- Availability: Common
Specialty coffee is a technical grade as much as a marketing term: it requires a Q-grader cupping score of 80+ on a 100-point scale, with deductions for defects in the green bean and faults in the cup. In practice it also implies shops that care about sourcing, roast freshness, and brew precision. When a Brooklyn shop is flagged as Connoisseur on this guide, this is what we mean.