In 2023, Coffee Review blind-tasted more than 3,000 coffee samples from hundreds of leading roasting companies and coffee producers around the world. We ultimately published nearly 600 reviews on CoffeeReview.com over the course of the year. The Top 30 Coffees of 2023 is our editors’ ranking of the 30 most exciting of these coffees, representing roughly 5 percent of the coffees we reviewed.

This is the 11^th year we have compiled our Top 30 list. This annual event supports our mission to help consumers identify and purchase superior-quality coffees, while also helping recognize and reward the farmers and roasters who produce these coffees. The Top 30 celebrates and promotes coffee roasters, farmers, mill operators, importers and other coffee-industry professionals who make an extra effort to produce coffees that are not only superb in quality but also distinctive in character.

In 2023, only about one out of four of the more than 3,000 coffees we tested scored 90 points or higher. But over 215 of them — around 8 percent of the total — earned 94 points or more, a tribute to the ever-intensifying innovation and dedication of the world’s leading coffee producers and roasters.

However, we always offer the caveat that scores alone have limitations. Coffee lovers may well take more pleasure in a lower-rated coffee that matches their taste preferences than a higher-scoring coffee that isn’t their style. We do our best to characterize a coffee’s character in the “Blind Assessment” paragraph of our reviews, and even more succinctly in the “Bottom Line” that concludes each review. We encourage readers to look beyond our overall scores and rankings to identify the coffees that they find the most exciting and enjoyable.

For those curious about how we conduct our testing and rating processes at Coffee Review, see How Coffee Review Works. For what scores mean with respect to the wide range of coffee styles and qualities, see Interpreting Reviews.

Difficult Choices

All of the coffees that rated 94 points or higher in 2023 are worthy of celebrating, as are many of the unique and exciting coffees that didn’t score quite as high. Obviously, not all of the coffees earning 94 points or more can appear in the Top 30. We forced ourselves to select the 30 we felt were the most exciting.

As in past years, we selected and ranked our Top 30 coffees based on quality and distinctiveness (represented primarily by overall rating), value (reflected by most affordable price per pound and price relative to similar coffees), and consideration of other factors that include uniqueness of origin, style, processing method, tree variety, certifications such as Fair Trade and organic, and general singularity.

In each of the 11 years that we have published our Top 30 list, including 2023, our top pick has been a single-origin coffee — meaning a coffee from a single country and region (and usually from a single farm or cooperative).

Wilton Benitez Pink Bourbon Colombia, roasted by JBC Coffee Roasters, Coffee Review’s #1 coffee of 2023. Courtesy of JBC Coffee Roasters.

#1 Coffee of 2023

This year, we selected the 98-point Wilton Benitez Pink Bourbon Colombia roasted by JBC Coffee Roasters in Madison, Wisconsin as the #1 coffee. The review from July describes the coffee as “an elegant, decadent, pied piper of a coffee with its mesmerizing aromatics and addictively complex cup with notes like blackberry jam and frankincense — you’ll find more descriptors than you can count on both hands.” This coffee takes its originality and complexity in part from a particularly meticulous version of the trendy anaerobic processing method.

This is the first time a coffee from Colombia has earned the #1 spot. Coffees from Panama have earned the top spot five times, in 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2021. In 2017 and 2022, the top coffee was from Yemen. Coffees from Hawaii (2018), Kenya (2016) and Ethiopia (2013) have previously earned recognition as Coffee Review’s #1 coffee of the year.

Top 30 Statistics

Ratings and Price

The average overall rating for coffees on our Top 30 list for 2023 is 95.6 out of a possible 100, in line with, but slightly higher than, past averages.

In 2023, the average price of the coffees on our Top 30 list was $124.56 per pound. (Coffees sold in non-U.S. currencies were converted to U.S. dollars for averaging purposes.) However, that figure is skewed upward by the extremely high-priced (~$1,750 per pound) #3 Princesa Carmen Geisha from Taiwanese roaster GK Coffee, which was a Best of Panama competition winner that attracted an extraordinarily high price as a green coffee at the 2023 Best of Panama auction. If you remove this coffee from the calculations, the average price drops to $68.48 per pound, which is lower than the average of $79.34 in 2022.

Husband and wife team Gary and Kai-yun Liao at GK Coffee (roaster of 2023 coffees #3 and #6) in Yilan, Taiwan. Courtesy of GK Coffee.

As in past years, higher-scoring coffees in our 2023 Top 30 tended to cost more than lower-scoring coffees:

• 97- and 98-point coffees (4) ~ $492.00/pound (yes, skewed)
• 96-point coffees (12) – $95.33/pound
• 95-point coffees (11) – $49.52/pound
• 93- to 94-point coffees (3) – $26.22/pound

Value

One of the selection criteria for the Top 30 is value, measured by price per pound relative to coffees of similar quality and style. Many of the coffees on our list are priced in line with similar, though usually less distinguished, specialty coffees in the marketplace.

Roadmap CoffeeWorks (roaster of 2023 Top 30 coffees #22 and #26) tasting room in Lexington, Virginia. Courtesy of Roadmap CoffeeWorks.

Seven coffees were priced at less than $30 per pound, or the equivalent of $22 per 12-ounce bag:

• #7 Red Rooster, Ethiopia Shantawene Washed, 96 points – $22.00/12 oz.
• #12 Kakalove Café (Taiwan), Kenya Washed Kiambu Windrush AA, 96 points ~ $10.52/8 oz.
• #17 Speckled Ax, Sumatra Lintong Kardon, 95 points – $21.00/12 oz.
• #23 Buon Caffe (Taiwan), Kenya Machakos, 96 points ~ $12.65/8 oz.
• #24 Peach Coffee, Blue Sunda Estate Java, 94 points – $19.00/12 oz.
• #26 Roadmap CoffeeWorks, Tanzania Nyasi Furaha, 94 points – $19.00/12 oz.
• #29 Bassline Coffee, Bali Kintamani, 93 points – $21.00/12 oz.

