Is This Coffee Flavoured? The Truth About Specialty Coffee

We get this question a lot—“Is this coffee flavoured?”The short answer? Nope. Just coffee. Really, really good coffee.

At Stone City Coffee Roasters, we only roast 100% Specialty Grade Arabica beans. That means no added flavours, syrups, or artificial enhancements in the bag. Instead, what you’re tasting are the natural notes that come from the bean itself—thanks to where it's grown, how it's processed, and how we roast it.

So why does it taste like chocolate or berries?

Just like fine wine or craft chocolate, coffee beans take on flavour characteristics from their environment. This is called terroir—a fancy word that means the bean’s flavor is influenced by its altitude, soil, climate, varietal, and process.

For example:

• A coffee from Ethiopia might have notes of blueberry or jasmine.

• A Central American roast might remind you of milk chocolate or caramel.

• A Kenyan coffee can taste like red currant or citrus.

But here’s the key: none of that is added.It's all naturally developed in the bean—and brought out by careful, intentional roasting.

Not your average grocery store coffee

Most grocery store coffee is made with lower-grade beans, and those beans are often dark-roasted to mask defects or inconsistency. In some cases, flavours like hazelnut or vanilla are added to compensate for a lack of quality.

With specialty coffee, the focus is the bean’s origin and quality—and letting those unique notes shine without anything added.

Why we still chose grocery shelves

We knew there was some risk in putting our coffee on grocery store shelves, where it sits beside mass-produced, flavoured, or lower-grade options. But we also believe today’s customers are smart—they’ve come to recognize the difference in quality when it comes to ingredients, food, and even coffee.

Our role is to educate, not criticize. We love sharing the why behind what we do and helping people discover just how incredible real, specialty coffee can taste—without needing to add a thing.

Want added flavour? That’s what syrups are for.

If you're craving a vanilla or maple latte, we’ve got you covered. That’s where our in-house, preservative-free syrups come in—crafted to complement our coffee, not cover it up.

But when you open a bag of Stone City coffee, what you’re getting is simple:Just really great coffee, naturally full of flavour.