Los Favoritos Winner Shines Light on Lesser-Known Variety
Portland, Oregon USA (April 16, 2021) – The Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) in partnership with Fincas Mierisch, is excited to announce the 15 winning coffees for the recently revived Nicaraguan Los Favoritos Private Collection Auction. The winners, 11 of which scored 88 points or above, represent six farms and five processes. The first-place winning coffee, an Anaerobic Low Temperature processed Ethiosar from Los Placeres Farm, earned the competition’s only 90+ score with 90.30 points. ACE’s Global Coffee Center judges described the winner as having flavors of red grapes, blackberry, chocolate, and rum with a creamy body and juicy aftertaste.
“The Ethiosar taking the highest score was definitely a pleasant surprise! We never would have expected that, and for it to have been processed using one of our new controlled fermentation techniques is equally fulfilling. This is the first time we’ve included this variety in any sort of auction, and it’s quite a rare variety to see in these types of circuits,” said Fincas Mierisch General Manager and Cup of Excellence Head Judge, Eleane Mierisch.
The Ethiosar variety – also represented in the 6th place winner – is a hybrid of the Ethiopian varietal Rume Sudan and Sarchimor, whose offspring is then re-crossed with a Villa Sarchi. Prized for its productivity, disease resistance and cup quality, it also performs well grown at lower elevation.
“The fact that it comes from one of our farms that does not have the highest altitude will also be surprising to many. But we see it as a testament that high quality coffee can be produced even in normal/average altitudes. Los Placeres, where the Ethiosar was grown, is a Rainforest Alliance Certified farm which means that this high scoring Ethiosar was farmed using agricultural practices that are in line with maintaining a healthy environment. We are extremely happy with the results and how the coffees performed. We’re glad that all our post-harvest processing techniques made the final selection,” said Erwin Mierisch who helps with farm and lab logistics.
The competition had 21 coffees passed to the International stage. The judges passed 15 to the auction, scoring 72% of the winning lots 87.5 points or above.
“I was impressed overall with the consistency of the cupping experiences, both in terms of temperature changes through a single cupping, and comparing separate cuppings This kind of consistency is a testament to the quality of these coffees, which also showed up when judges from around the world described their experiences similarly! These top coffees sampled for the auction would impress anyone with their uniqueness, clarity and their sweet, well-structured character,” said Los Favoritos Head Judge Scott Conary.
“The coffees brought so many “a-ha” moments, that it would be hard to not say them out loud; and for once I was glad to be cupping alone, so that I could vocalize these wonderfully surprising moments,” he continued.
The Los Favoritos winners offer buyers an opportunity to try various varieties and distinct processing techniques from the same country and producer. Sample sets of the winning lots are available for purchase which includes free auction registration. Opening prices start at $7.00/lb for coffees scored 87.5 – 87.99 points and $8.00/lb for coffees scored 88 points and above. The auction will take place on Tuesday, May 18th. The consistent approach and protocol ACE’s Global Coffee Center judges use is intended to result in scores buyers can rely on. GCC cupping notes, including flavor descriptors, will be made available to the public.
May 18th Auction Bidding times and time zones:
6:00 am PST Los Angeles, USA
9:00 am EST New York, USA
2:00 pm GMT London, United Kingdom
3:00 pm CET Amsterdam, Netherlands
4:00 pm MSK Moscow, Russia
5:00 pm GST Dubai, United Arab Emirates
9:00 pm HKT Hong Kong, Hong Kong
10:00 pm JST Tokyo, Japan
11:00 pm AEDT Sydney, Australia
For more information about the program and auction please visit: https://allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org/los-favoritos-2021-pca-auction/
Here are some key facts about the winning lots:
- 15 winning lots
- 3 varieties
- 6 Farms
- 5 Processes: Honey, Anaerobic Honey, Natural, Natural Anaerobic Low Temperature & Washed
- 1 90+ point winner is an Ethiosar variety – also Rainforest Alliance Certified
- 2 Rainforest Alliance Certified coffees
Upcoming 2021 ACE Private Collection Auctions include:
Fincas Mierisch: Los Favoritos Nicaragua 2021
May 18
Qima Yemen
Fall of 2021
About Alliance for Coffee Excellence
Alliance for Coffee Excellence is a global non-profit membership-based organization that brings together the global marketplace in order to create a more transparent and sustainable economic future for high quality farmers. ACE manages a Global Coffee Center Education Lab, Cup of Excellence samples and Private Collection Auctions. Adhering to ACE’s mission of rewarding exemplary coffee farmers, ACE Private Collection Auctions is a curation of auctions with organizations and farmers who best exemplify ACE’s standards with Cup of Excellence programming.
