A coffee must have zero Primary defects and no more than five Secondary defects in order to be classified as "specialty coffee dubai." Cupping entails roasting the coffee and brewing it simply with hot water, and it relies on the taster's ability to assign scores to each of the coffee's attributes, such as acidity, body, flavor, and aroma.

Speciality coffees are coffees at their peak and differ from other coffees in that they have been grown at the optimal altitude, at the optimal time of year, in the best soil, and then picked at the optimal time. All of this results in some of the most exciting and delicious specialty coffee in the world.