Photo Credit:Cafe de Costa Rica

25 international expert coffee tasters chose the best Costa Rican coffee to participate in the tenth edition of the international virtual auction the Cup of Excellence 2018 which takes place July 10.

The winner was the coffee of Mr. Luis Ricardo Calderon Madrigal from La Bandera de Copey de Dota, the variety of the bean, Geisha, managed a score of 91.29 and it is produced at finca Don Cayito, 1,950 meters above sea level in the slopes of Copey de Dota.

The second place was taken by Grupo los Grandes, of the same variety and with a similar process, also from Copey de Dota and with a score of 91.15; in third place which scored 90.59, was awarded to Maria Elena Camacho for the coffee produced in La Union de Concepcion de San Rafael de Heredia.

“The Cup of Excellence is one of the most important events for the national coffee industry, since the selected lots have the opportunity to participate, sell at high prices and enter new markets where clients are willing to pay more”, explained Ronald Peters, Executive Director of the Costa Rica Coffee Institute (Icafe).

Logistics of the event are handled by the Association of Fine Coffees of Costa Rica; they initially received 77 samples representing 5 of the 8 coffee regions in the country, (Central Valley, Turrialba, Tres Rios, Tarrazu, Western Valley) , 58 managed to get past the first selection; this number was then reduced to 41 to be evaluated by international experts from countries such as Japan, U.S.A, Korea, Australia, Denmark, among others. In total 36 samples will be participating in the Cup of Excellence.

The coffee samples that scored over 86 points will have the opportunity to send samples of 200 grams to clients all around the world to taste and bid for them in the auction of July 10.

Last year, the coffee from Finca don Antonio, in Copey de Dota, reached a record price of up to USD$8,060.00 per quintal (100 lbs or 46 kilograms). Press Release Source: Cafe de Costa Rica