São Paulo – The international leg of Cup of Excellence, the premier coffee competition in the world will take place in Guaxupé, in southern Minas Gerais, Brazil. Brazilian coffees will be evaluated by 28 jury members from countries including the United States, Japan, China, Bulgaria, Russia, Australia, India and Germany.
Brazilian specialty coffees will get sampled from October 17, and winners in two categories will be announced on the 21st. The event is being hosted by Cooxupé, the biggest coffee cooperative in the world, and by its company SMC – Specialty Coffees. The contest is held by the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) and the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE).
Varieties in the Cup of Excellence include natural Arabica, Naturals (dry processed), and Pulped Naturals (skinned/pulped cherry). Competing samples came from a shortlist of 300 growers in both categories (Naturals / Pulped Naturals).
Now, 80 coffees in each category are being evaluated during the national phase in Varginha, Minas Gerais. Forty Natural and 40 Pulped Natural coffees will move on to the international phase. National and international winners will be allowed to join online auctions to be held by the ACE and backed by the BSCA.
In 2017, Brazilian coffees got bids from companies in countries including Germany, Saudi Arabia and Australia. The winner of the last edition saw the highest bid on record during the auction: grower Gabriel Alves Nunes of Patrocínio, Minas Gerais won the Cup of Excellence – Brazil 2017 in the Pulped Naturals category and got a bid for USD 130.20 per pound, the equivalent of over USD 17,200 per 60-kg bag.
In order to be eligible for the Cup of Excellence, grains are required to be screen size 16 or 17, or larger, with 11%-12% maximum moisture content. The minimum scores are 84,0-85,9 in the national phase and 86 in the international phase.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