If you are interested shopping for Top 30 coffees that are still available for sale, visit our Shop for the Top 30 page, which provides links to the roasters’ websites where the coffees may be available. At the time this article was published, 14 of the Top 30 coffees were still available for purchase.

Origin

With seven appearances, Colombia is the most frequently cited origin in our 2023 Top 30. The probable reason is the surge in innovative processing methods among some Colombian coffee producers, particularly those in the southwestern departments of Cauca and Huila. In fact, four of the Top 30 coffees, including two of the top four, were grown by the same Cauca producer, Wilton Benitez. With the Benitez coffees, the usual emphasis on fastidious agricultural and harvest processes and admired tree varieties was bolstered by a strikingly detailed and innovative approach to processing, or fruit removal and drying, which involved a double-anaerobic fermentation of the whole fruit in sealed tanks with yeast added, and sterilization of the cherries with ozone gas and ultraviolet light. Modifying cup character through such complex processing methods brings coffee closer to the world of wine, and may well signal a fundamental change in how fine coffee will be created and understood in the future.

Wilton Benitez, producer of JBC Coffee Roasters’ #1 coffee of 2023, at his processing facility in Colombia.  Courtesy of JBC Coffee Roasters.

Hawaii and Kenya were second in number of placements this year with three coffees each, while Ethiopia, Panama and Peru each appear twice. Filling out the list were 11 origins represented by one coffee each. Two of the 30 samples were designated as intended for brewing as espresso.

Tree Variety

When describing last year’s Top 30 list, we wrote: “There are stars and superstars among the hundreds of varieties of Arabica grown in the world today, and coffees from these distinguished varieties continue to dominate the very highest ratings at Coffee Review.”  Variety appears to be as important as ever in both the production and marketing of the fine single-origin coffees we celebrate in our latest Top 30 list.

Laura Ross and Karen Paterson checking on trees at Hula Daddy Kona Coffee, grower and roaster of Coffee Review #2 Kona Pointu. Courtesy of Hula Daddy Kona Coffee.

For example, this year, seven of our Top 30 coffees were produced from trees of the celebrated Geisha (also spelled Gesha) variety, the Ethiopia-derived variety that burst onto the world coffee stage during a green coffee competition in Panama in 2004, breaking all rating and price records. The most rare variety on the list appeared at #2, the 97-rated Hula Daddy Kona Coffee Kona Pointu. Bourbon Pointu (botanical variety name “Laurina”) is a natural mutation of the famous Bourbon variety, first detected on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The Bourbon Pointu is famous for its naturally low levels of caffeine, bean shape (small and tending to be pointed at the ends, hence “pointu”), and pungently fruit-toned cup.

A hint of a possible trend showed up with the appearance of a coffee of the Sidra variety at #4, and coffees from trees of the Pink Bourbon variety at #1 and #20. Sidra and Pink Bourbon have long been thought to be natural hybrids of the Bourbon and Typica varieties, but the latest genetic research indicates that both are Ethiopian varieties that were carried to Latin America, much as Geisha was. Neither variety has been traced in its movement from Ethiopia to Latin America, although in both cases the typical cup suggests Ethiopian character and florality.

Processing Method

Remarkably, in 2023, processing method was disclosed for every coffee on the list, perhaps indicative of the increasing awareness in the coffee world of the importance of processing method in determining cup character. Half (15) of the 30 are traditional washed coffees, meaning fruit skin and flesh were removed before the coffee was dried, usually promoting a clean, sweet-tart cup with a generally familiar “coffee” character. Two more are wet-hulled, the mainly Indonesian variation on the washed method that encourages complex spice and savory notes. Six of the 30 are naturals, meaning the beans were dried in the whole fruit, a practice that typically encourages sweetness and fruit.

Tim and Patricia Coonan, owners of Big Shoulders Coffee and roaster of the #13 Colombia Wilton Benitez Thermal Shock Geisha. Courtesy of Big Shoulders Coffee.

Seven of this year’s Top 30 coffees, an increase of just two from 2022, were processed using variations of the anaerobic method, in which a fermentation step takes place in sealed, reduced-oxygen containers. This demanding procedure, done right, generally encourages a lactic sweet-sour structure and often surprising and original aroma and flavor notes.

Roasters in the Top 30

In 2023, five roasting companies placed two coffees each on this year’s Top-30 list:

• GK Coffee (Yilan, Taiwan) – #3 and #6
• Hula Daddy Kona Coffee (Holualoa, Hawaii) – #2 and #21
• JBC Coffee Roasters (Madison, Wisconsin) – #1 and #9
• Kakalove Café (Chia-Yi, Taiwan) – #5 and #12
• Roadmap CoffeeWorks (Lexington, Virginia) – #22 and #26

This concentration of coffees from certain roasters is certainly not intentional. In fact, we make a deliberate effort to minimize repetition and maximize variety among roasters that appear in the Top 30.

The Kakalove Cafe team at their roasting facility in Chia-Yi, Taiwan. Courtesy of Kakalove Cafe.

To that end, this year we consciously limited appearances in the Top 30 to a maximum of two coffees per roaster, regardless of how many highly rated coffees that roaster produced. While that may seem like an arbitrary limit — and it is — it’s important to remember that our list represents our rendering of the most “exciting” coffees of the year, not necessarily the highest-rated. We felt that it wouldn’t be very exciting (to us or others) if the Top 30 list was dominated by a handful of roasting companies that produced a particularly large number of highly rated coffees over the course of the year. Instead, we felt readers would be more excited to read about amazing coffees from a broader variety of roasters.

