Word
cup of excellence
PhoneticsCup-of-Ex-cel-lence
US/kʌp əv ˈɛksələns/
UK/kʌp əv ˈeksələns/
Definition
compound. an annual competition and award that identifies the highest quality coffee beans produced in a specific country through a series of strict blind taste tests
compound. a prestigious international competition and auction platform established in 1999 to identify, grade, and reward the highest-quality specialty coffees using rigorous sensory evaluation protocols.
Examples
“This coffee shop sells beans that won the Cup of Excellence award.”
“The roastery paid a record price at the auction to secure a small lot of this year's Cup of Excellence winner.”
“By achieving a score above 90 points, this micro-lot earned the Cup of Excellence designation, ensuring the farmer receives a significant premium over commodity market prices.”
Examples
simple
“This coffee shop sells beans that won the Cup of Excellence award.”
contextual
“The roastery paid a record price at the auction to secure a small lot of this year's Cup of Excellence winner.”
complex
“By achieving a score above 90 points, this micro-lot earned the Cup of Excellence designation, ensuring the farmer receives a significant premium over commodity market prices.”
Real-World Examples
“The top scoring lot in the Honduras Cup of Excellence competition will once again remain in the country as Spirit Origin secures the winning bid of US$28.40 per pound.” “A coffee grown high in the mountains of Los Santos sold for $200.10 per pound at Costa Rica’s 2026 Cup of Excellence auction, anchoring the strongest set of results the competition has produced in the country in recent years.” Etymology
The term was coined in 1999 by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) to describe a project aimed at helping farmers receive fair value for high-quality crops.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/cup-of-excellence