Producer Fabio Antonio Caballero Martinez has the 2018 Honduras Cup of Excellence with an international score of 93.43.
The fully washed Gesha variety from Fabio’s San Francisco farm in Marcala was the highest score for both the international jury as well as the national jury.
Fabio explained that he had personally monitored the harvesting and was very hands-on in the processing phase.
“I was able to slow down and give my coffee personal attention, such as hand turning the coffee while it was drying, each day,” he says.
The international jurors noted delicate structured flavours of honey, coffee blossom, cocoa nibs and lychee with an elegant and velvety finish. Fabio’s family is no stranger to the COE winning spotlight. His daughter, Marysabel Caballero, won the 2016 Honduras COE.
With an international jury score of 92.64, Remiery Orlando Carvajel Guevara placed second with a Typica variety from his family farm, Los Pinos, in the city of San Andres.
“I feel very happy and surprised. I was told I should submit my coffee to Cup of Excellence but did not think I could ever win,” he says.
The international jurors noted flavours of jasmine, honey, lemon, and tropical fruits with a structured and sweet molasses-like finish.
Three other farmers, including Fani Yeselia Moreno Lopez, Leonela Villanueva Pineda, and Jose Santo Guevara Lopez, received the Presidential Award for having coffees that scored above 90 points. Of the six presidential winners, only one is a natural processed coffee, the other five are all fully washed process.
In total, 36 farmers received a Cup of Excellence award for scoring at least 86 points in every cupping.
These winning coffee lots will be sold during the online auction on 3 July, 2018.
Over the last 15 years, in partnership with the Cup of Excellence program, many Honduras farmers and micro regions have received huge economic benefit for their unique and extremely valuable coffees.
Over 400 lots have been awarded a Cup of Excellence with direct online auction prices close to six million dollars. The more indirect country benefits of increased quality, direct relationships with buyers and premiums for other specialty coffees is estimated to be worth at least ten times the gross Cup of Excellence auction amount.
Alliance for Coffee Excellence is a non-profit global membership organisation dedicated to advancing excellence in coffee.
For more information about 2018 membership and to register for an international jury, samples of the winners and the auctions, log on to allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org.
