Specialty Coffee
& Tea Journal
20 years cup of excellence 04 issue
november 2019
Cup of Excellence celebrates 20 years with Jordan Dabov on its jury
At the special edition of the most prestigious specialt� coffee competition in the world,our founder and coffee hunter was once again the only Bulgarian Cup of Excellence Brazil took place between 15 and 19 October 2019 in the small town of Lavras. It celebrated the 20th anniversary of the award. We are immensely happy and proud that Jordan Dabov was among the invited judges. We'll tell you how the most important specialty coffee competition started and we will take a look behind the scenes with the help of our inside man.
Continues on page 4/5
MEET... Marysabel Caballero and Moises Herrera Honduras Finca El Puente For the first time, we will have the pleasure to drink coffee produced by the winners of Cup of Excellence Honduras 2016 - Mar�sabel Caballero and Moises Her�era Finca El Puente is located in Chinacla in the La Paz Department, close to the famous Markala coffee region. Although not among the rich municipalities, Chinakla is famous for its good coffee from different Arabica varietals. Finca El Puente (in Spanish it translates as «the bridge») is the family project of Marysabel Caballero and Moises Herrera. They have been married since 1996 and have been cultivating coffee together ever since. Marysabel has coffee in her blood – she is a fourth generation coffee producer in a farm that was created in 1907. Moises entered the world of coffee through a Guatemalan coffee export company. He visited Honduras in 1992 and bought a land with ideal conditions for growing high quality coffee. Working together and building on traditions has helped Marysabel and Moises win the biggest prize - first place in the Honduras Cup of Excellence in 2016. They both believe that they need to share their success with their community and help develop it with any way they can. The soil, climate and coffee growing conditions in Honduras are the same as in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Today, Honduras is the largest coffee exporter in Central America, third after Brazil and Colombia in South America and sixth in the world in terms of quantity. We are extremely happy and joyful, but also feel enormous responsibility because Marysabel and Moises work with just a few selected roasters. You can count them on the fingers of one hand – the American Stumptown coffee, the South Korean Terarosa and the Norwegian expert Tim Wendelboe. In 2018, they visited us in Bulgaria and saw how we take care of our coffees before we serve them to Bulgarian coffee lovers. We spent a few days together talking about coffee and our philosophy of life, we tasted many coffees together, and exchanged memories of hardships and success. In July 2019, Jordan Dabov visited Marysabel and Moises in El Puente, en route to his first participation in the Honduras Cup of Excellence as a juror. And there, in the Chinacla department, amidst the lush hills strewn with conifers and deciduous trees and coffee shrubs, the three shook hands and agreed upon four great coffees that you will soon taste.
How do El Puente choose their buyers? Marysabel replies: As a family we say that money is important, but it is not the most important thing in life. For us is very very important to have good relationships. We want to understand what our buyers think, what they are as persons. And if I see that we can have connect with this person for a long time because we can understand each other, is the best to work with them.
page page 22 // specialty specialty coffee coffee && tea tea journal journal // issue issue 44
Which are the coffees
you will soon be able to taste Gesha Marysabel and Moises Golded label ORANGE | PEACH | JASMINE Variety: Gesha Gesha Marysabel & Moises is our second Golden Label coffee. Our coffee hunter Jordan Dabov was left speechless after he has tasted it during his visit in Finca El Puente in 2019. A Geisha produced in Honduras with qualities to beat the most refined geishas competing in Best of Panama. A must try!
Java Marysabel and Moses
Honduras Caballero
Honduras Finca El Puente
Black label MELON | ROSE STRAWBERRY | MILKY Variety: Java
Red label MILK CHOCOLATE ORANGE | PLUMS Variety: Catuai
Brown label PLUMS | HAZELNUT DARK CHOCOLATE Variety: Catuai
Java is an interesting alternative to the Geisha variety and also originates from Ethiopia but it is grown in Central America with very high quality. It was selected by Jordan Dabov because in the hands of Marysabel Caballero and Moises Herrera it was cultivated to perfection.