The family team on their farm at Rusty’s Hawaiian, producer of the #8 Grand Champion Red Bourbon Natural. Courtesy of Rusty’s Hawaiian.

That said, Coffee Review has been, from its inception, committed to starting with what we actually experience in the cup, not with product categories or marketing considerations or fashion. It is true that we take into account extrinsic factors like value, rarity and sustainable intentions when we narrow the number of candidates from hundreds to just 30. But ultimately, sensory quality and distinction in the cup, as determined by blind-tasting and reflected in rating, is the entry point for consideration and one of the primary factors that influences where coffees land on the list.

Midtown Sacramento location of Temple Coffee Roasters, roaster of the Ethiopia Halo Beriti Single-Origin Espresso, #15 coffee of 2023. Courtesy of Temple Coffee Roasters.

Roasting Company Location

Of the 30 coffees on the list, 23 were roasted by companies in the United States. Six coffees were roasted in Taiwan, up from four in 2022, continuing a trend of increasing coffee quality and presence in Taiwan. Both Kakalove Café and GK Coffee – roasters in Taiwan – appeared on the list twice.

Revel Coffee (#11 Colombia Calderon Honey) roaster Gary Theisen monitoring a batch of coffee on a Loring Kestrel at his roastery in Billings, Montana.  Courtesy of Renata Haidle.

For the third year in a row, a coffee roasted in Japan appeared in the Top 30. SOT Coffee Roaster from Osaka, Japan roasted the #25 Colombia El Paraiso Geisha Luna Washed.

Please enjoy our list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2023.

All the best from Coffee Review for a happy and prosperous new year, full of both coffee surprises and the reassurance of the fine and familiar.

The post A Deeper Look at Coffee Review’s Top 30 Coffees of 2023 appeared first on Coffee Review.

In 2022, Coffee Review blind-tasted more than 2,500 samples from leading roasting companies and coffee producers, 530 of which we reviewed on www.coffeereview.com. The Top 30 Coffees of 2022 represents a further selection: a ranking of the 30 most exciting of these coffees.

This year’s list represents the 10^th year we have compiled our Top 30 list of the most exciting coffees we have tasted over the preceding year. This annual event supports our mission of helping consumers identify and purchase superior quality coffees, while also helping recognize and reward the farmers and roasters who produce these coffees. The Top 30 celebrates and promotes coffee roasters, farmers, mill operators, importers, and other coffee industry professionals who make an extra effort to produce coffees that are not only superb in quality but also distinctive in character.

In 2022, roughly one out of four of the over 2,500 coffees we tested scored 90 points or higher, and over 220 of them – nearly 10% of the total –rated 94 or higher, a tribute to the ever-intensifying innovation and dedication of the world’s leading coffee producers and roasters.

Remember that we cup blind; we determine ratings and main descriptors for a coffee before we learn where it came from and who roasted it. For those curious about how we conduct our testing and rating processes at Coffee Review, see How Coffee Review Works. For what scores mean in respect to the wide range of coffee styles and qualities, see Interpreting Reviews.

However, despite our efforts to make our ratings consistent and meaningful, numbers taken alone have limitations. Visitors may well take more pleasure in a lower-rated coffee that matches their taste preferences than a higher-scoring coffee that isn’t their style. We do our best to characterize a coffee’s character in the “Blind Assessment” paragraph of our reviews and even more succinctly in the “Bottom Line” that concludes each review.

Hard Choices: Narrowing Down the List

All of the 220 coffees that rated 94 points or higher in 2022 are particularly worthy of celebrating, as are the exceptional coffees that hovered just below them in rating. Obviously, not all of the more than 220 coffees earning 94 points or more in 2022 can appear in the Top 30. We forced ourselves to select the 30 we felt were the most exciting.

Joe Bean owner and roaster Ben Turiano (right) with farmer Don Roger Mairena (left) in Jinotega, Nicaragua. Courtesy of Joe Bean Roasters.

As in past years, we selected and ranked our Top 30 coffees based on quality and distinctiveness (represented by overall rating), value (reflected by most affordable price per pound), and consideration of other factors that include uniqueness of origin or tree variety, certifications such as Fair Trade and organic, and general singularity.

In each of the 10 years that we have published our Top 30 list, including 2022, our top pick has been a single-origin coffee — meaning a coffee from a single country and region (and usually from a single farm or cooperative).

#1 Coffee of 2022

This year, we selected the 97-point Yemen Haraaz Red Mahal Aqeeq ul Station Natural roasted by PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. in Topeka, Kansas as the #1 coffee. The review from May described the coffee as “A gorgeous stunner of a classic Yemen cup: fruit-laden, floral and sweetly herbaceous — a heady coffee, both aromatically and on the palate.” This is the second time a coffee from Yemen has earned the #1 spot. For the past three years, the #1 coffee was produced in Panama. Prior to that, it was Hawaii (2018), Yemen (2017), Kenya (2016) and Ethiopia (2013). Panama coffees also topped the list in 2014 and 2015.

Top 30 Statistics

With five appearances, Colombia was the most frequently cited origin in our 2022 list. Ethiopia and Hawaii were second in number of placements this year with three. Guatemala, Kenya, and Mexico each appeared twice. Panama appeared just once. Filling out the list were 11 origins represented by one coffee each, together with one blend. Two of the total of 30 samples were intended for brewing as espresso.

Average Ratings

The average overall rating of the coffees on the Top 30 list for 2022 is 95.0 out of a possible 100, in line with past averages.

