Cup of Excellence

Thanks to David for posting the executive summary of the Adam Smith Institute’s report on fair trade.

Which gives me a prompt to introduce the Cup of Excellence competition to those who haven’t met it.

At present, 8 countries are part of Cup of Excellence, mainly in South America. Farmers can submit lots of coffee that they think are particularly high quality. A jury made up of coffee experts from that country “cup” (taste) the lots and compile a short-list that they think are esepcially good.

There is then an international jury. Cup of Excellence sends a jury for the competition finals, made up of experts from around the world with proven cupping expertise. They cup each coffee (without knowing which coffee is from which farm) several times, scoring the cuppings as they go. In between cupping sessions there is a chance to meet some of the farmers, visit some of the farms and so on.

The next stage is auction. The scores and cupping notes are then published by Cup of Excellence, and samples are sent to anyone interested in buying the winning coffees. Interested parties bid online for the ones they want to buy, and the winners get the coffee. The rules are very strict on the money. A fixed proportion of the sale goes to the Cup of Excellence organisation to fund and expand the programme. I forget what proportion, but it’s not big. All the rest must go to the farmer. That, sadly, is why most Cup of Excellence is in South America; certain other governments that I would love to see take part insist on selling all coffee through their own infrastructure and / or keeping their own cut. That disqualifies the country from taking part, as the farmer loses out.

The result is a winner all round

• Top notch coffee. The process helps to sift the best from the good, so that you can track down some of the very best being grown around the world.
• Fair prices. The cupping / note-taking / scoring / sampling process means that there is maximum information availability about each lot of coffee. That helps interested parties bid up to just the right level – freeflow of information makes for an efficient market makes for fair prices.
• Poverty trap escape. The farmers who win have learnt how to grow something that peope want to buy. They are not reliant on charity. As long as a free export market can be maintained for them, and they keep working hard, they’ve found the means for them and their workers to maximise their income. In practice, the jurors, the Cup of Excellence, and the national coffee industry bodies are able to give lots of help to many farmers in how to raise their game. Even those who don’t make the international jury learn a lot about how to grow coffee people want.

So where can you buy some? Well, you could go to the Cup of Excellence website, see which roasters bought the winning lots, and track it down. Or you could try some of the ones that Steve at Hasbean has in.

At time of going to press, there are 10.

• Bolivia Flor de Mayo Pedro Castro Conurana. Number 20
• Bolivia Machacamarca BV María and Mario Andrade. Number 25 (but Steve’s top favourite)
• Brazil Sítio Das Jaboticabas-José Antônio Nascimento Ribas.
• Colombian Cup of Excellence Mirador-Jesus Lizcano. (I’ve got a bag of this at home, in green, and it is stunning!)
• Costa Rica Cup of Excellence Finca de Licho. Number 4
• Costa Rica Cup of Excellence Libano Coopeatenas. Number 19
• El Salvador Alaska Cup of Excellence. Number 8
• Honduras La Fortuna Cup of Excellence. Number 24
• Nicaraguan El Limoncillo. Number 27
• The tenth is a blend that Steve has done, made up entirely of Cup of Excellence beans, for use in an Espresso machine. Steve’s a good blender for espresso, so if you’ve got a good machine, and your grind and tamp is giving you good, consistent results, this coffee will make the tastiest shot you’ve ever produced. A real treat – if you’re machine and skills will get the best out of it.

Personally, I’m about to order some of the two Bolivians. I love Bolivian coffee, and there hasn’t been any at Hasbean for some time. They both sound great.

Yes, I know it costs more than other coffee. People don’t mind that when it’s labelled “Fairtrade”. But here is one that is marked up as a free-market reward for the farmer’s hard work, where the mark-up goes (practically) entirely to the farmer, and where the quality of the product entirely correlates with the price.