We chose this coffee because it brings a classic cup of elegant sweetness. The fruit noites of orange and plum dipped in milk chocolate make you crave for one more sip. And then, one more.
“Honduras Finca El Puente is as inviting and sweet as Marysabel and Moises in their farm,” points out Jordan Dabov. The balanced combination of plum, dark chocolate and hazelnut will make you prefer it to any box of luxurious chocolates.
Winners of the Cup of Excellence 2016 Marysabel and Moises are among the most prominent specialty coffee producers in Honduras. In 2015, they participated Cup of Excellence for the first time and ranked in the unenviable last place. This, Marysabel admits, is one of their most valuable lessons. They must have learned their lesson well, since in 2016 they not only participated again, but this time they won the Cup of Excellence with 91.7 points and sold their coffee for a record $ 265 per kilogram. page 3 / specialty coffee & tea journal / issue 4
The birth of Cup of Excellence In mid-1999, the Gourmet project was coming to an end. The aim of the project was to help 5 countries get better prices for the quality coffee they produced. One of the major world coffee exporters, Brazil, have not managed to sell its best varieties to the American roasters and coffee distributors. George Howell – a coffee quality consultant for Brazil, had an idea to organize a competition, to invite a few respectable cuppers to select the best quality coffees among the participant. Thanks to The American Specialty Coffee Association (SCAA) and the World Coffee Organization (WCO) the first edition of Best of Brazil took place in the university town of Lavras, Minas Gerais state, with the participation of 310 Brazillian farmers.
10 cuppers – jurors from Europe, Asia and America chose the best 10 coffees among the 40 finalists. In 2001, the American non-profit association Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) was founded, with the primary purpose to organize the competition annually under the name Cup of Excellence. In 2003, the ACE website was launched, with an online auction for the sale of award-winning coffees. The Cup of Excellence has gradually expanded and today, in addition to Brazil, it is also being held in Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Burundi and Rwanda (forthcoming Ethiopia first edition in 2020).
Due to the rigorous selection of the winners, the event is often referred to as the “Coffee Oscars”. So far, more than 140 auctions have been held that have raised over $60.3 million in revenue for the farmers. We are proud that our coffee hunter Jordan Dabov has been a juror at CoE in Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and four times in Brazil.
"When it comes to qualit�, CoE selects only the best coffees,” Jordan is adamant. „This year we excluded 6 coffees that simply did not meet the criteria. We had 4 cupping sessions a day. The rest of the time we par�icipated in t�aining seminars in biolog�, chemist��, fer�entation."
How Specialty Coffees are being selected during Cup of Excellence: top 10 i n t e r n at i o n a l j u ry round 2 i n t e r n at i o n a l j u ry round 1 n at i o n a l j u ry round 2 n at i o n a l j u ry round 1
page 4 / specialty coffee & tea journal / issue 4
preselection
10 coffees 240 cups 35 coffees 840 cups 40 coffees 960 cups 90 coffees 1,080 cups 150 coffees 1 , 8 0 0 c up s 300 coffees 3 , 6 0 0 c up s
Cup of Excellence 20 years later – an insider’s look
In 1999, the winning coffee received 79 points out of 100 and was sold for $ 2.60 an ounce. Twenty years later, CoE winners are selling for up to $ 300 an ounce (a measure adopted by the industry for a coffee bag).