Cost per Pound: From Very High to Reasonable

In 2022, the average price of the coffees on our Top 30 list was $79.34 per pound. (Coffees sold in non-U.S. currencies were converted to U.S. dollars for averaging purposes.)

As in past years, higher-scoring coffees in our 2022 Top 30 tended to cost more than lower-scoring coffees:            

• 96- and 97-point coffees (13) – $125.02/pound
• 95-point coffees (7) – $55.25/pound
• 94-point coffees (8) – $39.09/pound
• 91- to 93-point coffees (2)  – $27.67/pound

One of the selection criteria for the Top 30 is value, measured by price per pound relative to coffees of similar quality. Many of the coffees on our list are priced in line with similar, though usually less distinguished, specialty coffees in the marketplace. Ten of the coffees on the list cost $30 or less per pound.

JBC Coffee Roasters appeared in the Top 30 twice in 2022, with the #11 Kabiufa Papua New Guinea, one of the top values among Top 30 coffees. Courtesy of JBC Coffee Roasters.

Seven coffees were priced at less than $21.00 per 12-ounce bag:

• #28 Jackrabbit Java, Mexico Altura Natural Water Process Decaf, 91 points- $14.00/12 oz.
• #11 JBC Coffee Roasters, Kabiufa Papua New Guinea, 95 points – $18.00/12 oz.
• #27 Old Soul Co, Whiskey Dreams Moka Java, 94 points – $18.00/12 oz.
• #5 Moore Coffee, El Salvador Aida Batlle La Florida Natural, 95 points – $18.65/12 oz.
• #18 Roadmap CoffeeWorks, Tanzania Mbeya Mimba – $18.75/12 oz.
• #22 El Gran Cafe, Espresso No. 3, 94 points – $20.00/12 oz.
• #9 Roadmap CoffeeWorks, Ethiopia Halo Bertiti, 96 points – $20.95/12 oz.

See our complete list of the Best Value Coffees.

Roasters in the Top 30

In 2022, six roasting companies placed two coffees each on this year’s Top-30 list:

• Bird Rock Coffee Roasters (San Diego, California)
• Hula Daddy Kona Coffee (Holualoa, Hawaii)
• JBC Coffee Roasters (Madison, Wisconsin)
• Kakalove Café (Chia-Yi, Taiwan)
• Paradise Roasters (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
• Roadmap CoffeeWorks (Lexington, Virginia)

This concentration of coffees from certain roasters is certainly not intentional. In fact, we make a deliberate effort to minimize repetition and maximize variety among roasters that appear in the Top 30.

Tony Gomez, Head Roaster of Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, roaster of the #10 Colombia Sidra Natural Signature Selection and #21 Sumatra Boru Batak. Courtesy of Bird Rock Coffee Roasters.

To that end, this year we consciously limited appearances in the Top 30 to a maximum of two coffees per roaster, regardless of how many highly rated coffees that roaster produced. While that may seem like an arbitrary limit — and it is — it’s important to remember that our list represents our rendering of the most “exciting” coffees of the year, not necessarily the highest-rated. We felt that it wouldn’t be very exciting (to us or others) if the Top 30 list were too much dominated by a handful of roasting companies that produced a particularly large number of highly rated coffees over the course of the year. Instead, we felt readers might be more excited about an amazing coffee from a roaster that wasn’t already on the list, rather than a similarly impressive coffee from a roaster that already had two on the list.

That said, Coffee Review has been, from its inception, committed to starting with what we actually experience in the cup, not with product categories or marketing considerations or fashion. It is true that we take into account extrinsic factors like value, rarity and sustainable intentions into account when we narrow the number of candidates from a couple hundred to just 30. But ultimately, sensory quality and distinction in the cup, as determined by blind-tasting and reflected in rating, is the entry point for consideration and one of the primary factors that influences where coffees land on the list.

Roasting Company Geography

Of the 30 coffees on the list, 24 were roasted by companies in the United States. Four coffees were roasted in Taiwan. For the second year in a row, a coffee roasted in Japan appeared in the Top 30. SOT Coffee Roaster from Osaka, Japan roasted the #16 Colombia Wush Wush Dynamic Natural. El Gran Café in Antigua, Guatemala roasted Espresso No. 3, our #22 selection.

Tree Variety and the Top 30

When describing last year’s Top 30 list, we wrote: “There are stars and superstars among the hundreds of varieties of Arabica grown in the world today, and coffees from these distinguished varieties continue to dominate the very highest ratings at Coffee Review.”  True, variety appeared to be as important as ever in both the production and marketing of the fine single-origin coffees we celebrate in our latest Top 30 list. However, the range of varieties this year has definitely become more pluralistic.

Miguel Meza (left), of Paradise Roasters, and staff picking ripe coffee cherries.  Courtesy of Paradise Roasters.

For example, in 2021, six of 30 coffees in our rankings were produced from trees of the widely celebrated Geisha (also spelled Gesha) variety, the Ethiopia-derived variety that burst onto the world coffee stage during a green coffee competition in Panama in 2004, breaking all rating and price records. This year, only three of our Top 30 were Geishas: Paradise Roasters Colombia Finca El Paraiso Geisha Letty, Corvus Coffee Narsha Gesha, and RamsHead Coffee Costa Rica Cerro Dragon Geisha Honey. Meanwhile, the Typica variety, at one time the most common and taken-for-granted of all coffee varieties, appeared on this year’s list at position 6 (Hula Daddy Kona Coffee Kahiko), and high-rated lots produced from other traditional varieties were scattered throughout this year’s Top 30.

