CoE — Cup of Excellence

The Cup of Excellence (CoE) is an annual competition held directly in coffee-producing countries and organized by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE). First launched in Brazil in 1999, it has since expanded to over a dozen origins. Coffees are evaluated through multiple rounds of blind cupping by national and international Q Grader panels; lots that score 87 or above on the SCA scale earn the Cup of Excellence designation and are offered at a live online auction open to global buyers. Winning lots have sold for prices exceeding $100 per pound, directly benefiting smallholder farmers. The CoE is widely regarded as the most rigorous and transparent quality competition in the coffee industry.

Background & Context

The Cup of Excellence (CoE) is the world's most rigorous and prestigious coffee competition and auction platform. Founded in 1999 in Brazil by George Howell and Susie Spindler (now operated by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, ACE), it has since expanded to include annual competitions in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Burundi. The process is exhaustive: all submitted coffees are blind-cupped by national judges, then re-cupped by a panel of international judges from importing countries. Only coffees scoring ≥87 SCA points pass into the Presidential Award category; those scoring ≥90 reach the Grand Cru designation. Winning lots are auctioned online to international buyers — top lots regularly sell at $20–150+/lb, with a record-setting Ethiopian Yirgacheffe lot selling for $185/lb in 2023. The CoE transformed specialty coffee economics: it proved that quality could command extraordinary premiums, incentivised producers to invest in post-harvest processing quality, and created a traceable supply chain model that became the template for direct trade relationships. It also launched the careers of several now-famous producers — the Pacamara variety gained international recognition after CoE victories in El Salvador.

Practical Use

For coffee buyers and enthusiasts, the CoE auction database (available at allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org) is an invaluable resource: cupping scores, producer information, farm altitude, processing method, and lot size are published for every competing coffee. Roasters who win CoE auction lots typically release the coffee with the full auction documentation — this level of transparency is a quality signal in itself.

Related Terms

Related terms: SCA score — the scoring system used in CoE judging. Cupping — the evaluation method. Direct trade — business model CoE helped create. Brazil — origin of the first CoE in 1999.