By: Jeff Babcock, Founder & President
The plane touched down in La Paz, Bolivia just as the sun began to sail
up and over the horizon. The first thing I noticed is how clear and
bright the sky is - so bright that I immediately reach for my
sunglasses. It instantly feels different up here - we landed 13,000
feet above sea level, and I am puffing and panting up here in the thin
air.
Cool Travel Fact: One of the oldest civilizations, Bolivia is the birth place of the Aymara civilization that predates the Incas.
Cup of Excellence Judging, the First Few Days
After the Zoka team and I collect ourselves at the Casa Grand hotel and
eat a short lunch, it's off by bus to Coroico where we will stay for a
week and judge some of the best and highest grown coffees in the
world. That's not an exaggeration - Bolivia has many towering peaks;
the highest is Nevado Sajama at 21,463 feet.
When we arrive in Coroico, the coffees have already been whittled down
from 260 farms to the select top 58 National winners. We work with a
very knowledgeable international judges group, made up of 23 expert
coffee cuppers from the around the globe who will judge the coffees in
a blind format for days.
On Monday, the Calibration Begins
Coffee Talk: The Calibration is a gathering so everyone can get used to
the judging protocol and format - we cup several series and then
coordinate to make sure all the judges are on the same page with their
scoring.
Tuesday is the first real day of the judging process. We cup for about
five hours and judge the first 30 coffees. Every coffee is given a code
and we hand in and review our scores. If the scores are above 84, the
coffees make it to the next round. Typically judges score 10 at a time
and it takes an hour and a half from start to finish. After five hours,
we break for lunch and in the afternoon, it's off to a coffee farm and
then home and dinner for an early start on Wednesday.
Friday's Final Coffee Countdown
This process is pretty much the same for three days. By Friday, we have
the top ten selected. On Friday, we cup and score these top coffees and
then sit down to review the scores. We were amazed that for the first
time in the history of the competitions 7 out of the top 10 coffees had
an average judges' score of over 90 points! That is truly astonishing -
usually only one or two coffees score this high, but this year the
coffees were exceptional and the scores proved it.
The verdict:The Bolivia coffees for 2010 are insanely delicious! And they're coming soon, so stay tuned.
After the Cup of Excellence
At the international auction, which occurred 6 weeks later, Zoka
purchased the no. 6 coffee from the farm of Luis Huayhua Chiji. His
farm is called Café Central and is located near the city of Caranavi in
the region of Yungas. It scored a 90.71 and is an outstanding coffee
that comprises the best flavors found in any Bolivian coffee.
Expect to savor these sensational flavors in our Bolivia Cup of
Excellence: cherry, orange spice, cocoa, rum acidity, brilliant red
wine, coconut, raspberry, sweet and cinnamon, hints of Jasmine.
Now that you know what goes into a Cup of Excellence, you can
appreciate why these coffees don't last long. We purchased 7 bags of it
and we're sure we'll sell out quick. See our
Central & South American coffees and explore this wonderful growing region.
