With the criteria of 25 international tasters, the coffee of producer Luis Ricardo Calderón of La Bandera de Copey de Dota obtained the best score with the beans that will participate in the international Cup of Excellence 2018, the 11th edition of this auction via Internet on July 10th.
The Calderón family grows their coffee at the Don Cayito farm in La Bandera, located on the slopes of Copey de Dota at 1,950 meters above sea level. The grain is a Geisha variety and with its semi-washing benefit the type Honey achieved a score of 91.29.
For the coffee sector, the Cup of Excellence is one of the most important events, as the selected lots have the opportunity to compete, obtain high prices and penetrate new market niches of the finest coffees.
The second place was for the coffee from Grupo Los Grandes, also from Copey de Dota and of the same variety, with a similar benefit, getting a rating of 91.15. The third place, with a score of 90.59, was for the grain of María Elena Camacho Morales, grown on La Unión de Concepción farm in San Rafael de Heredia in the Central Valley coffee region.
Coffee producers, processors and exporters registered with Icafé participate in Taza de la Excelencia. The logistics is organized by the Association of Fine Coffee of Costa Rica, representative of the organization Alliance for Coffee of Excellence (ACE).
Initially, the Association received 77 samples from five of the eitght coffee regions (Central Valley, Turrialba, Tres Ríos, Tarrazú, and Valle Occidental), of which 58 managed to overcome the initial selection. In a selection with national tasters, 41 managed to continue with the process to be tasted by international judges. At the end of 36 samples, they will participate in the Cup of Excellence auction.
The producers had the opportunity to present a sample of coffee per farm. The selected grains with ratings higher than 86 points, will be sent by the Association in 200 grams packages of gold preparation to customers around the world to roast, taste, and bid on them on the July 10th.