Cercol’s El Socorro farm has won the 2020 Guatemala Cup of Excellence (COE) with a 91.06 scoring washed Geisha coffee.

It was the competition’s only coffee to earn a Presidential Award and marks the third time Cercol placed first in the Guatemala COE.

The Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) says diversification in process that shined through all the winning coffees portrayed the efforts of producers who wait for the auction on 28 July.

The competition awarded 30 COE winning coffees and 8 National Winner coffees that represented five processes and 10 varieties. This included one honey, one washed anaerobic, one washed double fermentation, 11 natural and 16 washed processes. Sixteen Geishas were represented, with nine other varieties making the other 14.

This has not been an easy year for producers during the pandemic. Max Pérez (pictured) whose natural Geisha coffee placed second says, “Behind this award, there is a lot of work, effort, dedication, love, and passion for what we do.”

This was the second COE competition with the International stage held at ACE Global Coffee Centers (GCCs) in Norway, the United States, Korea, Japan, and Campos Coffee in Australia. The wide variety of characteristics represented in this year’s coffees were noticed by all cuppers.

“The key word is ‘diversidad’, says International Judge Keita Matsumoto of GCC Wataru in Japan, who also lived in Guatemala for four years. “Every coffee has a face of the producer. Flavour and aroma were just like the pattern of the Guatemalan traditional textile Huipil.”

Awards were announced during the first-ever publicised virtual COE awards ceremony, live streamed on Youtube.

“lt is with great pride and pleasure for all of Guatemala knowing the excellent quality coffees we have. Amidst the hardships faced due to the current crisis, with imagination and creativity the process was accomplished,” says Sergio Aycinena, Vice President of in-country partner Anacafé.

Though this year served as a catalyst of what is to come from Guatemalan coffee in the future, there is still urgency to ensure this year’s coffees are rewarded for their quality in the auction. Opening prices for both the COE and National Winner auctions have been lowered to encourage participation from bidders.

For more information, visit www.allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org/guatemala-2020