Costa Rica 2020
Cup of Excellence competition: Due to COVID-19 the Cup of Excellence Costa Rica competition was completed in the following way with the designated coffees blindly cupped through the following process:
- Preselection stage: May 20th – 23rd with the 9 National Judges in San Jose, Costa Rica with Erwin Mierisch as head judge guide and Victor Cadena as substitute head judge.
- National stage: June 2nd – 5th with the 9 National Judges in San Jose, Costa Rica with Erwin Mierisch as head judge guide and Victor Cadena as substitute head judge.
- International stage: Completed on different dates with the judges Kentaro Maruyama, Miyoko Watanabe, Shinji Sekine, Mitsunori Shono, Yunson Lee, Minseon Kim, Will Young, Adam Matheson, Thomas Pulpan, Synove Neseon, Darrin Daniel, Erin Wang and Alex Pond in their respective labs around the globe.
Cup of Excellence auction: The winning lots are the top 30 coffees that scored above an 87 by the Cup of Excellence International Jury. These coffees have each been cupped a minimum of five different times during the cupping process. The coffee is packaged in 30kg boxes containing two 15kg vacuum-packed bags.
National Winners auction: The National Winner lots are coffees scoring 85+ points during the International Week by the Cup of Excellence International Jury. These coffees have each been cupped a minimum of five different times during the cupping process.
COE Auction: August 5th
NW Auction: August 3rd – 21st
RANK |
WEIGHT (kg) |
FARM |
FARMER |
REGION |
SCORE |
VARIETY |
PROCESS |
1a |
180 |
Josue Bonilla Solis |
Tarrazú |
90.27 |
Gesha |
Honey |
|
1b |
180 |
Josue Bonilla Solis |
Tarrazú |
90.27 |
Gesha |
Honey |
|
2a |
210 |
Johel Monge Naranjo |
Tarrazú |
90.14 |
Typica |
Honey |
|
2b |
210 |
Johel Monge Naranjo |
Tarrazú |
90.14 |
Typica |
Honey |
|
3 |
480 |
Luis Ricardo Calderon Madrigal |
Tarrazú |
89.55 |
Gesha |
Washed |
|
4 |
360 |
Fernando Castro Jimenez |
Occidente |
89.18 |
SL 28 |
Anaerobic |
|
5 |
420 |
Roger Ureña Hidalgo |
Tarrazú |
89.14 |
Gesha |
Natural |
|
6 |
450 |
Cooperativa Agrícola Industrial R.L |
Occidente |
88.66 |
Gesha |
Natural |
|
7 |
420 |
Jose Jaime Cardenas Rojas |
Occidente |
88.59 |
KENYA |
Natural |
|
8 |
630 |
Erasmo Aguilera Gonzalez |
Occidente |
88.57 |
Gesha M2 |
Honey |
|
9 |
300 |
Iván Daniel Gutierrez Ureña |
Tarrazú |
88.55 |
Gesha |
Honey |
|
10 |
540 |
Jiménez y Padilla Sociedad Anínima |
Occidente |
88.5 |
Kenia SL28 |
Honey |
|
11 |
480 |
Bernabe Aguilera Gonzalez |
Occidente |
88.23 |
San Roque |
Anaerobic |
|
12 |
360 |
Fernando Castro Jimenez |
Occidente |
88 |
Gesha |
Anaerobic |
|
13 |
345 |
Dagoberto Aguilera Gonzáles |
Occidente |
87.95 |
KENYA SL28 |
Honey |
|
14 |
360 |
Maybel Barrantes Zuñiga |
Occidente |
87.86 |
kenia |
Anaerobic |
|
15 |
420 |
María Lizeth Calderón Castillo |
Tarrazú |
87.82 |
KENYA SL28 |
Washed |
|
16 |
480 |
Francisco Alejandro Mena Vilchez |
Occidente |
87.77 |
San Roque |
Washed |
|
17 |
480 |
Carlos Eduardo Barrantes Zúñiga |
Occidente |
87.73 |
