The Sidama coffee farmer, Legese Botosa, produces the top-scoring coffee for the Cup of Excellence Ethiopia (COE) 2022. Legese won first place earlier this summer with his sun-dried natural coffee, earning a high score of 90.69. Because of the rigorous selection process, COE coffees have unrivaled quality. The top 30 coffees were scored above 87 by the Cup of Excellence International Jury, assuring the quality of coffee in Ethiopia. The top-scoring coffee for Cup of Excellence Ethiopia (COE) 2022 was sold for $884.10 (ETB 47,236.23) per kilogram, surpassing last year’s winner of the coffee quality competition in 2021, Tamiru Tadesse, who sold it at ETB 14,500 per kilogram. This year’s auction sale is the highest price ever recorded for Ethiopian coffee. LNK Coffee Trading DMCC and SAZA Coffee were the highest bidders and winners of the coffee.
The Cup of Excellence (COE) program, in partnership with the Specialty Coffee Association of America, developed the first global online auction for award-winning coffees back in 1999. The Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority held an online auction available in a 24-hour live auction called the Oscar of Coffee on August 23, 2022, for this year’s international coffee quality competition, the third round of its kind in Ethiopia. The COE is the most prestigious competition and auction for top-quality coffee from all over the world. The COE competition has pioneered integrity and transparency in the coffee industry for over 20 years.
