A specialty bag carries specific information. Learning to read it makes buying far less random.
What to look for
Roast date. Not a best-before. A best-before eighteen months out means the roaster does not want you to know. This is the single most important item.
Origin, and how specific it is. “Ethiopia” is vague. “Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe, Konga washing station” is a real answer.
Process. Washed, natural, honey, anaerobic. It predicts the cup more reliably than origin does.
Varietal. Heirloom, Bourbon, Caturra, Geisha.
Altitude. In metres. Above 1,500 m is high.
Tasting notes. What the roaster found. Not additives.
Recommended use. Filter, espresso or omni.
What absence tells you
A bag with only a country, a roast level and a best-before date is commodity coffee dressed up. That is not necessarily bad coffee, and it is not specialty.
The roast level problem
“Medium” means nothing consistent between roasters. One roaster’s medium is another’s light. Tasting notes are far more informative — chocolate and nuts is darker, florals and citrus is lighter.
The price signal
Traceability costs money. A bag that names the farm, the varietal and the altitude and costs supermarket prices is unlikely to be telling the truth.
Last reviewed 8 August 2026