Kenya |
Honey |
|
18 |
480 |
Juan Ramon Alvarado Rodrigues |
Central |
87.64 |
Gesha |
Anaerobic |
|
19 |
480 |
Alturas de Lourdes P.D.E. S.A. |
Occidente |
87.59 |
San Roque. |
Washed |
|
20 |
480 |
Hearty Coffee Sociedad |
Occidente |
87.5 |
San Roque Kenia |
Washed |
|
21 |
480 |
Juan Ramon Alvarado Rodrigues |
Tarrazú |
87.36 |
Gesha |
Natural |
|
22 |
390 |
Josue Bonilla Solis |
Tarrazú |
87.32 |
catuai rojo |
Anaerobic |
|
23 |
360 |
Alejo Castro Kahle |
Central |
87.32 |
Typica |
Anaerobic |
|
24 |
360 |
Luis Enrique Navarro Granados |
Tarrazú |
87.25 |
Typica |
Honey |
|
25 |
570 |
Marlene Brenes Morera |
Occidente |
87.23 |
PACAMARA – ANACAFE 14 |
Honey |
|
26 |
360 |
Alejo Castro Kahle |
Central |
87.05 |
Gesha |
Honey |
Score |
Farm |
Farmer |
Weight (kg) |
Region |
Process |
Variety |
86.73 |
Juan Aguilera Gonzalez |
626.5 |
Occidente |
Honey |
San Roque |
|
86.55 |
Karla Dayanna Barrantes Molina |
487.8 |
Occidente |
Honey |
Kenya |
|
86.5 |
Esteban Zamora Picado |
489.6 |
Tarrazú |
Natural |
Villalobos-Catuaí |
|
86.41 |
Esteban Zamora Picado |
690 |
Tarrazú |
Honey |
Villalobos-Catuaí |
|
86.27 |
Esteban Emilio Ureña Rojas |
512.6 |
Brunca |
Honey |
Catuai |
|
86.27 |
Heinz Ferdinand Hoffmann |
340.8 |
Central |
Natural |
Centroamericano (F1)
|
|
85.82 |
Juan Carlos Valerio Quesada |
690 |
Occidente |
Washed |
San Roque |
|
85.77 |
Luis Arturo Bonilla Chacón |
350.4 |
Tarrazú |
Honey |
Catuaí |
GCC lab |
Company |
First Name |
Last Name |
Maruyama |
Maruyama Coffee Co., Ltd. |
Kentaro |
Maruyama |
Maruyama |
Maruyama Coffee Co., Ltd. |
Miyoko |
Watanabe |
Wataru |
Wataru & Co., Ltd. |
Shinji |
Sekine |
Wataru |
Wataru & Co., Ltd. |
Mitsunori |
Shono |
Terarosa |
Terarosa (Haksan Co.Ltd) |
Yunson |
Lee |
Terarosa |
Terarosa (Haksan Co.Ltd) |
Minseon |
Kim |
Campos |
Campos Coffee |
Will |
Young |
Campos |
Campos Coffee |
Adam |
Matheson |
Kaffebrenneriet |
Kaffebrenneriet as |
Thomas |
Pulpan |
Kaffebrenneriet |
Kaffebrenneriet as |
Synove |
Neseon |
ACE Lab |
Alliance for Coffee Excellence |
Darrin |
Daniel |
ACE Lab |
Alliance for Coffee Excellence |
Erin |
Wang |
ACE Lab |
Alliance for Coffee Excellence |
Alex |
Pond |

- José Javier Carmona, Exclusive Coffee
- Mario Salas, Independiente
- Esdras Vega, ICAFE
- Kattia Barrantes, Kabba Coffee Center
- Abraham Castro, CECA
- Adrián Ramírez, Independiente
- Andrés Navarro, Independiente
- Leonel Seo, J&B Café Internacional
- Victor Cadenas, SCACR
*The winning coffees have been selected and scored in blind cuppings. The winning farm and the specific coffee lot information is submitted by each farmer and is not known to the public until the awards ceremony. ACE assumes the farm information is correct and up to date but is not responsible should some information change before or after the auction. Bidders should assess the value of each coffee based on quality in the cup and its appropriateness for their company. Farm information is for educational purposes only but can be used to help sell the winning coffees.