Specialty coffee for a tenner: our Kołobrzeg experiment

Does good coffee have to be expensive?
We decided to test that in practice rather than argue about it in theory.

For two weeks the Colbergcoffee café in Kołobrzeg is running an offer we are calling Coffee for a tenner. We are serving specialty coffee at 10 zł, roughly €2.30. No drop in quality, no change of beans, no shortcuts. One thing changes: the price.

Specialty coffee at a price Kołobrzeg has not seen before

Specialty coffee normally comes with a higher price tag. That is what you pay for in bean quality and fresh roasting, in the barista’s work and in professional equipment. For a fortnight we are taking that barrier away.

At 10 zł you can order:

• espresso

• americano

• cappuccino

• filter coffee

The offer covers standard sizes and takeaway.

This is not an ordinary promotion

We are not treating it as a discount or a happy hour.
It is an experiment.

We are brewing exactly the same specialty coffee we serve every other day of the year. Same equipment, same recipes, and the same baristas. Neither the quality nor the process changes.

What we want to find out:

• whether more people will reach for specialty coffee

• whether the flavour can make its own case

• whether good coffee can be an everyday choice rather than an occasional treat

Why we are doing it

Because we think that:

• good coffee does not have to be elitist

• specialty should not scare people off on price

• quality makes its own case once you taste the coffee

It is also a conversation with the town. We want to see how Kołobrzeg reacts to specialty coffee once it is as easy to reach as it can be.

The best kit, professional baristas, the same quality

There are no compromises here.
Every coffee is made:

• from specialty beans

• on professional equipment: a Victoria Arduino Eagle One espresso machine, Nuova Simonelli MDJ grinders, a Marco batch brewer and a Mahlkonig EK43 for filter

• by experienced baristas

This is exactly the coffee our regulars already know. Only one thing is different: the price.

When does it run, and on what terms?

• the offer lasts two weeks

• it applies Monday to Friday, all day

• it covers takeaway coffee

• it ends on 13 February

• it cannot be combined with other offers

What happens next with the experiment

Once the two weeks are over we will share what we found.
We will look at how guests reacted, how many coffees we sold and what you tell us.

How specialty is scored after the SCA changes

The way specialty coffee is assessed has changed more than it looks at first glance. The SCA retired the 2004 cupping form and brought in the Coffee Value Assessment, in which points are only one of four dimensions. We go through it in Specialty coffee: what it means now that 80 points is no longer enough.