Coffee's Most Highly Esteemed Award

Here is a summary description of the CoE program from their own webpage:

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.

Coffees of this exemplary quality are very rare. These coffees are perfectly ripe, carefully picked with well developed body, pleasant aroma and a lively sweetness that only extremely high quality specialty coffees contain. Each winning coffee has its own flavor signature from the earth where it grows and all have been handcrafted in such a way as to enhance these unique characteristics.

We are proud to support the dedicated farmers and their families and employees who participate in the Cup of Excellence. We treat all of these coffees with an especially light touch, allowing the coffee's inherent qualities to shine, without being overly 'covered up' by the degree of roast. Our current offerings from the Cup of Excellence, with brief descriptions of each, are these:

• NICARAGUA, Santa Isabel -- deep, full-bodied burgundy wine tones with rich, dark chocolate, subtle floral and fruit accents
• GUATEMALA, Actasa -- sweet, rich and full-bodied, abundant milk-chocolate tones with soft pear accents
• BRAZIL, Cachoeira da Grama -- heavy-bodied, sweet honey and melon
• COLOMBIA, Hato Viejo -- full-bodied, smooth, sweet and caramelly with delicate floral aromatics, a classic cup