CUP OF EXCELLENCE LATEST NEWS
The Ethiopian Sidama region offers great-quality coffee. Taiwan has been put on the map as a relevant coffee-consuming country. Best of Yemen Samples available until Tuesday, August 17th
ETHIOPIA 2021
Among coffee-producing countries, Ethiopia holds near-legendary status not only because it’s the “birthplace” of Arabica coffee, but also because it is simply unlike every other place in the coffee world. Unlike the vast majority of coffee-growing countries, the plant was not introduced as a cash crop through colonization. Instead, growing, processing, and drinking coffee is part of the everyday way of life, and has been for centuries since the trees were discovered growing wild in forests and eventually cultivated for household use and commercial sale.
Kirkland signature organic Ethiopia Jimma reign light roast 2 lb whole bean coffee
Located in the south of Ethiopia, the Sidama region offers great-quality coffee. Sidama’s coffees have lemon-citric tones with bright acidity. Coffees from here are often classified as “Sidamo,” but the region itself is known more correctly as Sidama.
New York coffee roaster Coffee Bros, in partnership with the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE), is launching a non-fungible token (NFT) project alongside the 2021 Ethiopia Cup of Excellence (CoE) auction (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
The Coffee Bros NFT program is the first of its kind in the coffee industry. The goal is to create an experience that will last forever with award-winning coffees, all the while giving the deserved recognition back to the producer and supporting organizations that look to improve the livelihoods of those producers (Coffee Bros, 2021).
About NFTs
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, that certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable. NFTs can be used to represent items such as photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files. (Wikipedia, 2021).
The project will see 50 to 100 digital artworks, or NFTs, created for each CoE auction. Each digital artwork will feature the designated coffee producer for that auction, their rank number in the auction, the coffee variety, and its cupping score. This is designed to highlight the producer and their coffee (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
Comics styled yellow suit
In addition to owning the NFT, the first 50 buyers will also receive a roasted eight-ounce bag of coffee from that lot (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
Since 1999, the Cup of Excellence (COE) program has set the standard for the increased premiums that farmers have received for their exemplary coffees. It continues to build a much more transparent infrastructure and gives farmers the tools needed to improve the economic model of their farms. COE raises funds for coffee farmers in coffee-growing countries, incentivizing and motivating farmers who know there can be recognition and financial reward for their hard work and effort (Benzinga, 2021).
Twenty per cent of the proceeds made from this project will go towards the CoE and World Coffee Research, a research centre focused on the preservation of origin diversity (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
Group of happy farmer showing his freshly harvested Arabica coffee beans
“Our mission is to recognise and reward extraordinary coffee farmers. The Coffee Bros NFT project provides an innovative way for the consumer to enjoy that particular coffee forever while also elevating the producers,” says Anna Abatzoglou, Managing Director of Marketing and Membership for ACE and CoE (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
You can take a look at our products in which you will also find the Ethiopia Washed Sidamo Mocca Adey single origin coffee (SCA score 86.5).
Ethiopia CoE 2020 Broke Records
The 2020 Ethiopia Cup of Excellence (CoE) auction broke records, with total sales of US$1,348,690 topping the previous record of $830,245 set by El Salvador in 2011 (Global Coffee Report, 2020).
The Roastery At Harrods: Coffee Elegance In Knightsbridge
Half of the lot was purchased by Maruyama Coffee Co from Japan and its buying group, consisting of Saza Coffee, Cometeer, Goodboybob Coffee, Difference Coffee, and Harrods. The other half of the lot was purchased by Sarutahiko Coffee Inc from Japan (Global Coffee Report, 2020).
The 168 registered buyers from 33 countries bid 4137 times for more than five hours to secure the sought-after winning coffees. The second-from-the-top coffees coming from Rumudamo Coffee in Sidama, had a total of 902 bids, another record number in the competition history (Global Coffee Report, 2020).
