Cup of Excellence

The top-scoring coffee in Costa Rica's 2016 Cup of Excellence competition set a new record at auction, $59 per pound, the highest price paid since the competition began in 2007.

Francisco Mena of Finca Sumava in Lourdes de Cirrí, Naranjo is new at coffee farming. But that didn't stop him from producing Costa Rica's best bean of 2016.

Judges named Francisco Mena of Monte Llano Bonito in Lourdes, Naranjo, the winner of the 2016 Cup of Excellence prize. This is the fourth time a farm in Lourdes has won top honors.

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...

Lourdes de Cirrí — more a collection of houses perched on the high road than town — is home to three winners of the Cup of Excellence, more than any other single growing area since it started in Costa Rica in 2007.

This year's winner of the Cup of Excellence is Manuel Antonio Barrantes of Leoncio, Cafetalera Herbazú coffee farm in Costa Rica's Naranjo region. Barrantes' coffee scored a 91.46 on a 100 point scale, one of only two entries that received presidential commendation for exceeding 90 points.

Noelia Villalobos, executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association of Costa Rica, said that they have never seen so many high quality coffees before.

Paying $6 for a java might seem steep to some, but it represents a watershed moment for quality coffee in Costa Rica, a country famous for coffee but historically unable to enjoy it.

The breakaway favorite of Costa Rica’s 2014 Cup of Excellence competition took home the highest bid in the Alliance for Coffee Excellence international auction Tuesday, netting over $60,000.

The anticipation was palpable Friday night as a room of producers from across Costa Rica met at the Costa Rican Coffee Institute’s field office in San Pedro de Barva, Heredia, to hear who would win the honor of the best coffee in a country renowned for its high quality beans.