Cup of Excellence (CoE) and the Salvadoran Coffee Council have announced 27 CoE and 12 National Winner coffees in the El Salvador competition.
The CoE winning coffees, representing over eight varieties and five different processes, feature four Presidential Award winners. The top three coffees, which won the Comandante “Top Farm” trophy grinder, are all from the Alotepec-Metapan region.
The first-place winning coffee is a natural Gesha from Finca El Conacaste, situated 1400 meters above sea level. It earned a Presidential Award with a score of 91.82 points. Producer Giancarlo Rusconi was last year’s second-place winner.
“When I finally heard them announce Finca El Conacaste as the first place winner, I couldn’t believe what I just heard,” says Giancarlo Rusconi.
“At the end of the acceptance speech, I said I wanted to divide the award into three parts. The first part I wanted to dedicate to Ever Diaz, who recently passed, the first-place award winner last year, and his family. The second part I wanted to dedicate to all the coffee farmers in El Salvador who every year work hard to get ahead. And the third part was for my family and partners at the farm.”
The second-place winning coffee is a natural honey processed Pacamara from Finca Santa Rosa, located 1550 above sea level. It also earned a Presidential Award with a score of 90.36. Previous Cup of Excellence winner J. Raul Rivera was the producer of this coffee.
The third-place winning coffee, a washed Pacamara and Pacas blend also earned a Presidential Award with a score of 90.23. Jose Efrain Landaverde Flores of Cueva De La Olla finca produced this coffee, at an altitude of 1200 meters above sea level.
Head Judge Scott Conary led a panel of judges representing 10 countries to taste the top 40 coffees, determining the 27 Cup of Excellence winners that will be offered in the auction on 21 July 21.
“It was a tremendously exciting and impactful three weeks in El Salvador, overseeing the three phases of review, that leads to the absolute most stunning coffees to be available for the live auction in July,” says Conary.
“I’m extremely happy with the result and I’m also so proud of my team that helped make it all happen. Back in 2014 when we started this project by planting 1000 Pacamara coffee trees, we knew that because of the terrain, weather conditions, and altitude, we had the potential to grow an exemplary product,” says Rusconi.
“Many people aren’t aware of what coffee farmers go through year after year to be able to produce good quality coffee but let me tell you this award makes it all worthwhile.”
The Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) is offering sample sets of the winning coffees to purchase before the auctions. Interested parties must join ACE as a member to register for samples and auctions.
For more information about the winning coffees and auction details, visit: https://allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org/el-salvador-2022/
