What does "Cup of Excellence" mean?
An international award for the best coffees in a country. A jury blind-tastes hundreds of coffees and evaluates them. The winners are sold at online auctions—often at record prices. COE coffees belong to the absolute world elite.
Why that is
The Cup of Excellence (COE) is the most important quality competition in the coffee world—comparable to a gold medal at wine competitions, only even more exclusive.
How the competition works:
- Submission: Farmers from a specific country submit their best lots—often hundreds of samples.
- National jury: Local cuppers blind-taste all samples and select the best ones.
- International jury: Cuppers and Q-Graders from all over the world taste the remaining coffees again—again blind, over multiple rounds.
- Minimum score: Only coffees scoring 87+ points receive the "Cup of Excellence" title.
- Online auction: The winning coffees are auctioned off via an online platform. Roasteries worldwide bid on them.
Why COE coffees are so expensive:
- Extremely small quantities—often only a few hundred kilos per lot.
- Proven top quality by an independent, international jury.
- High demand from specialty roasteries worldwide.
- Prestige for the roastery that wins the bid.
Prices at COE auctions often range from 10–50 USD per pound. Record lots fetch over 100 USD per pound.
Participating countries: Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru, Mexico, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and others.
What's in it for the farmer: The auction proceeds go largely to the farmer. For many smallholder farmers, winning a COE is a life-changing event—it brings international prestige and sustainably higher prices for future harvests.
In practice at Green Wall Coffee
At Sophienstraße 27, we've occasionally had COE coffees on offer—in small quantities and only for a short time.
If you want to taste the difference yourself: Sophienstraße 27, Berlin-Lichtenberg. Mon–Fri 8am–5pm, Sat 10am–5pm.
Further reading
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