Winning producer representatives gathered at the Cup of Excellence awards ceremony this month. All images courtesy of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence.
Producers of 22 green coffee microlots representing seven different arabica coffee varieties, five different growing regions and four different post-harvest processing methods have won the prestigious Cup of Excellence (CoE) award in Colombia.
CoE organizer the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) and the Asociación Colombiana para la excelencia del café (ASECC) announced the winners at a ceremony this month ahead of an auction for the award-winning coffees to take place Tuesday, Nov. 22.
ACE is currently selling samples of auction lots to its members, while also helping to organize buying groups for the high-profile auction. Last year’s Colombia CoE auction set the group’s international auction record for highest average price, with 25 small lots of green coffee averaging more than $30 per pound.
Raquel Lasso representing her husband, winning producer Carlos Alberto Belalcázar.
Among the winning coffees in 2022 is a washed Gesha-variety coffee from the farm La Bohemia that was produced by Carlos Alberto Belalcázar. The coffee took the competition’s top spot with a final score of 90.64, according to the CoE’s international jury.
“My adoptive son won second place in 2021. When he tried my coffee he insisted that I should participate in the Cup of Excellence this year. But since I don’t have internet I didn’t think it would be possible for me to participate. However, I investigated and it turned out to be very easy and I was able to submit my coffee in the competition,” Belalcázar said in an announcement shared by ACE. “We have made a great effort to do all the processes of the farm by the book and we have been working on quality for more than 20 years. So this is a great reward for our effort.”
A list of all the winning farms plus auction information is available here.
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