Most coffee shops don't tell you where their beans come from. We do. Not because it's a marketing differentiator, but because the difference between specialty coffee and commodity coffee is real, and customers who care about that distinction deserve transparency. Here's exactly how Café Mia sources what we serve.
What "specialty coffee" actually means
The phrase gets thrown around a lot. The technical definition is: coffee scored 80 or higher on a 100-point scale by a certified Q-grader, traceable to a specific farm or cooperative, and roasted in small batches by a roaster who knows where it came from.
The cultural definition is closer to: coffee that's been treated with care from seed to cup. Specialty roasters know their farmers' names. They visit the farms. They roast each origin to bring out what's specific about it — the citrus brightness of a Kenyan, the chocolate body of a Brazilian, the floral notes of an Ethiopian.
The opposite is commodity coffee — beans bought on the spot market, blended for consistency, roasted dark to mask defects. Most chain coffee is this. It's not bad coffee, exactly. It's just industrial coffee, and you can taste the difference once you know what to look for.
Who we partner with
We work primarily with Brooklyn-based roasters. Specifically, we choose roasters who:
- Source from farms or cooperatives directly, not through commodity brokers.
- Roast within 5 miles of our cafe, so the beans arrive within days of roasting.
- Rotate origins seasonally — we don't run the same beans for 12 months.
- Will tell us, in plain language, what's actually in the bag.
We don't disclose specific roaster names publicly because the partnerships rotate based on what's coming into season and who has what we're looking for. If you ask at the counter, we'll tell you exactly what's in your cup that day.
How we choose what to brew
Each season — roughly every three months — we evaluate what's available and pick three coffees:
- House espresso. Smooth, balanced, slightly chocolatey. The base for milk drinks. We pick something forgiving here, because espresso amplifies whatever's in the bean.
- Single-origin filter. The "tasting" coffee. Brighter, more distinctive — usually an Ethiopian or Kenyan or Colombian with a clear flavor profile. This one rotates most often.
- Cold brew. A separate sourcing decision. Cold brew brings out chocolate and nut notes, so we pick beans that lean that way.
The bean costs more than the drink ingredient list suggests. That's the trade — and it's why a $5.50 latte at a specialty cafe tastes different from a $3 latte at a chain.
What we taste before we buy
We cup every coffee before it goes on the menu. Cupping is a tasting process where you brew the same coffee multiple ways and rate it across a few axes — acidity, body, sweetness, aftertaste, balance. We do it in our kitchen on a Tuesday morning, and we usually try 3–5 candidate coffees side by side before picking one.
The coffees that don't make it to the menu aren't bad. They're just not as good as the one we picked, or they're too similar to what we're already serving, or they don't fit the season we're heading into.
Espresso vs. filter vs. cold brew
Quick primer for customers new to specialty coffee:
- Espresso: 25–30 mL of concentrated coffee pulled in 25–30 seconds at high pressure. Used as the base for lattes, cappuccinos, americanos, cortados.
- Filter (drip / pour-over): Coffee brewed slowly through a paper or metal filter. Lighter body, brighter flavor profile, more distinct origin character. The way to actually taste a single-origin coffee.
- Cold brew: Coffee steeped in cold water for 12–18 hours. Smooth, chocolatey, lower acidity. Best with sweetened or milk-forward serves.
What's in our cup right now
Our menu rotates seasonally, so what we're serving in May won't be what we're serving in September. As of this post, our espresso is a Brazilian/Colombian blend with notes of milk chocolate and toasted almond, our single-origin filter is an Ethiopian washed with bright bergamot acidity, and our cold brew is a Honduran with cocoa and cherry notes.
If you want to know exactly what's brewing today, ask. We'll write the origins on a chalkboard at some point soon, but for now: the barista knows.
The cost question
People sometimes ask why a latte at Café Mia is $5.50 when one down the street is $4. The honest answer: the bean costs more, the labor costs more, and the time-per-drink is longer. Specialty espresso shots are pulled with more attention than commodity espresso. Single-origin filters take 4 minutes to make. Cold brew steeps for 14 hours.
You can taste the difference. That's the entire pitch. If the difference doesn't matter to you, that's a legitimate position — and chain coffee is a perfectly fine option. We just want to be the cafe that's there for the customers who do notice.
Frequently asked questions
What roasters does Café Mia work with?
We work primarily with Brooklyn-based specialty roasters and rotate seasonally. Ask at the counter and we'll tell you exactly what's in your cup that day.
Do you serve single-origin coffee?
Yes — we always have a rotating single-origin filter coffee on the menu, in addition to our house espresso blend and cold brew.
What's the difference between specialty and commodity coffee?
Specialty coffee is scored 80+ on a 100-point scale by certified graders, sourced traceably from specific farms, and roasted in small batches. Commodity coffee is bought on the spot market, blended for consistency, and roasted to mask defects.
How often does your coffee menu change?
Roughly every three months. We do a formal cupping and pick three new coffees each season.
Is your coffee fair-trade or organic?
Many of our beans are organic and sourced through direct-trade relationships, which often pay farmers more than fair-trade certification requires. Specifics depend on which beans are in rotation.