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Campos Coffee celebrates its longstanding support of the Cup of Excellence program with a month of single origin releases from the specialty coffee competition.
Cup of Excellence coffees are the pinnacle of taste and quality. Quite often they’re rare, exclusive, and limited, from exotic places most consumers have never dared to visit. But Campos Coffee has.
The Australian roaster has committed to purchasing more than 133 Cup of Excellence (CoE) coffees over the years, a competition considered the pinnacle of coffee grading. In March 2023, that number will climb when Campos Coffee launches a month of consecutive CoE releases.
“We will start with our feature espresso Coffee of the Month being a Natural Processed Caturra and Rui-11 from Pampojila y Anexos in Guatemala,” says Campos Coffee Green Bean Buyer Lloyd Thom. “It ranked 27th in the 2023 Guatemala CoE with a score of 87.15 and really stood out to us on the cupping table. We loved the fruit forward complexity and intensity of this coffee. We knew it would make for a seriously impactful espresso and might even be a profile customers might not expect from Guatemala.”
Campos Coffee will also feature a Natural Processed Geisha filter coffee from Noruega in El Salvador. This coffee ranked 19th in the 2023 El Salvador CoE and received a cupping score of 88.04.
“This coffee is from the farm that [Campos Coffee Coffee Program Specialist Geoff Clarke] visited after he participated in the international jury in June 2023, and then also bid on during the auction,” says Lloyd.
“El Salvador has become one of our favourite CoE auctions every year. It’sa country that, while relatively small in size, prioritises a high level of quality and innovation with exotic varieties and adventurous processing.”
This year Campos Coffee will also feature its first Taiwanese coffee. The first official CoE event in Taiwan – The Best of Taiwan CoE Pilot – held its online auction on 24 August 2023. This Natural Process SL34 from Koana Coffee Farm in Taiwan scored 87.92 and ranked 12th in the competition.
“We are really excited to bring our first ever release from this exciting origin. While it is a familiar variety and process, a Natural Process SL34, it still brought a whole range of new flavours for us and will also be roasted for filter coffee,” Lloyd says.
Finally, the roaster will release another espresso coffee, a Washed Bourbon from El Rejo in Peru. Ranking 23rd in the 2023 Peru CoE, this coffee received a cupping score of 87.79.
“This is a really classic representation of the Bourbon profile at its most complex and decadent and also comes from our old friend and farmer Jose Rivera who we’ve known since 2018,” says Lloyd.
Each of the four premium single origins will be available in new 150-gram premium packaging.
Lloyd says a big reason the roaster has been able to secure exquisite coffees over the years, is thanks to its ongoing commitment to the CoE specialty coffee competition, which it has supported since 2010.
“I’m proud of our history and support of Cup of Excellence. We’ve spent almost US$2 million (about AUD$3 million) on Cup of Excellence coffee since we started supporting the program, and we have also been involved in more than 50 CoE international juries,” Lloyd says.
“The most important thing that’s evolved through our involvement in CoE is the direct relationships we have now established with farmers outside of the competition. It started with us buying their lots and now we’ve continued to support them beyond the event, buying more and trying their different coffees. It’s not always about single origin, unicorn coffees. It’s about seeing what else the producer can supply and what potential there is to broaden the relationship. That’s the great thing about Cup of Excellence, it facilitates those relationships.”
Lloyd looks forward to rolling out Campos Coffee’s program of CoE coffees each week of March, and will continue to promote the CoE program and create awareness for the producers behind the beans.
“CoE has become an incredibly important centre point for defining how we approach quality and relationships as well as the emphasis we place on transparency and traceability,” Lloyd says.
“The program has set the standard for increased premiums that farmers have been able to receive for their exemplary coffees. It continues to build a much more transparent infrastructure and gives farmers the tools needed to improve the economic model of their farms. It’s a great way to raise funds for coffees farmers in origin countries and incentivise and motivate farmers who know there can be a recognition and financial reward for their hard work and effort.”
For more information, visit camposcoffee.com or cupofexcellence.org
This article appears in the February 2024 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
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