Coutume Blog

Our Specialty Coffees: Discover Our Complete Range Choosing a specialty coffee is first and foremost about finding the one that suits you. At Coutume, we have designed a range that accompanies every coffee lover on their discovery journey. Whether you are new to specialty coffee or looking for rarer aromatic profiles, every coffee has its place. Our different ranges make it easy to navigate according to your desires, your level of discovery, and your brewing method at work or at home. A Range Designed for All Coffee Lovers For over fifteen years, Coutume has been selecting specialty coffees from the best terroirs in the world. All are carefully sourced, freshly roasted in our Parisian workshop, and tasted by our roaster to reveal the best of each origin. Our selection evolves with the harvests and is structured around four universes: Appreciate, Explore, Taste, and Grand Cru. Each range tells a different way of discovering coffee. Appreciate Range: Accessible Coffees for Everyday The Appreciate range is the ideal gateway to specialty coffee. Here you will find balanced, gourmet, and easy-to-enjoy coffees, perfect for daily consumption. Their aromatic profiles highlight notes of chocolate, caramel, dried fruits, or brown sugar, with a beautiful roundness in the mouth. These coffees are particularly suitable for: automatic bean-to-cup machines; espresso; milk-based drinks like cappuccino or flat white; those who want to gently discover specialty coffee. These are the coffees we love to find every morning. Explore Range: Unique Coffees Want to go further? Our Explore range brings together coffees with more expressive profiles, highlighting the full diversity of terroirs. Depending on their origin, they reveal notes of citrus, yellow fruits, white flowers, red fruits, or sweet spices. They appeal to curious enthusiasts who enjoy comparing different origins and discovering new tasting flavors. When brewed using a filter method, they reveal their full aromatic complexity. Taste Range: Rare Coffees The Taste range is dedicated to rarer coffees. The Taste range features rare or exceptional specialty coffees, selected for the remarkable quality of their beans and their great aromatic complexity. Micro-lots, limited harvests, rare varieties, or innovative fermentation methods: each coffee is selected for its exceptional character. These coffees tell a unique story and highlight the expertise of the producers we work with. They are offered in limited quantities, according to the harvests. The Grand Crus: The Excellence of Specialty Coffee The Grand Crus represent the most remarkable offerings in specialty coffee. Originating from exceptional terroirs, these coffees receive particularly high scores during tastings and are distinguished by an exceptional aromatic richness. They are intended for enthusiasts who wish to experience a true tasting journey. Each cup reveals incredible complexity, great precision, and remarkable length on the palate. Cold Brew: Specialty Coffee, Differently Specialty coffee is not only enjoyed hot. Our Cold Brew is prepared from coffees selected for their freshness and balance. Slowly cold-infused for several hours, it develops a silky texture and naturally sweet notes, with very little bitterness. Best enjoyed chilled, it perfectly accompanies summer days or those who enjoy refreshing coffees. How to Choose the Coffee That Suits You? If you are discovering specialty coffee, start with the Appreciate range. Do you like comparing origins and looking for more complexity? The Explore range will be your playground. Want to discover rare coffees? Head towards the Taste range. And for lovers of exceptional coffees, the Grand Crus offer a unique tasting experience. Whatever your choice, all our coffees share the same requirements: rigorous selection, complete traceability, and roasting designed to reveal the best of each origin. At Coutume, every coffee is an invitation to travel.

