Cup of Excellence is the most rigorous and prestigious coffee competition in the world. If you've seen “COE” on a coffee label and wondered what it means — here's the full picture.
What Is Cup of Excellence?
Founded in 1999 in Brazil, Cup of Excellence (COE) is an annual competition held in coffee-producing countries across Latin America and Africa. Coffees are submitted by producers, then evaluated through multiple blind-tasting rounds by national and international panels of trained judges.
Only coffees that score 87 points or above on the SCA scale earn the Cup of Excellence designation. The top lots are then auctioned globally, often achieving prices many times above commodity market rates.
How the Scoring Works
COE uses a rigorous multi-round process:
- Pre-selection — national jury eliminates defective or below-threshold lots
- National jury — trained local judges score and rank remaining coffees
- International jury — expert tasters from around the world conduct final blind evaluation
- Auction — top-scoring lots are sold to the highest bidder, with full traceability
A coffee that places in the top 10 at COE is, by any measure, among the finest produced that year in that country.
Why COE Matters for the Cup in Your Hand
COE isn't just a trophy. It's a signal of:
- Consistent quality — the farm has the processes, knowledge, and conditions to produce exceptional coffee
- Traceability — every COE lot is fully documented from farm to auction
- Producer investment — winning producers reinvest in their farms, creating a virtuous cycle of quality
When you buy from a COE-placed farm, you're not just buying a good coffee. You're supporting a producer who has demonstrated world-class quality.
SOLO's Connection to COE Brazil 2025
Our Geisha do Brasil by Danilo Barbosa comes from the same plot as the natural Geisha that achieved 2nd place at Cup of Excellence Brazil 2025. The lot we carry is a honey-process expression of the same Geisha variety, scoring 89 points — exceptional by any standard.
It's available in a limited 200g collectible can, with an exclusive label design by artist Thiago Pitt. When it's gone, it's gone.