COE Competition and Coffee Cupping Scoring Standards

Last month, FrontStreet Coffee shared with you the cupping scoring system, briefly mentioning COE. In daily life, the term "COE" frequently appears on labels of various coffee beans. This naturally sparked everyone's curiosity: What exactly is COE?

What is COE?

"COE," fully known as "Cup of Excellence," translates to "卓越杯" (Excellence Cup) in Chinese. It is a competition first held in Brazil in 1999 by the non-profit organization "Alliance for Coffee Excellence" (ACE). It can be said to be the world's most renowned and authoritative competition for premium green coffee beans!

Each country can host a COE competition, where the "contestants" are coffee beans from across the host country! The winning beans in the competition not only bring sufficient prestige to their estates but also considerable auction revenue during the auction after the event concludes. The substantial auction proceeds motivate coffee farmers to cultivate high-quality coffee, and in turn, we can enjoy even better coffee. It can be said that COE perfectly demonstrates to coffee farmers the principle that "hard work pays off"!

COE Scoring System

Let's return to the COE scoring system! COE's cupping scoring has slight differences from the SCA scoring system, as it was derived from the SCA scoring system! You can refer to the article "SCA Scoring Items" for detailed information about the SCA scoring system! In COE cupping, each sample consists of four cups, with the scoring table as follows:

The two systems are largely similar, with main differences lying in individual details! In COE scoring items, dry/wet aroma no longer counts toward the total score, and scoring for cleanliness is more stringent! Body is directly changed to "Mouthfeel," which not only evaluates body but also smoothness, astringency, and other aspects, aiming to score from more diverse perspectives! Flavor evaluation references the new flavor wheel, allowing judges to make more precise and concrete evaluations (finally, there's a blank column for descriptions)! Then, COE eliminates the "Uniformity" item!

COE Competition Format

Each country's COE competition format varies somewhat. Let's use the 2020 Ethiopian COE as an example! The entire Ethiopian COE event consists of three parts: Pre-selection, National Jury, and International Jury.

Pre-selection Stage

The judges in the pre-selection stage are all professional judges from the host country, typically numbering around 12-18 people. They conduct strict reviews of the competing sample beans, from roasting degree to cupping procedures, and so on. Only beans with cupping scores above 85 points in the pre-selection stage qualify to advance to the next competition round.

National Jury Stage

This stage also employs professional judges from the host country, primarily to conduct another screening of the beans that advanced from the pre-selection stage! Beans winning in this round will enter the final International Jury stage.

International Jury Stage

The judging panel in this stage consists of international cuppers. All participating sample beans are labeled with a random number, with only administrators knowing which bean corresponds to each number. After receiving the numbers, the beans begin blind tasting by the judging panel! Finally, beans scoring above 87 points will be designated as COE auction lots, while the remaining beans, although not meeting auction lot standards, generally score above 85 points. These beans belong to the National Winners category!

However, whether it's COE auction lots or National Winners, they ultimately need to be obtained through auction, which is the most crucial stage for coffee farmers! Therefore, when purchasing beans, the COE label we occasionally see might indicate "contestants" who won excellence in the competition. As for why it's "might" - it's because some are "COE same batch" but not necessarily COE auction lots~

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