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world. However, not all coffees are created equal. Behind every cup lies a story, a terroir, expertise, and choices that influence its taste.  Since its creation, Coutume has defended a simple vision: coffee deserves the same attention as a fine wine or tea. Choosing specialty coffee means rediscovering the full aromatic richness of a product, cultivated and post-harvest processed with rigor, and roasted with precision.  What is specialty coffee?  Specialty coffee, in the technical sense, is coffee whose quality is evaluated according to very demanding international criteria. To be recognized as such, a coffee must obtain a score higher than 80/100 during a tasting conducted according to the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) protocol.  But this score tells only part of the story.   Specialty coffee is above all the result of a demanding value chain, where every step counts: the work of the producers, the selection of varieties, the harvesting methods, their post-harvest treatment (sorting, wet or dry fermentation, drying, water activity stabilization, among others...), transportation, roasting, and finally its extraction by a barista.  Unlike industrial practices, the objective is never to mask the coffee's defects, but rather to reveal the unique characteristics of each origin.  It will therefore be time to imagine a broader and more valorizing definition for the entire production chain. Thus, at Coutume, we define specialty coffee as a sector in which every actor works together transparently to enhance the quality of the coffee, the ecosystem that surrounds it, and the community attached to it.  A story of terroirs  Like a grand cru, each coffee expresses its origin.  Altitude, climate, rainfall, botanical variety, and fermentation method directly influence the aromas found in the cup.  An Ethiopian coffee might reveal floral and citrus notes, while a Colombian coffee will express more red fruits or a beautiful sweetness. A Guatemalan coffee will often reveal a more gourmet structure, with notes of chocolate or dried fruits.  At Coutume, we select coffees that each tell a story of their origin and the work of the women and men who cultivate them. This is why Coutume only offers single-origin coffees, so that we convey the complexity of the terroir directly to your cup.  Roasting designed to reveal the coffee  Roasting is an essential step in which the roaster brings out the full potential of the coffee by mastering an ultra-complex chemical reaction (the Maillard reaction). To be precise, in a short time, we multiply the molecular compounds present in the coffee by about 5 times during roasting.  Our approach consists of adapting each roasting profile to the aromatic potential of the coffee. The goal is not to impose a uniform signature, but to highlight the identity of each coffee by revealing its aromatic and gustatory notes.  Precise roasting thus preserves the aromatic complexity, balance, and natural sweetness of the coffee.  Because each origin is unique, each coffee requires particular attention from our roaster.  Why choose specialty coffee?  Beyond gustatory quality, choosing specialty coffee means supporting a more transparent and sustainable industry.  Coffees are selected for their quality, but also for the relationship built with producers and importers. This requirement promotes compensation that values the quality of the coffee and agricultural work, allowing for investment and the adoption of agricultural practices that respect the terroirs. It is essential to finance the ecological transition through product quality.  How to recognize specialty coffee?  Some clues help identify true specialty coffee:  A precise origin (country, region, farm or cooperative);  A clearly indicated botanical variety;  A processing method (washed, natural, etc.);  A recent roasting date;  Complete traceability.  This information demonstrates a commitment to transparency and helps us better understand what we are tasting.  Coffee as a tasting experience  Discovering specialty coffee means learning to taste differently.  As with wine, each cup has its own texture, balance, acidity, sweetness, and finish.  Depending on the extraction method: espresso, V60, Chemex, filter coffee maker or AeroPress, the same coffee will reveal different facets, not to mention that coffee can be brewed hot or cold to present its profile in a very unique way.  This diversity makes the richness of specialty coffee: it invites curiosity and constantly renews the experience.  Coutume's commitment  For over 15 years, Coutume has been committed to building a sector founded on quality, transparency, and transmission.  We carefully select our coffees, work with trusted partners, and roast each batch to reveal its full complexity.  Because a great coffee is not just a drink, but tells the story of a terroir, a craft, and the women and men who bring it to life.  Discovering specialty coffee is ultimately rediscovering coffee itself. 

Coutume gives you all the keys to choosing your La Marzocco machine, its advantages, advice, and how we can support you!

Discover how to prepare a homemade hot or iced chai latte: recipe, choice of milk, brewing tips, and discover Coutume Café's Awachaï chai.

Discover how to prepare ceremonial matcha: traditional recipe, matcha latte, accessories, ideal temperature, and tips to avoid bitterness.

What defines an exceptional coffee? Behind the anglicism "cupping" lies the sacred ritual used by professionals to analyze the soul of a bean. Between methodological rigor and Proustian reminiscence, discover how nose and palate unite to reveal the full aromatic potential of our terroirs. Ready for a complete sensory experience?

Single origin, pure origin: discover what this term means and why it changes the taste of coffee.

What is fresh coffee? Discover the role of harvesting, roasting, and degassing in the taste of coffee.

What is decaffeinated coffee (deca)? CO2, water, solvents: discover decaffeination methods and their impact on taste.

Washed, natural, honey, or anaerobic: discover the different coffee fermentation methods and their influence on taste.

Espresso, filter, French press… Why does your coffee never quite taste as expected? Discover the essential rules for mastering each extraction and achieving a result worthy of your beans.