S3: Episode 4: How To Get Excellence In A Cup
How do you know if the coffee you are drinking is certifiably of the best quality? One way is to buy a coffee that has been judged to be a winner in a Cup of Excellence coffee competition. In this episode we look into what the OG of coffee tasting competitions is all about and why its worth trying a Cup of Excellence coffee when its offered by your local roastery or in your local cafe.
Check out the Cup of Excellence website for more information about the competition (https://cupofexcellence.org/)
Check out the Alliance For Coffee Excellence website who manage the auction platform for the competition (https://allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org/)
Get in touch!
Please note that although I read all texts, I don’t have the facility to reply to them, but you can also get in touch via Instagram and email.
Email: thecoffeedrinkersguide@gmail.com
Instagram: @thecoffeedrinkersguide
Lusona Publishing and Media Limited website: https://www.lusonapub.co.uk
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Hello and welcome to The Coffee Drinker’s Guide, a podcast for the coffee curious where I explore and explain the world of specialty coffee to make your daily coffee better and more satisfying.
I’m Angela Holder a coffee roaster and writer on a mission to fight back against bad coffee by giving you the knowledge you need to help you get good coffee and a happier (coffee) life in coffee-break sized episodes. So grab your coffee, pull up a chair and take a break…
In this week's episode we are taking at look at the Cup of Excellence coffee competition which this year is celebrating 25 years since the very first one was held in Brazil …and later I’ll be answering a question about just how many coffees you need to taste to find the best coffees of a country’s crop, so stay tuned for that…
It seems like only yesterday that I was tying on my apron in a Brasilian hotel for my first Cup of Excellence competition. I was there as one of the judges on the International Jury for the 5th Brasil Cup of Excellence competition. It was a real privilege and a great experience for a young roaster who had never been to a coffee producing country before and I was both nervous and excited. Excited because I was about to taste some of the best Brasilian coffees of my life alongside some of the most respected coffee tasters in the business - but also extremely nervous. Would I even be able to taste the difference between the coffees? And could I hold my own amongst the assembled coffee tasters? The answer to both questions was yes I could and yes I did. It was the most fun I have ever had when tasting coffee and forever cemented my enjoyment of coffee cupping - as the professional assessment of coffee by tasting is called - even if I was seriously over caffeinated by the end of the week! Although the competition has now been going for 25 years and has expanded to be held in several producing countries each year, I still feel that it is somewhat of an industry secret and doesn’t get the wider appreciation that it deserves. So: lets start to do something about that…
Firstly the Cup of Excellence and the bean
The founding principle of the Cup of Excellence competition back in 1999 was simple: to be a vehicle to help farmers ‘receive more money for their high-quality coffee’ at a time when many were struggling to even achieve the cost of production. The aim was - and still is - to provide a guarantee of the coffee’s quality for roasters while at the same time ensuring that the premiums those roasters paid for that quality actually got to the farmers. Entry to the competition is free and open to any farmer of the country where it is held. Coffees that meet the entry standards pass through several elimination rounds of coffee tasting. Firstly by a National Jury of coffee tasters from the country, then by an International Jury drawn from all corners of the globe. The end result is a shortlist of the best coffees entered that year and an even shorter list of the very best of the best coffees which are given Presidential Awards. Winning coffees are auctioned directly to roasters after the competition and have been known to achieve extraordinary prices. Such high prices are paid by roasters because the competition is trusted for its rigorous assessment of the coffee and the transparency of the process. Over the years the money paid at auction and the connections it has facilitated within the coffee world have been life changing for many farmers; while roasters have been able to get their hands on truly great coffees without going through a series of middle men. Win:win.
Next the Cup of Excellence and the brew
Coffees entered into the competition are assessed using the cupping brewing method which I mentioned in episode two of this season on the different types of coffee. This is a carefully controlled procedure that allows the coffee's flavour to be fully expressed with minimal influence from the brewing method. Following rigorous protocols, four cups - which are actually small bowls - of each coffee are brewed using a standard amount of coffee and water per cup. The hot water is poured onto the coffee, then left to brew. After 4 minutes the crust is broken and the scum is skimmed off the top of the brew. The coffee is then carefully tasted by a team of professional coffee tasters who keep silent during the process so that they don’t influence each other’s opinion of the coffees under assessment. Silent that is, except for the loud and sometimes ear splitting slurping of coffee throughout the session!
Finally the Cup of Excellence and the taste
To give each coffee a fair chance, all coffees are tasted blind throughout the competition. The coffees’ progress through the several rounds of the competition are tracked by an independent auditor who assigns a unique number to each coffee, changing it for each tasting session that a coffee is entered in. In this way judges retain their impartiality - although it doesn’t stop them trying to spot if their favourite coffee from a particular round has made it through to the next! A cupping form is used by each judge to record their assessment of every coffee against the nine criteria of aroma, defects, clean cup, sweetness, acidity, mouthfeel, flavour, aftertaste and balance. Finally the judge is allowed to give each coffee an overall score where they can express a personal opinion of the coffee. This is the point where they can effectively say “yes it has all the elements of a great coffee but I just wasn’t that keen” or “I love this coffee!”. If, at any point, any one of the cups presents an 'off' or defective flavour then that coffee is eliminated from the competition. Which is brutal if a single defective bean is discovered in a cup in the final round - but this is the Cup of Excellence, not the Cup of Mostly Alright after all!
And now its time for a Frequently Asked Coffee Question…
And this episode’s question is…
How many coffees are actually judged in each competition?
Any coffee farmer in the organising country can enter their coffee into the competition and often hundreds do. The National Jury’s job is to whittle the hundreds of entries down to a maximum of 40 for the International Jury to assess and select the winners from. Despite this being the shortlist, it’s still a lot of coffee to taste! I was a Cup of Excellence International Judge in 3 competitions and I can tell you that even for professional tasters it’s a challenge to taste that much coffee so intensively. I can also tell you that I definitely felt a bit odd by the end of a competition - even with all the spitting!
Thank you for listening to this episode of The Coffee Drinker’s Guide and that was all about the the Cup of Excellence coffee competition. Knowing how the competition works now would you splash out on buying a Cup of Excellence winning coffee? Let me know on Instagram @thecoffeedrinkersguide, email me at thecoffeedrinkersguide@gmail.com or leave me a text message using the link in the show notes. The next episode is the first of two festive gift guides to buying coffees and coffee equipment as gifts so if you need some ideas be sure to hit follow so that you don’t miss it, if you haven’t already. Or if you know someone who could do with some hints about what to buy you please tell them about the show and rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts to help other coffee curious people find the show too. Thanks to my executive producer Viel Richardson at Lusona Publishing and Media Limited. You can find him at lusonapub.co.uk. Until next time I’m Angela Holder thanks for taking your coffee break with me - the best way to tackle life is one coffee at a time and here’s to better coffee!
The Coffee Drinker’s Guide is a Blue Sky Coffee Project