Processing Method and the Top 30

In addition to tree variety, the other card coffee farmers have been playing to differentiate their coffees over the past decade is processing method, or how fruit skin and flesh are removed from the beans and how they are dried. At one time, most of the fine coffees in the world were processed by the traditional wet or washed method, in which the fruit around the bean is removed immediately after picking and before drying, usually encouraging a bright sweet-tart structure expressing the inherent sensory tendencies of the bean. Eighteen of this year’s Top 30 selections were processed by variations of the washed method, led by the #2 Kakalove Café Guatemala Washed El Injerto Washed Espresso, the #3 Simon Hsieh Ethiopia Aphrodite Washed Espresso, and #7 JBC Coffee Roasters Gachatha Kenya.

Caesar Tu, of Kakalove Cafe, on a recent origin trip to source coffees for his Taiwan-based roastery. Courtesy of Kakalove Cafe.

The most common alternative among farmers and millers attempting to differentiate their coffees by processing method is the ancient but recently revived natural method, in which the beans are dried while still encased in the entire fruit, a prolonged and tricky procedure that, done right, encourages sweetness and fruit and chocolate suggestions. Seven of this year’s Top 30 were processed by variations on the natural method, a small decrease from last year, in which 10 of the top 30 were naturals. Interestingly, this year’s #1 coffee, the Yemen Haraaz Red Mahal Aqeeq ul Station, comes from a coffee culture that has been producing natural-processed coffees continually for 500 years, dwarfing the history of even the oldest of washed coffee traditions. The late-comer revival naturals were led by the #5 Moore Coffee El Salvador Aida Batlle La Florida Natural and the #10 Bird Rock Coffee Roasters Colombia Sidra Natural.

Two of this year’s top 30, down from three in 2021, were processed using variations of anaerobic processing, in which a fermentation step takes place in sealed, reduced-oxygen containers. This demanding procedure, done right, generally encourages a lactic sweet-sour structure and often surprising and original aroma and flavor notes. With the #4 Paradise Roasters Colombia Finca El Paraiso Gesha Letty, the special fermentation was applied to the coffee in the whole fruit, whereas with the #30 Revel Coffee Finca Cerro Azul Aces Lot, it was applied after the beans were pulped or skinned.

Please enjoy our list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2022.

All the best from Coffee Review for a happy and prosperous new year, full of both coffee surprises and the reassurance of the fine and familiar.

The post An In-Depth Look at the Top 30 Coffees of 2022 appeared first on Coffee Review.

Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2021 represents our ninth annual ranking of the most exciting coffees we tested over the course of the year. This annual effort supports our mission of helping consumers identify and purchase superior quality coffees and, in the process, helping drive demand and increase prices to reward farmers and roasters who invest time, passion and capital in producing high-quality coffee. The Top 30 celebrates and promotes coffee roasters, farmers, mill operators, importers, and other coffee industry professionals who make an extra effort to produce coffees that are not only superb in quality but also distinctive in character.

In 2021, we tasted more than 2,000 coffee samples and published more than 500 reviews. These reviews focus primarily on the highest-rated coffees, which are of most interest to our readers. This year, roughly one out of four of the more than 2,000 coffees we tested scored 90 points or higher, and over 200 of them, an impressive 10% of the total, rated 94 or higher, a tribute to the ever-intensifying innovation and dedication of the world’s leading coffee producers and roasters.

However, it is important to remind our readers that the coffees that appear in the reviews on our website represent the tip of the iceberg in terms of distinction and quality. Remember that we cup blind; we determine ratings and main descriptors for a coffee before we learn where it came from and who roasted it. For those curious about how we conduct our testing and rating processes at Coffee Review, see How Coffee Review Works. For what scores mean in respect to the wide range of coffee styles and qualities, see Interpreting Reviews.

However, despite our efforts to make our ratings consistent and meaningful, numbers taken alone have limitations. You may well take more pleasure in a lower-rated coffee that matches your taste preferences than a higher-scoring coffee that isn’t your style. We do our best to characterize a coffee’s character in the “Blind Assessment” paragraph of our reviews and even more succinctly in the “Bottom Line” paragraph that concludes each review.

Hard Choices: Narrowing Down the List

All of the coffees that rated 94 points or higher in 2021 are particularly worthy of celebrating, as are the exceptional coffees that hovered just behind them. Obviously, not all of the more than 200 coffees earning 94 points or more in 2021 can appear in the Top 30. We forced ourselves to select the 30 we felt were the most exciting and distinctive.

As in past years, we selected and ranked our Top 30 coffees and espressos based on quality and distinctiveness (represented by overall rating), value (reflected by most affordable price per pound), and consideration of other factors that include uniqueness of origin or tree variety, certifications such as Fair Trade and organic, and general rarity.

Top 30 Origins: Panama Tops the List Again

Miguel Meza of Paradise Roasters, roaster of No. 1 Panama Mama Cata Mokkita, shown in Kona, Hawaii. Courtesy of Miguel Meza.

In each of the nine years that we have published our Top 30 list, our top pick has been a single-origin coffee—meaning a coffee from a single country and region (and usually from a single farm or cooperative). This year, we selected the 97-point Mama Cata Mokkita produced by the Garrido family of Mama Cata farm in Boquete, Panama, and roasted by Paradise Roasters in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Mokkita, one of two coffees that achieved a 97 rating this year, displayed an exceptional, essentially flawless structure—juicy, complete, balanced, deep—together with striking, tropical-themed aroma and flavor notes the review summarizes as “other worldly.” The Mokkita variety is apparently a distinctive strain of the already rare Mokka (also spelled Moka, Mocca) variety that was selectively cultivated by Mama Cata.

José David Garrido, producer of the No. 1 Mama Cata Mokkita, with Mokkita tree on Mama Cata farm in Panama. Courtesy of Miguel Meza.

