We (Cora and Amanda) just returned from the 8th annual Colombia Best Cup! This is a competition hosted by our partners Cafe Imports and Banexport in an effort to source some of the most unique and beautiful coffees Colombia has to offer and reward those producers with high prices for their coffees. Through this program we’ve been able to offer some amazing Colombian coffees while developing long term relationships with producers, including producer Maria Carmenza Calpa, whose coffee we’ve been buying for the last 4 years.
Evans Brothers has participated in Colombia Best Cup many times. When trying to squeeze more details out of Rick and Randy, they both could only describe Best Cup as “absolutely amazing!” Minimal spoilers were given besides that we would overindulge in great coffee and maybe a bit too much aguardiente (a black licorice liquor that is way too easy to drink on a chiva bus.) With spirits high, we embarked on quite the coffee experience!
Of the 1,200 coffees submitted for the competition, we were given the opportunity to cup and meet the producers of the top 30 coffees! *Sip n’ Slurp* was the anthem for the next few days. We scored each coffee to help rank them from the top 30 to the top 15 - Was it fruity? Floral? Acidic? Bitter? Balanced? Notes of jasmine? Sweet caramel praline? This process was one of our favorites! There’s nothing like tasting in complete sip n slurp silence to then 30 minutes later shout your tasting notes and score in front of 20 other roasters and coffee professionals! They used a spreadsheet to combine the scores from all seven roasters and the Cafe Imports sensory team, ranking each lot and giving us insight into what 15 coffees to expect at auction the next day!
The morning of the the Auction was filled with a lot of excitement. We compared our tasting notes, score sheets and lot sizes, trying to narrow down which lots we were going to bid on. The auction was in the city center of Popayan; an open outdoor space with benches and a stage lit with traditional Colombian colors, a crowd full of roasters, producers, locals, dancers, musicians, as well as seemingly endless amounts of aquardiente. With our energy high, we narrowed it down to 3 lots we were interested in, with the budget to bring home one. The lots were #13, #9, and #3, with #3 being the clear favorite! As lots #13 & #9 were bid away from us, we knew at this point we we’re all in for 3 (which was what Cora had been hoping for the whole time!) As bidding began on lot number 3, there was a blur of raised paddles, high pitched whistles, clapping, cheering, and multiple roasters competing for the highest bid; the price drove up too quick and soon we had gone over budget! At this point our only opportunity to secure this lot was to run across to the competing Roaster, Sagebrush Coffee, and ask to share the lot. He agreed! We were able to purchase 2 bags of this coffee, our favorite from the whole week! This Third place coffee was produced by Edwin Fidel Ortiz - a 34 year old 2nd generation farmer. It has tasting notes of black tea, honeydew melon, peach rings with a bright, sparkling lemon acidity!
Edwin Fidel Ortiz on his farm Bella Luz
These Best Cup submissions start at the farm. A coffee plant is unique in that it is very sensitive to its’ environment. The soil, shade, elevation, compost, rain, and many other environmental factors all affect the quantity and quality of the harvest. Once the cherries are ripe (a beautiful red, yellow or purple hue) the producer hand-picks each individual cherry, one at a time. Due to the recent climate change in Colombia, they have been experiencing wet and cold weather patterns (La Niña) for the past three years. Instead of having distinct harvest seasons, the coffee cherries are continually ripening throughout the year, making picking much more challenging as there will be ripe and unripe cherries in the same cluster (pictured below.) Once picked these cherries are washed, processed, dried on raised beds and delivered in parchment to Banexport. From there this bean will be sample roasted and cupped multiple times to be ranked for Colombia Best Cup to see who will make it in the top 30.
In the end, the amount of hands it takes to produce a single bag (154lbs) of coffee is one that goes unnoticed, and far underappreciated in our day-to-day. These small producers are the backbone of the coffee industry in Colombia and the future of specialty coffee. Between rapid climate change, coffee leaf rust, and pressure from cartels to grow coco plants as well as low coffee prices for producers, you can imagine how difficult it is to convince young people to chose to stay in the coffee industry. It was impressive and exciting to see many young producers in the top 30!
Banexport’s dedication to producer’s success is a unique and heart-warming approach. Banexport works to support these farmers by offering expert advice on soil management, improving infrastructure, dialing in drying processes, and exploring new practices in order produce the best quality coffees in Colombia. Through this support and their partnership with Cafe Imports, Banexport is working towards a sustainable future for specialty coffee in Colombia that emphasizes the long-term relationship between roasters and producers.