illycaffè has announced the members of the jury that will determine the recipient of the Best of the Best Awards at the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Awards for 2023.
This year’s panel includes Guatemalan taster Silvia Escobar, Federação dos Cafeicultores do Cerrado President Glaucio De Castro from Brazil, and CoffeeLab Director Sunalini Narayan Menon from India.
They will be joined by chefs Ricard Camarena, Carrie Blease, Rupert Blease and Andrea Aprea. Camarena has been awarded two Michelin stars and a greet star for his dedication to sustainability at his Ricard Camarena Restaurant in Valencia.
Carrie and Rupert Blease manage the Michelin-starred Lord Stanley restaurant in San Francisco, while Aprea is a Michelin-starred chef with a restaurant bearing his name in Milan.
Finalising the panel are three journalists: Point de Vue magazine Editor-in-Chief Adelaide de Clermont-Tonnere, ICON Founder and Editor-in-Chief Inga Griese, and published writer Angelina Villa Clarke.
The judges will convene on 16 November in New York to assess the coffee samples chosen by illycaffè’s quality labs.
Throughout the year, the labs have scrutinised samples from the 2022/23 harvest and selected the finest lots and producers while focusing on the company’s quality and sustainability standards.
This year, 27 producers from nine countries have secured their place in the final round of the 2023 edition of the Ernesto Illy Coffee Award.
Customers will also have the opportunity to evaluate the nine finalist coffees and voice their preferences through a series of blind tastings held in illycaffè flagship locations worldwide in the lead to the event.
The coffee that receives the most votes from the public will receive the Coffee Lovers’ Choice award.
