The Winners of Costa Rica’s Cup of Excellence

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Josue Bonilla. Photo courtesy of Alliance for Coffee Excellence

Alliance for Coffee Excellence announced the results of Costa Rica’s Cup of Excellence, including eight winners from a Kenya variety and 10 winners of gesha variety. 

Don Héctor Bonilla. Photo courtesy of Alliance for Coffee Excellence.

First place winner Héctor Bonilla, who last won first place in 2009, scored 90.27 points with a honey process gesha. 

“We are very happy as a family to have achieved the first place of the Costa Rica 2020 Cup of Excellence,” says Bonilla. “In this time of pandemic where only bad news is received, this is really an incentive to keep going. I think of the saying, ‘it is never darker than before dawn.’ Let’s go ahead and work hard, agriculture is pride for countries that are capable of producing.”

The top three winners came from Costa Rica’s Tarrazú region, with the top two also winning the Presidential Awards. 

“Costa Rica Cup of Excellence is a showcase for coffee buyers. By variety and by processing, farmers in Costa Rica always try to do something new,” says Yunson Lee, the International Judge and coffee buyer for Terarosa Coffee in South Korea. “This year’s competition had so many different and exotic coffees, showing new approaches to things. Most of the coffee is very unique and special, which made it difficult to score.”

Learn more about the results and details on the auction here.

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