What Is Cup of Excellence? The Competition That Changed Specialty Coffee

Before 1999, a great coffee farm in Brazil or Honduras usually sold its best beans into the same pool as everyone else’s. Buyers rarely knew the farmer’s name, and quality was not rewarded with a better price. So what is Cup of Excellence? It is a competition, run by the nonprofit Alliance for Coffee Excellence, in which farmers in a producing country submit coffee lots, juries cup them blind over several rounds, and the top-scoring lots are sold to the world in an online auction under the farmer’s name. The idea was simple, and it helped reshape how specialty coffee is bought and valued.

Here is where it came from, how it works step by step and what a Cup of Excellence label really tells you.

Key takeaways

• The first competition, called “Best of Brazil,” took place in 1999 in Lavras, Brazil, as part of an experimental program known as the Gourmet Project.
• Founders include Susie Spindler and George Howell, with the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association and the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
• Coffees go through six rounds of blind cupping by national and international juries; lots need 87+ points to reach the auction.
• By 2019 the program reported over 140 auctions in more than 12 countries and over $60 million in auction revenue.

In this article

1. What is Cup of Excellence?
2. A short history
3. How the competition works
4. The auction and prices
5. What it changed, and its limits
6. FAQ

What is Cup of Excellence?

Cup of Excellence (often shortened to CoE) is both a competition and a marketplace. Each participating country holds its own edition, open to its farmers free of charge. Farmers send samples of a specific lot, the coffees are tasted blind, and the best are awarded the Cup of Excellence title. Winning lots are then sold in an online auction, where roasters around the world bid against each other. The farmer’s name, farm, region, variety and process are published with each lot.

The organization behind it, the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, is a nonprofit founded in 2002. It also runs educational programs and a membership network spanning roasters and importers in dozens of countries.

A short history

The founders wanted a system where exceptional quality could be identified and paid for directly. Auction experts from Hewlett Packard helped design the original online auction protocols, according to the Alliance. Sixteen lifetime members each donated $10,000 to get the program started.

How the competition works

Step by step

1. Farmers submit lots. Any farmer in a participating country can enter a specific lot of green coffee.
2. Pre-selection and national jury rounds. Samples are roasted and cupped blind by trained tasters from the producing country.
3. International jury. Coffees that pass move to a jury of cuppers from around the world, again tasting blind.
4. Six rounds in total. Coffees must score 86+ to advance between rounds and 87+ to earn a Cup of Excellence award and a place in the auction.
5. Top 30 to auction. Since 2019, up to 30 coffees go to the auction. Coffees scoring 85+ that do not make the auction can be recognized as National Winners.

What the scores mean

Cup of Excellence uses a 100-point scale. For context, specialty coffee is commonly defined as coffee scoring 80 or more on a 100-point cupping scale. An 87+ lot is far above that line. You can learn how cupping works in our guide to coffee cupping, and about the professionals who score coffee in what a Q grader does.

The auction and prices

Winning lots are sold online to registered bidders, usually roasters and importers, many of whom buy together in groups. Prices are often many times the commodity market price. The gap between the 1999 winner at $2.60 per pound and the 2018 record of $300.09 per pound shows how much the market for top lots has grown.

Those headline numbers are for small, exceptional lots. Most auction lots sell for less, but still at a strong premium. For a farmer, the bigger value often comes afterward: buyers who discover a farm through the competition may return year after year to buy directly.

What it changed, and its limits

What it changed

• Traceability: it made farm and farmer names part of what buyers pay for.
• Price signals: it showed growers that quality could earn far more than the commodity price.
• Discovery: regions and varieties that were unknown abroad gained an international audience.
• Feedback: scores and jury notes help farmers see what buyers value.

Its limits

• Only a small share of any country’s harvest is entered, and only a handful of lots win.
• Competing takes time and resources, which can favor better-equipped farms.
• A winning lot reflects one harvest and one lot, not every coffee from that farm.

For how specialty coffee is defined more broadly, see what is specialty coffee and coffee grades explained.

Taste the origins

You do not need an auction paddle to explore the countries that have hosted Cup of Excellence. Our Costa Rica Alajuela, from micro farms in volcanic soil, has sweet apple, raisin and honey notes. The Honduras Marcala, from a cooperative of 1,500 growers, brings caramel, spice and brown sugar, and Guatemala Antigua offers dark chocolate, fruit and butterscotch. These are not Cup of Excellence lots, but they show what each origin can do. All are roasted 1 to 5 days before delivery.

Cup of Excellence FAQ

Who runs Cup of Excellence?

The Alliance for Coffee Excellence, a nonprofit founded in 2002.

What score do you need to win Cup of Excellence?

At least 87 points out of 100 after several rounds of blind cupping.

Can I buy Cup of Excellence coffee?

Yes, some specialty roasters buy auction lots and sell them in small bags, usually at a premium price.

Where did Cup of Excellence start?

In Brazil, in 1999, with a competition held in Lavras.

Sources

1. 10 Things You Should Know About Cup of Excellence, Alliance for Coffee Excellence, 2020.
2. Cup of Excellence Announces its 20th Anniversary, Alliance for Coffee Excellence, 2019.

Facts checked in October 2026.

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