Our choice of the Paradise Mama Cata Mokkita means that, for the third year in a row, a coffee grown in Panama topped our list. In 2020, it was the GW01 Finca Sophia Olympus Geisha roasted by GK Coffee in Taiwan. In 2019, the Elida Estate Geisha Green-Tip Natural roasted by Dragonfly Coffee Roasters. Previous No. 1 coffees were produced in Hawaii (2018), Yemen (2017), Kenya (2016) and Ethiopia (2013). Panama also scored firsts in 2014 and 2015.

With five appearances, Ethiopia was the most frequently cited origin in our 2021 list, including the 97-rated Barrington Testi Ayla Double Ethiopia, this year’s second-ranked selection. Hawaii was second in number of placements this year with four. Panama and Colombia each had three coffees on the list, and Yemen two, the only other origin with more than one. Filling out the list were 13 origins represented by one coffee each, together with one blend.

Coffees from Ethiopia appeared five times in this year’s Top 30. A picker from southern Ethiopia harvesting ripe fruit. Courtesy Kenneth Davids.

Top 30 Statistics

Average Ratings. The average overall rating of the coffees on the Top 30 list for 2021 was 95.3 out of a possible 100, in line with past averages.

Cost per Pound: From Very High to Reasonable. In 2021, the average price of the coffees on our Top 30 list was $124.83 per pound. This very high average was driven by a handful of extremely expensive coffees. For example, the top-rated, particularly rare Mama Cata Mokkita cost an adjusted $600 per pound. On the other hand, the second-ranked coffee, the Barrington Testi Ayla Double Ethiopia, cost an adjusted $73.27 per pound, and the No. 7 Simon Hsieh Bull Demon King a reasonable $33.00 per pound.

Bags of 96-point Simon Hsieh Bull Demon King, the No. 7 coffee of 2021. Courtesy of Ron Walters.

What this suggests is that one can’t meaningfully compare the average price of Top 30 coffees from year to year because the mix of coffee prices varies greatly. A handful of very expensive coffees can dramatically skew an average. Nevertheless, as in past years, higher scoring coffees in our 2021 Top 30 tended to cost more than lower scoring coffees:              

One of the selection criteria for the Top 30 coffees is value, measured by price per pound relative to coffees of similar quality. Many of the coffees on our list are priced in line with similar, though usually less distinguished, specialty coffees in the marketplace. Eight of the coffees on the list cost $30 or less per pound. See our complete list of the Best Value Coffees.

Roasters in the Top 30

Five roasting companies placed two coffees each on this year’s Top-30 list: Paradise Roasters (No. 1 and No. 16 ); Hula Daddy Kona Coffee (No. 5 and No. 20 ); JBC Coffee Roasters (No. 14 and No. 28); Kakalove Café, Taiwan (No. 4 and No. 15), and Red Rooster Coffee Roaster (No. 10 and No. 17). This concentration of coffees from certain roasters is certainly not by design. In fact, we make a deliberate effort to increase the number and variety of roasters that appear in the Top 30.

Karen Patterson planting Kona Mocca® seedlings at Hula Daddy, producer and roaster of the No. 5 coffee of 2021. Photo courtesy of Hula Daddy Kona Coffee.

To that end, this year we consciously limited appearances in the Top 30 to a maximum of two coffees per roaster, regardless of how many high-rated coffees that roaster produced. While that may seem like an arbitrary limit—and it is—it’s important to remember that our list represents our rendering of the most “exciting” coffees of the year, not necessarily the highest-rated. We felt that it wouldn’t be very exciting (to us or others) if the Top 30 list were too much dominated by a handful of roasting companies that produced a particularly large number of highly rated coffees over the course of the year. Instead, we felt readers might be more excited about an amazing coffee from a roaster that wasn’t already on the list, rather than a similarly incredible coffee from a roaster that already had two on the list.

That said, Coffee Review has been, from its inception, committed to starting with what we actually experience in the cup, not with product categories or marketing considerations or fashion. It is true that we take into account extrinsic factors like value, rarity and sustainable intentions into account when we narrow the number of candidates from a couple hundred to just 30. But, ultimately, sensory quality and distinction in the cup, as determined by blind-tasting and as reflected in rating, is the entry point for consideration and one of the primary factors that influences where coffees land on the list.

Roasting Company Geography

Of the 30 coffees on the list, 20 were roasted by companies in the United States. A record-breaking eight coffees were roasted in Taiwan. For the first time, a coffee roasted in Japan and another roasted in Peru appeared in the Top 30. SOT Coffee Roaster from Osaka, Japan, roasted the No. 3 Colombia Wush Wush Dynamic Natural and Finca Tasta from Peru both produced and roasted the No. 25 Coral.

Tree Variety and the Top 30

Distinctive tree variety continues to appear to play an important role in the success of 2021’s Top 30 coffees. There are stars and superstars among the hundreds of varieties of Arabica grown in the world today, and coffees from these distinguished varieties continue to dominate the very highest ratings at Coffee Review. They include the still-rare and expensive Geisha/Gesha variety (six examples on the 2021 list); the ancient heirloom Bourbon (three), and the indigenous landrace varieties of Ethiopia (three). Wush Wush, like Geisha an Ethiopia variety gone on the road, shows up twice (once as grown in its homeland Ethiopia and once as grown in Colombia). Two strains of the tiny-beaned Mocca/Mokkita appear in the top five coffees of 2021.

On the left, the tiny beans of the rare Mocca variety; center, beans of the ancient Bourbon variety; and right, the somewhat elongated beans of the Geisha/Gesha variety. Courtesy of Kenneth Davids.

