A quintal (46 kilograms) of high-quality Costa Rican coffee was purchased Wednesday by a Japanese company at $5,900 in the Cup of Excellence’s online auction, the event organizer reported.

The price sets a new record high in this type of auction, according to the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafe).

The Japanese company Wataru bought 11 bags of coffee grown in the Sumava farm, located in the town of Cirri de Naranjo, in the province of Alajuela, in the western valley of Costa Rica, according to Icafe.

The coffee from Sumava farm was chosen by local and international tasters to be the best coffee in the country among the 21 lots that participated in the Cup of Excellence competition held today.

Another 12 bags of the same type of coffee were auctioned off for $5,810 per quintal by Japanese Maruyama Coffee and Pon Pon Cafe; South Korea’s Coffeejumbbang and the Taiwanese Orsir Cafe.

Icafe explained the coffee is of the Caturra variety with fruity aromas, cultivated at 1,700 meters above sea level and collected at their peak of ripeness.

This coffee has a sweetness and special flavor due to a process called ‘sweet sugar’ which involves leaving the coffee to rest with mucilage (fruit residue) so that the grain absorbs the flavor.

At last year’s auction a batch of coffee from Leoncio farm, in the town of Cirri de Naranjo, took the first place and was purchased for $4,210 per quintal by Japanese companies Maruyama Coffee and Cafe Maple and Australian Campos Coffee. EFE

San Jose, Jun 22 (EFE)