In 1991, Kentaro Maruyama opened the first Maruyama Coffee location in Karuizawa – Nagano Prefecture
The United States company Coffee at Intelligentsia won out in the competitive bid, paying a price of US$108 per pound (Global Coffee Report, 2020).
“None of us had heard of a coffee sold for this amount. It’s a surprise for everybody,” says Ato Bogale. Rumudamo had another winning coffee in the auction that sold at US$35.10 per pound (Global Coffee Report, 2020).
The third highest price went to Testi Trading at US$66.60 per pound, sold to Black Gold Coffee Co from Taiwan. “We are pleased with the result,” says Ato Faysel Abdosh, Founder and Manager of Testi (Global Coffee Report, 2020).
Black Gold Coffee Roaster
TAIWAN 2021
With an annual market exceeding NT$70 billion (US$23 billion), Taiwan has been put on the map as a major coffee-consuming country and a relevant player in the specialty coffee industry (Taiwan News, 2020).
Cama Coffee Roasters, known for its quality coffee at affordable prices, renovated a historic house and transformed it into a coffee shop at the mountainous tourist attraction of Yangmingshan in Taipei. Taiwan also boasts three coffee shops that were ranked among the top 50 in Asia by travel website Big 7 Travel (Taiwan News, 2020).
White Cloud Mountains, Taiwan
The Taiwan Coffee Laboratory, on behalf of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan R.O.C. (Taiwan) and Taiwan Coffee Association, has partnered with the Alliance of Coffee Excellence (ACE) to host the first Private Collection Auction of Taiwanese specialty coffee (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
The auction will feature nine winning coffee lots, all of which scored 86 points or more. These lots represent three varieties: Geisha (which you can find on our website), SL34, and one unknown. The lots also represent three processes including honey, natural, and washed (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
A panel of 26 judges from five countries selected the nine lots, out of 19, that will be part of the auction. An additional six coffee lots that scored between 85 and 85.99 will also be included in the sample sets and are available for sale directly through Taiwan Coffee Labs (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
The auction is designed to honour the work of the local Taiwan coffee producers and to share their prize coffee with the rest of the world (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
Sign of a local coffee shop in the Janfusun Fancyworld
“Our hardworking coffee farmers, ever curious and ever responsive to market demands, are incredible professionals. They experiment with varieties, grafting, pruning, harvesting, processing, [and] fermenting, always remaining fully committed to their craft,” says Krude Lin, President and Founder of Taiwan Coffee Laboratory (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
This partnership between the Taiwan Coffee Laboratory and ACE was established as part of ACE’s mission to recognise and reward exceptional coffee producers, driving farmers access to premium markets (Global Coffee Report, 2021).
ABOUT YEMEN
Coffee plantation in the hills of Haraz, where the worlds best coffee is grown and dried
This year’s auction is the biggest auction in the history of our collaboration with ACE. The auction has received 1,900 farmer’s coffees from across Yemen’s entire coffee lands. Of that 1,900, 429 lots successfully pre-qualified and out of those, 42 coffees were cupped by the prestigious international jury of coffee experts from 20 companies across 10 different countries. Click on the link to learn more about these exceptional coffees and the exceptional people behind them.
From 1900 entries to 22 coffees that represent Yemen’s best Sample sets contain 100 grams of green coffee from each of the 22 winning lots. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to try these rare and beautiful coffees! They will be available on the Alliance for Coffee Excellence website.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Global Coffee Report. (2020). Ethiopia Cup of Excellence auction raises more than US$1million for coffee producers. June, 29th from https://gcrmag.com/ethiopia-cup-of-excellence-auction-raises-more-than-us1million-for-coffee-producers/
Global Coffee Report. (2021). Alliance for Coffee Excellence announces first Taiwanese Coffee Auction. August, 2nd, from https://gcrmag.com/alliance-for-coffee-excellence-announces-first-taiwanese-coffee-auction/
Taiwan News. (2020). Taiwan coffee industry sees boom. February, 1st, from https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3849000
