The 10 Best Specialty Coffees in America (2022)
To learn more about the specialty coffee world, you should know that each coffee-producing country has an annual contest to reward the best coffee harvested.
This is an invitation to all the producers in the country to send a sample of their best lots to be evaluated by professional coffee tasters called Q graders and thus choose a winner.
The name of this competition is “The Cup of Excellence,” the most prestigious competition in the specialty coffee sector.
The Alliance for coffee excellence invites coffee farmers to participate with each country's specialty coffee associations.
Primary Objectives of Coffee Competitions:
- Identify the best coffee in the country.
- Support and motivate contestants to sell their coffees at a better price to international buyers through auctions.
- To seek support from the government and organizations that support the development of the countryside
- To better train coffee farmers to improve the quality of their coffees in a consistent manner
- Coffee traceability
The prestige of participating in this competition has a significant impact on the worldwide promotion of the best specialty coffees.
There is also a call to select the group of roasters and tasters to evaluate the coffee samples.
International judges are also invited to make the competition fairer, meaning the best roasters and Q graders choose the winners.
We must remember that countries with the appropriate climatic conditions to produce coffee are generally between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, popularly called "The Coffee Belt."
This list includes only producing countries of the Americas, sorted from highest to lowest score.
Top 10 of the best specialty coffees in America:
1st place
Mexico | 93 points
Cruz Jose Arguello Enriquez
Finca Santa Cruz, La Concordia Chiapas
Natural, Geisha Variety
2nd place
El Salvador | 91.82 points
Choucri, S.A. de C.V.
El Conacaste, Alotepec Metapan
Natural, Gesha Variety
3rd place
Guatemala | 91.75 points
Jose Roberto Monterroso Pineda
El morito, Jalapa
Washed, Gesha Variety
4th place
Brazil | 91.41 points
Antonio Rigno de Oliveira Filho
Fazenda Tijuco, Chapada Diamantina
Natural, Catuai 144 Variety
5th place
Honduras | 91.25 points
Benjamin Paz Muñoz
La Salsa, Las Vegas
Washed, Gesha Variety
6th place
Costa Rica | 91.08 points
Luis Ricardo Calderon Madrigal
Don Cayito, Los Santos
Honey, Gesha Variety
7th place
Nicaragua ] 90.76 points
Mario Jose Gonzalez Rodriguez
El Avion, Nueva Segovia
Natural, Catuai Rojo Variety
8th place
Colombia | 90.65 points
Carlos Alberto Belalcazar
La Bohemia, Nariño region
Washed, Gesha Variety
9th place
Peru | 90.39 points
Blanca Flor Cordova Jimenez
La Bola, Cajamarca region
Washed, Gesha Variety
10th place
Ecuador | 90.28 points
Familia Merino
Hacienda Lugmapata, Chimborazo region
Washed, Sydra Variety
Coffee Recognitions that are granted in Mexico
Cup of Excellence (CoE):
The winning lots are the top 30 coffees that scored above 87 by the CoE International Jury.
These coffees have each been cupped a minimum of five times during the cupping process.
National Winners:
The National Winner lots are coffees scoring 85+ points during the International Phase by the CoE National and International Jury.
Presidential Coffee:
The coffee with a score of 90 or more points.
Feminine Coffee:
The highest-scoring coffee produced by a female producer.
Biodiversity Friendly Award:
The coffee with the highest score has current organic certification.
Some Cup of Excellence Mexico Stats
- 9 Editions between 2012 and 2022
- 209 award-winning international producers.
- 209 international winning lots
- 273,000 pounds of exceptional coffee
- 11 USD/lb Average price
- 21.72 USD/lb. The highest average price in 2022
As you can imagine, some of these winning coffees are used by individuals to compete in other international contests such as:
- World Barista Championship
- World Coffee in Good Spirits
- World Brewers Cup
- World Cup Tasters Championship
- World Coffee Roasting Championship
- World Latte Art Championship
- Cezve/Ibrik Championship
So now you know, if you go to a specialty coffee shop offering some of these winning coffees on their menu, don't hesitate to try something extraordinary that will surely surprise your palate.
And for sure, these are some of the best coffees to buy!
Photo credits and source: Amecafe Mexico, tazadeexcelencia.org