Luis Ricardo Calderon Madrigal entered one sample in the 2018 Cup of Excellence (COE) Costa Rica and has placed first with 91.29-points for a Honey processed Gesha from Finca Don Cayito.
During the awards ceremony, Luis was filled with appreciation thanking his family and the close community around him.
The second-place winner, Grupo Los Grandes De Copey S.A. scored 91.15 points from Finca Don Antonio with a Honey processed Gesha.
Maria Elena Camacho Morales ranked third-place with Finca La Union with a Natural processed Villa Sarchi scoring 90.59 points.
The fourth-place winner, Sergio Salas Jimenez scored 90.41 points from Finca La Minilla with the varieties Villa Sarchi and Caturra and the COE competitions’ first natural processed anaerobic going to auction.
The COE Costa Rica international jury awarded scores 90 and above to six top lots in the 11th edition of the competition on 1 June.
Farmers from five regions submitted 77 samples, including Tarrazú, Tres Rios, Turrialba, Valle Central and Valle Occidental.
The samples were narrowed down to 40 samples for the international judging week in San Jose. Of those, 36 made it to the COE Auction, which took place on 10 July.
Of the top 10 coffees, five processing methods were represented, with four honey processed coffees, three washed, one natural, one natural anaerobic, and one anaerobic processed.
The international panel represented markets from Brazil, Japan, South Korea, United States, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Brazil and Costa Rica.
“Coming back to the Cup of Excellence 2018 in Costa Rica was exactly as expected, an explosion of new and diverse sensations. With more naturals and more varietals, my 10th COE was an amazing and palate-provoking cupping jury experience,” says Soren Sylvest, Estate Coffee Copenhagen. “In cup, the Geisha profiles were distinct with hints of honey and jasmine and the SL-28s were even more full-bodied and fruit power than in Kenya.”
Jason Kew, Managing Director and Founder of Sydney Coffee Business said this was the best table of 10 coffees he has tasted.
“It was an experience I will remember for a long time,” he says.
Alliance for Coffee Excellence Head Judge, Silvio Leite says the competition experienced an “an incredible diversity of flavours”, such as coffees with silky body, citric/malic acidity, aftertaste lingering sweet as other attributes description like jasmine and other with cinnamon in fragrance and flavour.
“This diversity of flavours made this edition of the Cup of Excellence of 2018 Costa Rica very unique in cupping attributes, which are shown in the final results for the first time six lots ranked as presidential award,” he says.
Upcoming 2018 Cup of Excellence auctions include México on 27 June, Honduras on 3 July, and Costa Rica on 10 July.