COE Rules & Protocols

*These rules and protocols have been altered due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. We are continuing with our auctions using new, safer formats. You can learn more here.

Participation

The Cup of Excellence competition is open to all farmers in the country where the competition is being held regardless of economic status, notoriety, gender or location. The first entry sample is free of charge.

Auditing

An independent auditing company ensures security and accuracy throughout every stage of the competition. Each sample is coded with a number to hide the identity of the farmer during the scoring process. Auditors certify samples to be scored represent coffee in the warehouses.

Personnel

Cup of excellence partners with a coffee organization in each country. These In-country partners (ICPs) coordinate all on-the-ground aspects of their program including farmer communication, competition set-up, awards ceremony and hospitality of the juries. Staff for Cup of Excellence set the rules, test and select the juries and hire the head judges. Staff ensures the integrity of the program rules in each country. ACE working in partnership with COE communicates with the buyers and sets up the auctions for the winners.

Competition Process

Each Cup of Excellence competition consists of 6 separate scoring rounds. The in-country national jury scores the first 3 rounds. The international jury scores the final 3. Scoring coffees multiple times by up to 35 different judges guarantees only the best coffees are given the final award for that year.

Scoring judges

All of the judges are selected by the Cup of Excellence program staff including the head judge who is in charge of the competition process.

The National judges are experienced professional cupers from the country of origin. They are tested and selected based on their knowledge and skill.

International judges are required to be professionals with years of experience. They are selected for each country based on experience and the geographic area they represent. They volunteer their time, pay for their travel and come from multiple countries.

Criteria for a Cup of Excellence Award

All coffees must score a minimum of 87 points in the final round to win a Cup of Excellence award. For comparison – the Specialty Coffee Association defines a specialty coffee as receiving a minimum quality score of 80 points. Cup of Excellence coffees are the top tear of all specialty coffees, with a 90 point score being extremely rare.

see CoE cupping form

Pre-Selection

Round 1

Every sample entered into the competition is prepared and scored by the National Jury. There are usually 10-12 national judges.
The top 150 coffees that have scored over 86+ points with their samples are notified and required to move the actual coffee to a bonded warehouse. New samples are then drawn which will be used for the subsequent rounds.

National

Round 2

The National judges score coffees that advanced from Pre-Selection. The top 90 coffees scoring over 86 points advance to the next round.

Round 3

National judges again score the 90 passing coffees. The top 40 then advance to the international group of judges.

International

Round 4

The International judges having traveled to the country score the 40 coffees passed to them by the national judges. There are between 16 and 24 international scoring judges. International Observers are also present.

Round 5

30 samples (or less) that have scored over 87 points are then scored again. *87+ points in this 5 th round is necessary to be awarded a Cup of Excellence.

Round 6

The top ten highest coffees are scored and ranked during the final round.

Awards Ceremony

Winning Farmers are announced at a large awards ceremony. Certificates are awarded to all winning farmers and special recognition is given to those samples that score over 90 points and which are given a Presidential Award.

After the competition

After the competition results are announced, the ACE staff coordinates the online auction of the award winning coffees – for information about how to purchase these coffees link here.

The Cup of Excellence competition is open to all farmers in a partner country regardless of economic status, notoriety, gender or location. The first entry sample is free of charge.

Auditing

A professional auditing company ensures fairness and neutrality at every stage. All coffees are cupped ‘blind’ (the identity of the farmer, farm, varietal, and location are not known to the cuppers).

Personnel

An Organising Committee made up of stakeholders from all parts of the country’s coffee sector is responsible for the in-country management of the competition. Each competition is guided by a professional head judge and is overseen by ACE and the in-country management team.

Criteria for Selection

All coffees must score 86+ points from a possible 100 to advance to the next phase of the competition. This 86+ score will be required to move from pre-selection to the national week and the national week to the international week. The top 30 coffees advance to the Cup of Excellence auction, if the coffee scores an 87+. Samples with major defects are eliminated immediately.

The rigorous sample preparation protocols ensure that cuppers score only the quality in the cup – the influence of external variables such as roast, grind, dose, temperature and water quality are minimized.

Competition

Each Cup of Excellence competition consists of a total of 6 rounds of cupping. Two skilled and highly experienced juries score the samples during the competition.

The National Jury is made up of experienced professional cuppers from the country of origin. This jury cups all coffees entered at Pre-Selection and all those, which then advance to the National Jury week
The International Jury members are importer, buyers and other skilled coffee cuppers primarily from the consuming countries. There are also 2 national juries who join the International Jury to cup the final 3 rounds of the competition and to select those coffees, which will be awarded Cup of Excellence and progress to the online auction.

Learn more about the competition process.

Pre-Selection

Round 1

Every sample entered into the competition is cupped once by the National Jury.
All samples that score 86 or over advance to the next stage (maximum 150 samples).
Farmers must now move the entire lot to a bonded warehouse under the control of an independent auditing company. New samples are then drawn which will be used for the subsequent rounds.

National Jury

Round 2

The National Jury cups those samples that advanced from Pre-Selection. All those that again score 86 or over advance to the next round (maximum 90 samples).

Round 3

These samples are cupped again and all those that again score at least 86 points remain in the competition (up to a maximum of 40 samples).

International Jury

Round 4

The following week, the International jurors/cuppers assemble to cup all those samples passed forward from the National Jury week.

Round 5

Up to a maximum of 30 samples that have scored over 87 points are then cupped in a second round to select those that will finally be awarded Cup of Excellence and progress to the online auction. Descriptions are taken for each sample.

Round 6

On the final day of the International Jury, the top ten highest scoring samples are cupped one final time to give them special attention, to determine the final score and ranking.

Awards Ceremony

Milling & Samples

The winning lots are milled, sorted and vacuum packed immediately after the International Jury week. The exact weight of each lot is recorded. Samples of all the winning lots are then sent to buyers around the world. Photographs and background information are gathered to support the traceability on each lot.

Online Auction

About 6 weeks after the International Jury week, the winning lots are sold at an online internet auction on the ACE website. The top three coffees will be split into two lots (a & b) if they score 90 and above. Buyers must register to take part in the online auction.

Shipment & Payment

All lots sold at the Cup of Excellence auction are shipped by sea or air to the winning bidders. Payment upon receipt of shipping documents.

Liquidation

As soon as the buyers have made payment, the farmers can be paid. All of the revenues from the auction remain in the country. Farmers receive the majority of the auction proceeds. In Rwanda and Burundi the role of the washing stations are also recognised.