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tags: [] - coffee/history aliases: - 1974 specialty coffee - specialty coffee 1974 created: 2026-05-10 updated: 2026-05-10

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1974 - Specialty Coffee Term Coined

Tags: #coffee/history Aliases: 1974 specialty coffee, specialty coffee 1974 Related: Erna Knutsen | Specialty Coffee Term Origin | Specialty Coffee MoC Status: 🌱 Stub

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Overview

In 1974, Erna Knutsen used the term "specialty coffee" in an interview published in the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, defining it as coffee grown in special geographic microclimates that produce beans with unique flavour profiles. This is considered the founding moment of the specialty coffee movement's vocabulary, and the phrase became the organising concept through which the industry subsequently defined, measured, and communicated quality differentiation.

Related Notes

• Erna Knutsen
• Specialty Coffee Term Origin
• Specialty Coffee MoC
• 1982 - SCAA Founded

References

• SCA, What Is Specialty Coffee?

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