„Cup of Excellence has revolutionized the coffee indust��,“
- says Jordan Dabov. „How is it possible that in 20 years the points for a coffee winner have increased with 20!? It is all due to ACE's work. Each step - from the selection of the land for planting the coffee trees, the choice of the variety that will be most suitable to the terrain and climatic characteristics of the site, through the cultivation of the plant itself, the careful hand picking of only perfectly ripe cherries, the subsequent processing, packing, storing, sending to the roasters, and then roasting and carefully brewing in the cafes so that the maximum of each coffee can be extracted - all of this has changed.“ This gradually changes the consumers demand as well. "This year, several jurors gave
97 points The members of the 1999 jury were among this year's edition official guests. And our coffee hunter Jordan Dabov was once again the only Bulgarian invited among the jurors. "The most important people in the specialty coffee industry in the last 20 years were part of this year’s jury," says Jordan. - Along with George Howell, we had the oldest juror ever, 82-year-old Japanese Hidetaka Hayashi, as well as his compatriot Kentaro Maruyama, who is the only juror who has already participated in 60 competitions. One can learn a great deal even if one is only observing the way they work. "
In the last 25 years in the US alone, the specialty coffee market has grown from 1 to 20% and this is largely due to the activities of ACE and CoE. To participate in the competition and meet its selection criteria, farmers need to improve everything on their farm. Until today, DABOV Specialty Coffee clients had the chance to taste six Cup of Excellence winners, and we are looking forward to receiving soon the seventh - from Honduras. Three of those coffees were the winners of the No 1 spot: Guatemala, Kalibus La Sierra, 2016; Brazil Fazenda Paraiso, 2018, Honduras Gesha from the Mierisch family, 2019.
Jordan Dabov cup coffees during CoE Brazil 2019
to some of the coffees, and our Brazilian colleague Silvio Leite gave the maximum of 100 points to the coffee that eventually won,“ Jordan reflects on the past competition. „My highest mark was 94 points, though. This time I was one of the most practical jurors with feet on the grown. I evaluated the cake piece by piece and then assembled it to see to what it amounts to. " As part of the CoE jury, Jordan evaluates roast color, aroma, defects, cleanliness, sweetness, acidity, first sip sensation, taste, aftertaste, balance, overall appearance. These features are carefully considered by our coffee hunter when selecting a new coffee as well.
Jordan Dabov with Susie, one of CoE’ s founders
page 5 / specialty coffee & tea journal / issue 4
The best coffee we have ever offered you
Soon, you will be able to appreciate Honduras Santa Lucia Gesha СОЕ #1 2019 – the highest ranked Gesha in all СОЕ competitions in 2019 For 11 years we have been offering you the best specialty coffees in the world. To distinguish among them, we have created different labels. This year, we have already reached a new level of exclusivity with the addition of a Golden label to our collection of Brown, Red and Black labels. But before the end of 2019, we will take you one step closer to perfection with our brand new Platinum label. It will crown the highest-rated Gesha in all Cup of Excellence competitions this year. It won the competition in Honduras, where Jordan Dabov was part of the international jury for the first time. Finca Santa Lucia’s Washed Gesha received 94,84 points from the international jurors. Our coffee hunter was so impressed by it, that he personally gave it 96 points – the highest mark he has ever given during his 10 COE competitions as a juror.
Finca Santa Lucia is situated in Rio Bonito, Siguatepeque, Comaguaya region. There, in 2014, Erwin Jose Mierisch decided to plant Geisha which he had brought from Panama. The farm is located at 1650-1800 meters above sea level, with a Gesha growing at exactly 1567 meters above sea level. Over the past five years, the entire Mierisch family, led by Eleane Mierisch, Erwin’s sister, has been working on the cultivation and processing of this Gesha. Eleane, just like her father, Fincas Mierisch doyen, Doc Mierish, has a
medical degree but again like him, she has dedicated her life to coffee. For several years, she has been responsible for the quality control of production and processing station. Curiously enough, the Mierish family is from Nicaragua and grows Arabica varieties in several different farms in both countries. That's why two years ago, Eleane took part of the National Jury of the Cup of Excellence in Nicaragua. This has helped her a lot in her work in the farms. And the result is obvious.
This year's Cup of Excellence Honduras was par�icularly st�ong - the jurors awarded 6 coffees with 90 + points. Finca Santa Lucia should be proud of their success also because their coffee’s result is the second best in the hsitor� of COE Honduras.
