Luis Ricardo Calderón, from Santa María de Dota, drums up support for his friends’ coffee during the Cup of Excellence auction Wednesday at the Specialty Coffee Association of Costa Rica. Calderón, whose coffee placed 21st, used a Skype feed to communicate with bidders in Sweden. The winner of Costa Rica’s 2015 Cup of Excellence, Manuel Antonio Barrantes of Leoncio, Cafetalera Herbazú received a whopping $64,034 for his lot. Maruyama Coffee and Cafe Maple from Japan, and Campos Coffee from Australia won the bid for Barrantes’ coffee, paying $41.20 per lb.
