）这个很帅的字眼在台湾我看就快要家喻户晓了，走到哪里挂著精品咖啡名号的咖啡馆可是所在多有（当然vvcafe也挂著），但其实精品这个字义本身并不是那么明确，所以大多数人还是没办法辨别是否有符合精品咖啡的精神，以下我们就来聊聊精品咖啡的定义。
以下是美国精品咖啡协会网站上对何谓精品咖啡（What is Specialty Coffee? ）的回答
Specialty coffee can consistently exist through the dedication of the people who have made it their life’s work to continually make quality their highest priority. This is not the work of only one person in the lifecycle of a coffee bean; specialty can only occur when all of those involved in the coffee value chain work in harmony and maintain a keen focus on standards and excellence from start to finish. This is no easy accomplishment, and yet because of these dedicated professionals, there are numerous specialty coffees available right now, across the globe, and likely right around the corner from you.
精品咖啡的永续发展必须透过一群致力于维持高品质的人们的贡献，并非只依赖咖啡豆生产流程上的某一人；
从开始到结束，生产链上所有的环节都必须通力合作、遵守规范并持续精进，才能造就精品咖啡。
这不是一个简单的成就，因为一群专注的经营者，目前就有许多精品咖啡在世界各地开花结果，甚至就在你的身边。
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以前精品咖啡的目光有时聚焦于咖啡生豆的生产过程、有时聚焦于烘焙、有时在出杯
而目前
SCAA似乎打算告诉消费者其实真正送到你眼前的“精品咖啡”是每个环节的共同努力成果，这其实是相对中肯的定义，因为任何一个环节出了差错，眼前的精品咖啡可能就真的变难喝的烂咖啡。
而
SCAA又把生产流程中的重要角色也描述了一遍，让我们继续看下去：
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Meet the people whose lifework is specialty coffee:
认识致力于精品咖啡的人们
精品咖啡定义
The farmer
Great coffee starts with the PRODUCER whose family likely has spent generations perfecting their approach to farming the highest quality coffee possible. Grown in select altitudes and climates and nursed for years before the first harvest, the producer who creates specialty coffee devotes his or her life to refining and perfecting the highest quality coffee on the planet. For them, it is quality not quantity that is the most important consideration. Only coffees free of defects and picked at their peak of ripeness will continue on to the next hands that will shape them. For the farmer, being able to connect with quality-minded buyers ensures a higher profit option which supports individuals, families and communities around the world.
农民
优质的咖啡肇始于几个世代都竭尽全力种植出高品质咖啡的生产商，在第一次收获前必须在严选的海拔和气候带上用心呵护好几年，精品咖啡的生产商们奉献了他或她的生活去改良出世界上品质最好的咖啡。
对于他们来说，品质才是最重要的考虑因素，而非生产量。只有咖啡在无瑕疵且处于最成熟状态的情况才能进到下一个生产流程。
对于农民，尽可能与优质而有良心的购买者交易才能获得较高的利润以支持他们个人、家庭以及社区的生活。
The Green Coffee Buyer
Green coffee is next transferred to the GREEN COFFEE BUYER who may be certified by the SCAA as a Certified Coffee Taster or the Coffee Quality Institute （CQI） as a Licensed Q Grader. They have a palate as distinguished as a sommelier and can keenly identify coffee quality via cupping, or systematic tasting of brewed coffees. Through cupping, the coffee taster can assess a coffee’s score and determine whether it is specialty grade quality, make decisions on which coffees they will include in their offerings, and often develop tasting notes and descriptions for the coffee on its final packaging. The green coffee buyer has a large role in communicating the information about a coffee to the roaster and café staff.
生豆商
接下来由生豆商接手这些生豆，有些生豆商经过SCAA的杯侧师或咖啡品质学会（CQI）的咖啡品质鉴定师的认证。
他们专业的杯测人员能透过杯测以及系统性地冲煮咖啡，敏锐地分辨出咖啡的品质。
透过杯测，杯测人员将为咖啡打分数并判断哪些符合精选咖啡的品质要求，以决定收购的品项，他们也将分享他们的风味描述在商品包装中。
生豆商提供了大量的资讯予咖啡烘焙者和咖啡从业人员。
紧接著来看看精品咖啡相关人员的下半部吧！！
The Roaster
High quality coffees are next transferred to the COFFEE ROASTER who may be certified by the Roasters Guild as having completed numerous hours of coursework and hands-on training to skillfully roast the specialty bean. Coffee roasting is an art that requires a high degree of knowledge and experience to produce specialty level roast profiles. Coffee must be closely monitored during the roasting process and scientific principles of heat transfer, thermodynamics and coffee chemistry must be applied to ensure the highest standard of quality and flavor come through in the final roasted bean.