Processing Method and the Top 30

The number and variety of processing methods (how the skin and fruit flesh are removed from the beans and how they are dried) has exploded in the past several years, as producers seek new ways to differentiate their coffees and make them more distinctive in the cup. This year, 29 of the 30 coffees making the list arrived with a clearly identified processing method. Of those, over half were processed using methods other than the traditional washed method.

Ten were processed using variants of the dry or “natural” method, meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with wet-processed or “washed” coffees. Three were processed using some form of anaerobic (sealed vessel, limited-oxygen) fermentation. One was processed by the honey method (skins are removed, but the beans are dried still enveloped in all or some of the fruit flesh). This showing is evidence of the continuing trend toward use of processing method as a creative tool for crafting distinctive cup profiles.

Please enjoy our list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2021.

All the best from Coffee Review for a happy and prosperous new year, full of both coffee surprises and the reassurance of the fine and familiar.

Read Reviews

The post An In-Depth Look at the Top 30 Coffees of 2021 appeared first on Coffee Review.

Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2020 represents our eighth annual ranking of the most exciting coffees we tested over the course of the year. The Top 30 celebrates and promotes coffee roasters, farmers, mill operators, importers, and other coffee industry professionals who make an extra effort to produce coffees that are not only superb in quality but also distinctive in character.

Over the past 12 months, we cupped over 2,000 coffee samples and published more than 450 reviews, both significant increases over past years. The coffees we chose to review were primarily high-rated coffees, which are of most interest to our readers. This year, about one in four coffees we tested scored 90 points or higher, and nearly 200, almost 10% of the total, rated 94 or higher, a tribute to the ever-intensifying innovation and dedication of the world’s leading coffee producers and roasters.

(For those curious about how we conduct our blind testing and rating processes at Coffee Review, see How Coffee Review Works. For what scores mean in respect to the wide range of coffee styles and qualities, see Interpreting Reviews.)

Going Beyond Numbers. But despite our efforts to make our ratings consistent and meaningful, numbers taken alone have limitations. You may well like a lower-rated coffee that matches your taste preferences more than a higher-scoring coffee that isn’t your style. We do our best to characterize a coffee’s character in the “Blind Assessment” paragraph of our reviews and even more succinctly in the “Bottom Line” paragraph that concludes each review.

Narrowing Down a Crowded Field

Any coffee that rates 94 points or higher, in fact, any earning 90 points or more, is worthy of special recognition. But, obviously, we could not put all of the nearly 200 coffees that earned 94 points or more in 2020 on the Top 30 list. As in past years, we selected and ranked our Top 30 most exciting coffees and espressos based on quality (represented by overall rating), value (reflected by most affordable price per pound), and consideration of other factors that include distinctiveness of style, uniqueness of origin or tree variety, certifications such as Fair Trade and organic, and general rarity.

Number 1 for 2020

The No. 1 coffee of 2020 is the 98-point GW01 Finca Sophia Olympus Geisha produced by Finca Sophia in Panama and roasted by GK Coffee in Taiwan.  It is the fourth time in eight years that a coffee of the celebrated Geisha variety grown on a Panama farm has earned the top spot. However, it is the first time a roaster from outside the United States has appeared at the top of the list.

Gary Liao and the GK Coffee team at 2020 Taiwan International Coffee Show. Photo courtesy of GK Coffee.

Top 30 Statistics

Average Ratings. The average overall rating of the coffees on the Top 30 list for 2020 was 95.0 out of a possible 100, the same as in 2019, and generally in line with past averages of 94.6 in 2018, 94.9 in 2017, 95.0 in 2016, and 94.8 in 2015.

Cost per Pound: From Shocking to Reasonable. One can’t directly compare the average prices of Top 30 coffees from year to year because the mix of coffees varies dramatically. For example, the coffee that earned the No. 1 spot this year – the 98-point Finca Sophia Olympus Geisha roasted by GK Coffee in Taiwan — won first place in the washed Geisha category of the 2020 Best of Panama green coffee competition and was subsequently sold at auction for a price that broke all previous records for sale of a green coffee: $1,300.50 per pound. Which means that the roasted coffee awarded our top rating retailed for the equivalent of nearly US $4,000 per pound!

On the other hand, if we exclude that norm-busting figure, the average price of the remaining 28 non-cold brew coffees on our 2020 list was $55.46 per pound, down from the record $71.77 per pound set in 2019. Sixteen of the coffees on this year’s Top 30 list cost less than $30 per pound. Five cost less than $25 per pound, and three were priced at less than $20 per pound, namely No. 17 Thanksgiving Coffee, Moka Java (96 points; $14.50/12 ounces); No. 22 Café Kreyol, Organic Red Honey Ramirez Estate Microlot (92 points; $12.99/12 ounces); and No. 30 Skytop Coffee, Peru San Ignacio Calazobo Lot 2 FTO (93 points; $15.00/12 ounces).

Still a Bargain. If we exclude a handful of outliers like the top-rated, extremely rare and record-breaking Finca Sophia Olympus Geisha, fine coffee remains a relative bargain compared to other elite beverages. Take wine, for example. Pre-COVID-19, we routinely paid $12 to $15 in restaurants for a glass of excellent but usually not extraordinary wine. If we exclude the $4,000 Geisha, this year’s Top 30 coffees averaged $55.46 per pound, which breaks down to $1.20 per 6-ounce cup of brewed coffee, or one-tenth the price of a good but most likely less distinguished glass of wine ordered in a restaurant. And those high-rated coffees Coffee Review defines as good values cost considerably less than $1.20 per cup.

Outrageous prices asked for a handful of extremely rare and distinguished coffees can be seen mainly as a small sign of a changing coffee scene, a minor sideshow in the larger cultural drama of coffee’s journey from commodity-priced workday fuel to a mature fine beverage, worthy of study and knowledgeable connoisseurship.

