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Hands holding roasted coffee beans

What Is Craft Coffee?

5 minutes
Craft coffee is all about making the best cup of coffee. The practice involves using ingredients of the highest quality, coupled with master roasters that have years of experience in crafting, to create the perfect cup of coffee. If you’ve seen this term cropping up, you’ll probably be wondering what craft coffee is and how it differs from standard coffee, keep reading to find out all you need to know.

As mentioned above, craft coffee is about making the highest quality coffee. In fact, in order to qualify as specialty craft coffee, it must score above 80/100 on the Specialty Coffee Association scale. The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is a non-profit, membership-based organisation with a strict practice of grading coffee. They represent thousands of coffee professionals, from producers to baristas all over the world.

 

The origins of craft coffee began with independent coffee roasteries roasting their own beans and experimenting with different flavour profiles. From here, the craft coffee industry took off and according to Feast Magazine, craft coffee shop sales grew by an impressive 24% over the last five years. Its success is hardly a surprising one given how much the craft beer industry is booming, with consumers becoming more and more conscious about the products they consume and wanting only the highest quality available.

Only the best beans are selected

Craft coffee begins with the picking process and as it’s all about creating the perfect cup of coffee, only the best of the bunch makes it through.
Man picking coffee beans

Roasted to perfection

One of the key parts that sets craft coffee aside from the rest is the roasting process. With this method, the coffee beans are only roasted in small batches which gives roasters more control over how the beans turn out, as roasting on a larger scale can over or under roast the beans, giving it a less consistent flavour. Learn more about the types of roasts, here.
Roasting coffee beans

Single sourced

One of the reasons why craft coffee is deeming so popular is because most beans used in this process are single origin and can be traced back to a single farm or cooperation. This traceability allows consumers to understand exactly where their coffee is coming from and also ensures higher quality beans with more consistent flavour profiles as the beans possess characteristics which are unique to that particular region.
Coffee plantation

What is NESCAFÉ Craft coffee?

NESCAFÉ AZERA Craft coffee is a super premium coffee for people looking for a high-quality cup of coffee to enjoy at home. Our craft coffee is a collaboration with an independent coffee roastery to achieve a new level of instant coffee, scoring above 80 on the SCA coffee grading scale. Our ‘Rise up’ blend is a collaboration with London-based Perky Blenders Roastery and is a vibrant and juicy blend, using high quality Ethiopian coffee beans. Perky Blenders are a family run coffee roastery based in Leytonstone, East London. Their brand purpose is ‘great coffee for everyone’, and their branding is playful and vibrant, whilst building customer trust with high quality coffee in every cup.
What is NESCAFÉ Craft coffee?

Now you know what craft coffee is! Why not keep the learning experience going and find out about the different coffee types, next?