Mileydi farm from the Alotepec-Metapán region has won first place, after four years of participation, alongside a Presidential Award for its semi-washed Pacamara which scored 91.68 points in the 2021 El Salvador Cup of Excellence (COE).
Mileydi farm owner Ever Leonel Díaz Pérez first entered in 2018, receiving fourth place. In 2019 he “failed in the drying process,” making a comeback in 2020 with third place. Now, in 2021, after four years, Ever has won first place.
“This is a great achievement that has had a long process. This is not from one year to the next. I have been planting coffee for 17 years, and finally began to perfect it in 2016. I thank you, and above all, the one up there,” says Ever.
Announced by the CoE and the Salvadoran Coffee Council at a virtual ceremony on 25 June, the 2021 El Salvador CoE saw three Presidential Award winners, 24 CoE winners, and 16 National Winners. These winning coffees represent seven varieties and six different processes.
Second place was produced by Giancarlo Rusconi, a first-time participant from the Choucri, S.A. De C.V. farm also located in the Alotepec-Metapán region. Giancarlo won a Presidential Award with a score of 91.29 points for his natural Geisha.
Third place was a washed Geisha from the Santa Elena farm, belonging to the Zapotal Cooperative located in the Apaneca–Ilamatepec region. This coffee also achieved a Presidential Award with a score of 90.54 points
Lily Pacas, Executive Director of the Salvadoran Coffee Council, says “Cup of Excellence is a program that seeks, recognises and rewards not only the best coffees in El Salvador but that over the years, has been showing that in our country, we produce coffee of high quality, which giving recognition to the hard work, effort and dedication that coffee growers put into every day to produce exceptional coffees.
“This generates recognition and commercial relationships between buyers and consumers at a national and international level.”
One hundred and forty-one samples representing six regions of El Salvador were entered. These were judged by 13 National jurists and by Global Coffee Centres around the world. Twenty-four of these scored above 87 points, qualifying them as CoE winners and 16 of these scored above 85 points at the International Phase which qualified them as National winners.
The CoE winners will be auctioned on 10 August and the National Winner auction will be held from 2 to 13 August.
“I want to invite all buyers to support and buy the coffees of our country on 10 August at the International Auction and to bring in each coffee, the love, work, passion, and years of dedication of each one of the Salvadoran producers,” says Lily.
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