Cup Of Excellence Cupping In Philly

On Tuesday March 4, I was invited to a pre-auction tasting of Brazilian Cup of Excellence late harvest coffees.  23 microlots were shown in six cities across the US.  The Philadelphia tasting was held at Urban Outfitters headquarters campus at the old Navy Yard and hosted by La Colombe.

Navy Yard, Philadelphia

The location for the tasting couldn't have been more impressive.  The 350,000 square foot Urban Outfitters campus was built in a dilapidated navy shipyard.  Instead of removing the old patina of rust, old paint and other signs of aging, the architects made it the dominant aesthetic.   The result is uber-hip, young and fostering creativity.

Urban At The Curb, Urban Outfitters Headquarters

COE representative Andrew Hetzel hosted the event in the “Acid Bath Event Lecture Hall.”which was attended by an industry crowd and press including Sprudge, Elxir Coffee, Electric City Roasting and La Colombe.

Andrew Hetzel Addressing The Crowd

All of the lots were processed using the dry natural method and ranged in score from 85.5 to 92.22.  Interestingly, the number one coffee was produced by a woman farmer, Cinthia Dias Villela.  The lot sizes are extremely small and will be auctioned on March 6.  It was my first Brazilian cupping and I came away impressed by the quality, depth and range of flavors.

Lot 17b

Todd Carmichael & JP Iberti Cupping Lots

JP Cupping Lot 1, The Highest Rated Out Of 23 From The COE Brazilian Tasting

Links

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List of the winning lots

Coffee Strategies by Andrew Hetzel

La Colombe