#1 coe honduras 2019 gesha washed 94.84 PTS
Let us tell you a little about the flavor of this breath-taking coffee: in addition to the traditional Gesha jasmine and bergamot aromas, the jurors found many other fruity and flowery notes, but perhaps the most interesting element is the Champagne sensation. Perhaps that is why the acidity of the coffee is delicately citric and sparkling. Coffee with many layers of sensations and flavors. Do you feel like tasting it yet? page 6 / specialty coffee & tea journal / issue 4
A gift from DABOV Specialty Coffee is always a special experience
All year long, you will surely delight your loved ones or your colleag�es with giſts from our rich catalog. Christ�as is the time to ex�ress our love and g�atit�de to our nearest and dearest or our precious business par��ers with wisely chosen and beautif�lly packed giſts. And if they come under DABOV label, miracles will star� with unpacking. Your corporate clients and partners, as well as your family and friends, deserve to enjoy the unique and high-quality products we offer. Let us help you choose the most appropriate ones, and pack them stylishly so that you could present anyone you wish with an unforgettable and delicious experience. We import exclusively some of the best specialty coffees in the world. You could choose among limited slots from Cup of Excellence or Best of Panama winners. We also have a delicious anaerobic coffee from Central America, personally selected by Jordan Dabov. And why not customize the labels of the coffees you choose with your logo? And
why not add a coffee maker like Chemex or Hario, or a stylich and functional accessory that will make the gift truly unique? Our DelmarTe brand is a leader in the luxury tea market thanks to the rich, quality blends that surprise with various ingredients in unexpected and ever so tasty combinations. You could choose among our classic flavors or innovative mixtures from our three collections of loose tea or pyramidal biodegradable sachets. We also offer gift kits such as a tea box combined with an elegant handmade porcelain mug and more accessories.
Whether you want to make gifts for employees, senior management or VIP clients, we at DABOV Specialty Coffee will surprise you with unique offers that will make the recipient feel really special.That's why two years ago, Eleane took part of the National Jury of the Cup of Excellence in Nicaragua. This has helped her a lot in her work in the farms. And the result is obvious.
To order your corporate gifts, please contact us on: 0885 155 733 or e-mail: sales@dabov.bg
стр.7 coffee & tea journal / брой 4 4 page/ 7specialty / specialty coffee & tea journal / issue
20 13 COE COSTA RICA 20 15 coe 20 17 best of COE BRAZIL
Jordan Dabov is the first and only Bulgarian Jury member in Cup of Excellence Brazil
20 14 COE GUATEMALA 20 16 COE COLOMBIA
Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury of Cup of Excellence Colombia
Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury of Cup of Excellence Costa Rica and secures from it the No1 coffee, Kalibus la Sierra.
best of
panama
Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury of BOP. Thanks to this competition, we come across some of the most exclusive coffees in the world today, such as Gesha variety. From there we bought the extraordinary Dona Elvira Gesha Washed.
+ coe
Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury of COE NICARAGUA and COE BRAZIL and comes back from them with two coffees, one is the No 1 coffee of Brazil, Ismael Andrade’s Fazenda Paraiso.
+
oro de santa
barbara
Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury. The competition’s aim is to support small and medium coffee producers to work directly with international roasters. He comes back from there with two great coffees.
20 18
Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury of Cup of Excellence Costa Rica and comes back from it with the coffee from Dona Ileana farm.
Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury of COE COSTA RICA and COE BRAZIL and comes back from them with two coffees.
el salvador
Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury. The competition Best of El Salvador is part of Sasha Sestic’ PROJECT ORIGIN. He comes back from it with Gilberto Baraona’s coffee, Los Pirineos.
20 COE BRAZIL 19 +
20th ANNIVERSARY Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury of COE Brazil.
best of
panama
Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury of Best of Panama.
+ COE HONDURAS Jordan Dabov is part of the international jury of COE Honduras. This time he secures the No1 coffee – Gesha from the Mierisch family farm.
sales@dabov.bg