As every coffee aficionado knows, coffee is more than just a drink. It’s an experience and one that shouldn’t be hurried. To properly appreciate the full body, aroma, acidity and flavor of any coffee, it must be brewed from freshly ground specialty coffee beans and nothing less will do.

One of the main advantages of buying specialty coffee is the extensive range of coffees that are available to you. Rather than settling for whatever ‘house blend’ your regular coffee chain deems suitable, buying your own specialty coffee means you can experiment with coffee flavors from around the world.

Whether it’s the caramel, nutty or chocolaty undertones from Latin American beans, the earthy flavors from Asia or the floral aromas from Kenyan coffee, you need never be stuck for choice and are sure to find a bean to suit every occasion.

Venturing inside a specialty coffee shop is akin to visiting Santa’s grotto.  Here you are presented with a greater choice of coffee than you could hope to find from regular coffee. You can even buy small quantities of different beans and mix them up to create your own blend. As well as this you can find out exactly where your beans were grown and even when they were roasted .

Buying your own specialty coffee beans is as close to the original coffee plant as you are likely to get. As long as you buy your beans soon after roasting and grind just enough for each brew, every cup should deliver the freshest tasting coffee along with the optimum amount of flavor, aroma and body which is everything you should expect from a specialty coffee.

The smell of gourmet coffee has the ability to stimulate the senses in a way that can’t be matched by other coffees. In fact, a study found that the aroma from freshly ground coffee is more likely to wake us up in the morning rather than the caffeine hit.  And there are few more inviting aromas than freshly brewed coffee which is why it’s often used as a method of influencing potential house buyers that your house is wonderful. Simply pouring boiling water onto a cup of dried powder or granules just doesn’t have the same effect.

Hard core instant coffee addicts may not believe the effort involved in brewing a proper gourmet coffee is worth their while. But nowadays, even specialty coffee can be brewed in an instant with the invention of pod and single serve coffee machines. Old time aficionados of proper espresso brewing methods may turn their noses up at such recent arrivals but many are capable of producing espressos equivalent to the most expensive espresso machines. So while you can make your coffee in an instant, you’ll still enjoy the advantages of specialty coffee since many of the quality brands also produce their ground coffee as pods.

Then there is the snob factor. Buying specialty coffee allows you to recreate the whole coffee shop experience at home and having friends round gives you the chance of showing off your barista skills. Guests will truly appreciate the effort you've made when you present them with a steaming frothy topped cappuccino rather than a mug of instant.

Once you’ve ventured into the world of specialty coffee, there’s no going back. Whether you buy freshly roasted beans and grind them yourself, or opt for the more recent single serve pods, buying specialty coffee enables you to enjoy the aroma, body and flavor that makes it superior to anything else. Only through buying specialty gourmet coffee are you equipped to make the perfect brew just the way you like.