烘焙师
高品质的咖啡接下来转交到烘焙师的手里，有些烘焙师受过美国烘焙师协会（RG）的认证，完成多时数的烘焙课程和实务操作培训，以熟练地烘焙精品咖啡生豆。
咖啡烘焙是一门艺术，必须拥有丰富的知识和经验，才能完成精品等级的咖啡烘焙。
咖啡在烘焙的过程中必须在符合传导学、热力学、化学的前期下进行密切监控，以确保最终烘培出来的咖啡豆拥有最高的品质和风味。
精品咖啡定义
The Barista
Once the specialty coffee beans reach the retail environment, they have already passed 3 levels of inspection to ensure an extremely high level of quality control, however the process in not yet complete. The BARISTA, who may be certified by the Barista Guild of America as having completed numerous hours of coursework and hands-on training, is the final coffee professional to guarantee the lifecycle of the specialty bean is completed. Specialty level Baristas are not only highly skilled in brewing equipment operations; they routinely are deeply informed as to the origin of the coffee bean and how it’s flavor profiles will be revealed in brewing . If the specialty bean is not brewed properly it is possible that its true flavor potential could be lost; the Barista ensures each bean reaches its full brewed promise.
咖啡师
一但精品咖啡豆到达零售通路，代表他们已经通过前三个阶段高标准的品质控管，但还没完成所有流程。
有些咖啡师受过美国咖啡师公会的认证，完成多时数的吧台课程和实务操作培训，以专业地完成精品咖啡豆生产环节的最后一个阶段。
专业的咖啡师不光是娴熟于操作咖啡冲煮设备，通常也深入了解咖啡豆的生产履历，并能够挖掘出隐藏在咖啡豆中的风味。
如果精品咖啡没有被尽可能正确地萃取，可能会失去他真实的风味。咖啡师确保了每颗咖啡豆都能被完整的萃取。
The Comsumer
Not expecting to see yourself in this list? In fact, it is the CONSUMER who completes the lifecycle of the specialty coffee bean by actively seeking out and choosing specialty coffee options. When you take the time to find a local coffee bar or roastery that is dedicated to quality, or take an extra moment to learn from your barista about the people whose hands and passion produced the cup you’re enjoying so that you can make more informed choices, you demonstrate not only a commitment to a higher standard of quality of taste and flavor but also a commitment to a higher standard of living for every person who contributed along the way.
消费者
没想到自己也是精品咖啡产业的一份子？事实上，正是消费者积极地寻找及选择完成了精品咖啡的最终生产环节。
当您花时间去寻找当地优质的咖啡馆或烘豆厂，更进一步地从咖啡师口中得知：享受一杯精品咖啡是靠著好多人的奉献与热情，就能让你做出更聪明的选择，你追求的不光只是咖啡品质和风味的最高标准，还有精品咖啡生产流程中每个角色的精益求精。
Sometimes called “gourmet" or “premium" coffee, specialty coffees are made from exceptional beans grown only in ideal coffee-producing climates.
They tend to feature distinctive flavors, which are shaped by the unique characteristics of the soil that produces them
精品咖啡也被称为珍味咖啡或珍贵咖啡，精品咖啡只能是生长在理想的种植环境中。
因为种植在独特的风土条件中，精品咖啡拥有特殊的风味。
娥娜。奴森（rna Knutsen
二、咖啡教母娥娜。奴森（Erna Knutsen）曾经提出过的定义
Special geographic microclimates produce beans with unique flavor profiles
特殊风土条件生产出具备独特风味的咖啡豆
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可以看出以上两则是针对咖啡豆的生长环境和风味做出定义，并没有延伸到其他部分。
反观
SCAA精品咖啡最新的定义扩展到整个咖啡的生产流程中，从咖啡豆的种植、处理、生豆商、烘培师、咖啡师，甚至消费者也含进去了。
这一个环节超长且对品质要求高到有点夸张的定义，我是相当赞同，因为他更忠实地反映了目前精品咖啡的现况。
当然台湾是一个精品咖啡相对发达的地区，目前台湾的大大小小烘焙师（包括咖啡馆、烘焙厂、烘焙工作室、个人等），已经超过3000人，以台湾的人口和面积来说，高得离谱，顺理成章成为全世界自家烘焙率最高的地区。
精品咖啡定义
因此我们可能无法理解这个定义有什么困难的，毕竟只要有心，要找一个庄园等级的咖啡馆并不是很难。
可能只要开半小时车，各县市都能找到一些为精品咖啡耕耘的咖啡馆，在一方自己的小天地，烘焙著coe的超高级豆，告诉你眼前这杯咖啡的伟大之处。
台湾根本就是精品咖啡最棒的代言人嘛！！！！！完全符合定义
不过这并不是世界的常态，无论是喝咖啡历史悠久的国家，他们可能大量喝著商业咖啡（就像台湾人喝豆浆），从不觉得有必要去找更精品的咖啡；或是根本不太喝咖啡的国家，连要找间有庄园豆的咖啡馆都找不到，当然更可能压根就没人想到要去找。
所以SCAA才用这样的软性诉求去告诉更多的人们，精品咖啡的真正价值：绝非远离人群，而是该从消费者反推到生产端，共同追求更高品质的精品咖啡。
