What is Cup of Excellence®?

Introduction

The Cup of Excellence® is the most esteemed award given out for top coffees. These awards come from a strict competition that selects the very best coffee produced in that country for that particular year. These winning coffees are chosen by a select group of national and international cuppers and are cupped at least five different times during the competition process. Only coffees that continuously score high enough are allowed to move forward in the competition. The final winners are awarded the prestigious Cup of Excellence® and sold to the highest bidder during an internet auction.

Why is Cup of Excellence® important?

The Cup of Excellence® fundamentally changes what we know is possible in an exemplary coffee. For years great coffees have been blended away creating a commodity that while good tends to taste fairly uniform with very little recognition of the individual farmer or of the unique flavor profiles that can be present with different varieties and from different micro climates.

For the roasters and importers who support Cup of Excellence® this program has often introduced to their businesses a new demographic of customers who are appreciative of top quality and willing to pay a premium for it. For the consumers the Cup of Excellence award label is a guarantee that this is top coffee that has been judged by professional cuppers to be the best. Often these award-winning coffees are so good that consumers expectations of what a coffee can taste like are definitely exceeded. The payment to the coffee farmers for their coffee is more than Fair. There is no other program that is as exciting for the coffee lover, the roasters and especially the farmers whose monetary reward often changes the lives of their entire family and the rural communities where they live.

The Cup of Excellence® program builds the bridge between the high quality farmer, the high quality trade and eventually the consumer who finds coffees he truly loves and at the same time knows that the farmer has been well compensated.

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