On 20 September, the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) concluded its 15thedition of the Cup of Excellence (COE) in Colombia with a historic result.
Andres Londoño Montoya placed first, scoring 91.35 for a washed Gesha Bourbón blend from the farm Cumaral. This marks the first time a coffee from the Quindío region has won the competition.
Duberney Cifuentes Fajardo placed second, scoring 91.18 with a washed Gesha from the farm La España 1.
Montoya also placed third, scoring 91 with a washed Gesha from Manantiales del Frontino farm.
Robinson Olivera of the farm Las Cuevas placed fourth, scoring 90.91 with a washed Colombia variety.
The COE international jury gave cup scores of 90 and above to a COE record breaking nine lots. Any coffees scoring 90 and above received the Presidential Award. These top lots are split in half and sold as two separate lots during the auction.
“I cannot wait to share with the world the exemplary range of quality that we experienced in this competition,” says Edward Strachan, from Single O in Australia.
Farmers from eight Colombian regions submitted 208 samples which narrowed down to 37 samples for international judging week from the regions of Cauca, Huila, Nariño, Quindío and Tolima.
From those coffees, 27 made it to the COE Auction, which will take place on 13 November.
The competition was held in Armenia. The panel represented markets from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, United States, Germany, Thailand, Russia, Australia and Colombia.
“I was so taken with the qualities of the coffees submitted to the International Jury,” says Leah Warren, from Mercanta in the United States.
With nine coffees awarded Presidential Certificates for quality, we found jasmine, stone fruit, depth of tropical and sweet prune flavors in so many of the coffees.”
For the full list of Colombia competition winners, click here.
Upcoming 2018 auctions include the Burundi on 2 October, Peru on November 2, Brazil Pulped Naturals on 29 November 29 and Brazil Naturals on 5 December.
For more information, visit www.allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org