COE Coffee - What Does COE Mean, What is the Cup of Excellence Competition, COE Coffee Evaluation Guide

When discussing some of the world's finest coffee beans, aside from Panama's Geisha coffee, the most frequently discussed are undoubtedly the coffee beans from the COE coffee ranking list. The existence of COE coffee beans allows more people to quickly learn about a coffee-producing region. Each year, the top-ranking COE coffee beans on the COE list become the auction champions of that year's COE competition, with auction prices potentially rising year after year.

What is the Cup of Excellence?

Those who have encountered specialty coffee have more or less heard of the COE competition. COE stands for Cup of Excellence, translated as "卓越杯" in Chinese. The COE Cup of Excellence competition is the world's most important specialty green bean competition and is currently the most renowned and authoritative specialty green bean competition worldwide.

First held in Brazil in 1999 by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE), over the past twenty years, more than ten countries have joined the Cup of Excellence competition. Each year, the COE competitions held in various countries bring coffee lovers worldwide the finest quality coffee beans from that year's harvest in each producing country. As COE judges, they are professional cuppers from around the world who conduct cupping evaluations for each coffee bean participating in the competition, ultimately selecting the top 30 entries with scores above 87 points for global auction. The auction proceeds are returned to the coffee growers, providing incentives for the development of coffee quality in each producing country.

Indonesian Coffee's COE Debut

Interestingly, while Indonesian coffee, a good coffee from the old era, may not hold much attraction in many people's eyes, Indonesia held its first COE competition in 2021. Those who have visited FrontStreet Coffee's stores to taste Indonesian coffee from FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu might notice that Indonesian coffee typically exhibits characteristics described as herbal, spicy, full-bodied, nutty, and cocoa-like. However, in Indonesia's first COE competition, the top-winning coffee beans showed more fruity characteristics, quite different from the Indonesian coffee we typically encounter, yet bringing delightful surprises to coffee connoisseurs.

COE Quality Standards

The quality of COE competition-winning coffee beans is evident to all, thanks to the competition's strict judging standards. Coffee scoring 69 points or below is considered inferior commercial or industrial grade; coffee scoring between 70-74 points is general commercial grade; coffee scoring between 75-79 points is premium commercial grade; coffee scoring between 80-84 points is specialty coffee; coffee scoring 85 points or above is COE competition level, currently recognized as the highest standard in the international coffee community.

FrontStreet Coffee's Cupping Standards

FrontStreet Coffee also references COE cupping criteria when cupping coffee beans to determine whether to add them to their menu. FrontStreet Coffee conducts cupping within 8 to 24 hours after sample bean roasting. Frontsteet uses 200ml cupping bowls with 11 grams of coffee, with grinding controlled to 70-75% pass-through rate on a Chinese standard #20 sieve, water temperature at 94°C, and steeping time of 4 minutes.

Ethiopia's Entry into COE

Ethiopia, recognized as the birthplace of coffee, although originally a member of the TOH competition, joined the Cup of Excellence family in 2020, hosting the country's first-ever COE competition. FrontStreet Coffee naturally participated in this COE coffee bean auction, successfully bidding on the 22nd-place coffee bean.

This coffee bean is a natural-processed Typica from the Sidamo West Arsi region, grown by Adem Banta Sute, with a cupping score of 87.64. The grower, Adem Banta Sute, was then in his sixties, having grown coffee for a lifetime and being the father of 28 children. His family lives in Refisa village, Nensebo district, West Arsi, Oromia region. Adem Banta Sute cultivated and produced 4,500 kg of coffee beans on his mere 6 hectares of land. Before winning the first Ethiopian COE competition, he had never accessed the export market or had opportunities to engage with it, selling the coffee beans produced from his land to local merchants. With the momentum of the 2020 Ethiopian COE competition, Adem Banta Sute seized the opportunity to enter the global market, bringing great hope to himself and his family. This opportunity also allowed more coffee lovers to discover the coffee beans he grows.

Coffee Bean Details

Next, let's examine the basic information about this coffee bean with FrontStreet Coffee:

FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia COE22

Region: West Arsi

Grower: Adem Banta Sute

Altitude: 2000 meters

Variety: Typica

Processing: Natural process

The coffee beans that FrontStreet Coffee successfully bid on at Ethiopia's first COE auction were processed using the natural method. After harvesting and selecting coffee cherries, grower Adem Banta Sute evenly placed whole cherries with complete pulp and skin on raised beds for sun-drying. Before the moisture content dropped to 25%, they required manual and even turning every half hour to an hour, thereby avoiding unpleasant over-fermentation flavors. This intensive labor-intensive drying method, which isolates coffee cherries from ground contact, prevents earthy and other off-flavors during the drying process, creating exceptionally clean and intense fruity flavors. After more than two weeks of sun-drying, the shriveled, dark brown coffee cherries were stored for flavor maturation. Before shipment, the green beans were extracted, and their sweetness can be imagined as rich and full-bodied. This coffee bean ranked 22nd in the 2020 Ethiopian COE, so FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu simply marks it as "COE22".

Brewing and Tasting

FrontStreet Coffee's roaster used a medium-light roast level for this natural-processed Typica coffee bean to preserve its rich fruit acidity and juice-like mouthfeel. FrontStreet Coffee's barista uses a Hario V60 dripper, water temperature of 91°C, and medium-fine grind size when brewing this coffee bean.

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 91°C

Coffee dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: 80% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve

Regular readers of FrontStreet Coffee's articles should know that FrontStreet Coffee typically uses a three-pour brewing method when brewing coffee beans, as this approach can provide coffee with richer complexity.

First, pour 30g of hot water for a 30-second bloom, then inject with a small water stream from the center and slowly circle to 125g for the segment. Wait until the water level in the dripper drops to just above the coffee bed, then continue circular pouring to 225g. Once the water completely drips into the server below, remove the dripper. Total extraction time is approximately 2 minutes.

After brewing, FrontStreet Coffee's COE22 exhibits lychee and strawberry-like sweetness and acidity, with a hint of fermented wine aroma, a silky cream-like mouthfeel, and a honey-like sweet aftertaste.

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