Nevertheless, the Higher the Price the Higher the Rating. As in past years, higher scoring coffees on our 2020 list tended to cost more than lower scoring coffees. 

98-point coffees (2)                       $2,088.97/pound

97-point coffees (2)                       $49.03/pound

96-point coffees (8)                       $44.62/pound

95-point coffees (7)                       $69.16/pound ($42.91 if we exclude one outlier)

<=94-point coffees (11)                 $29.05/pound

Shop the Top 30

Coffee Review’s mission is to help consumers identify as well as purchase superior quality coffees and, in the process, helping drive demand and increase prices to reward farmers and roasters who invest time, passion and capital in producing high-quality coffee. To that end, we’re pleased to provide a convenient list of links to roasters’ websites where Top 30 coffees may still be available for sale.  Through most of December, we’ll update the list each morning.  These coffees often sell out quickly so shop soon if you want to enjoy these coffees or send them as gifts.

Shop the Top 30 >

Growing Regions for the Top 30 Coffees

In each of the eight years that we have published our Top 30 list, our top pick has been a single-origin coffee — meaning a coffee from a single country and region (and usually from a single farm or cooperative). Previous No. 1 coffees were produced in Panama (2019, 2015, and 2014), Hawaii (2018), Yemen (2017), Kenya (2016), and Ethiopia (2013).

This year, with eight appearances in the Top 30, Ethiopia was the most frequently recognized origin. Hawaii was second with four coffees on the list; Kenya and Panama third with three each, Colombia fourth with two.

Roasters in the Top 30

Four roasting companies placed two coffees each on this year’s Top-30 list: Paradise Roasters (No. 2 and No. 13); Taiwan’s Kakalove Café (No. 3 and No. 9); JBC Coffee Roasters (No. 5 and No. 7); and Red Rooster Coffee Roaster (No. 8 and No. 20). This concentration of coffees from certain roasters is certainly not by design. We make a determined effort to increase the number and variety of roasters that appear in the Top 30.

Miguel Meza and the Paradise Roasters team, roasters of the No. 2 and No. 13 coffees of 2020.  Photo courtesy of Paradise Roasters.

In fact, as we did last year, we limited appearances in the Top 30 to a maximum of two coffees from the same roaster, regardless of how many high-rated coffees a roaster might have produced. While that may seem like an arbitrary limit – and it is – it’s important to remember that our list represents our assessment of the most “exciting” coffees of the year, not necessarily the highest-rated. We felt that it wouldn’t be very exciting (to us or others) if the Top 30 list were too much dominated by roasting companies that produced a particularly large number of highly rated coffees over the course of the year. Instead, we felt readers would share our excitement about an amazing coffee from a roaster that wasn’t already on the list, rather than a similarly impressive coffee from a roaster that already had two on the list.

Adam Walsh, Director of Quality at JBC Coffee Roasters, roasters of the No. 5 and No. 7 coffees of 2020. Photo courtesy of JBC Coffee Roasters.

That said, Coffee Review has been, from its inception, committed to starting with what we actually experience in the cup, not with product categories or marketing considerations or fashion. It is true that we take into account extrinsic factors like value, rarity and sustainable intentions into account when we narrow the number of candidates from more than 200 to just 30, but ultimately, sensory quality and distinction in the cup, as determined by blind-tasting and as reflected in rating, is the entry point for consideration and one of the primary factors that influences where coffees land on the list.

Caesar Tu and the extended Kakalove Cafe team, roasters of the No. 3 and No. 9 coffees of 2020. Photo courtesy of Kakalove Cafe.

Roaster Geography

Of the 30 coffees on the list, 26 were roasted by companies in the United States, and four by Taiwanese companies. Roasters from 12 U.S. states are represented. Hawaii and Virginia tied for the most coffees represented in the Top 30 with four each; California and Colorado were second with three each.

Increased Innovation by Coffee Growers

Coffee growers can promote taste differences in the green coffee they produce primarily in two ways. They can plant tree varieties that produce better or more interesting coffees, and/or they can process the coffee (remove the fruit from the beans and dry them) using methods that impact the taste of the cup in engaging or different ways.

Tree Variety. There are stars and superstars among the hundreds of varieties of Arabica grown in the world today, and coffees from these more distinguished varieties frequently earn high ratings at Coffee Review. This year was no exception. Variety was identified for 19 of the Top 30 2020 coffees. Among the 19, six famous varieties appeared twice: The celebrated Geisha (also spelled Gesha), the old and respected Bourbon, the famous Kenya varieties SL-28 and 34, the recently emerged Ethiopia variety Wush Wush, and the traditional standards Typica and Caturra. Among the varieties that appeared once were three that are striking in bean appearance as well as cup character: the tiny-beaned Mocca and the giant-beaned Maracaturra and Maragogipe.

Karen Patterson planting Kona Mocca® seedlings at Hula Daddy, producer and roaster of the No. 6 coffee of 2020. Photo courtesy of Hula Daddy Kona Coffee.

Processing Method. The trend toward differentiating coffee cup character through applying unorthodox processing methods accelerated in 2020. On last year’s list, for example, among the 25 coffees for which processing method was clearly identified, 11 were produced using variations of dry or “natural” processing, meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with more traditional wet-processed or “washed” coffees. That 2019 figure was up from seven such natural-processed coffees on the list in 2018 and six in 2017.

Danielle and Jean Orlowski, with Scarlett (center), of Hala Tree Kona Coffee, producer and roaster of Honey Typica Anaerobic, the No. 15 coffee of 2020. Photo courtesy of Charla Photography.

In 2020, however, we saw a turn toward experimental or hybrid variations that largely transcended the old washed vs. natural processing categories. True, of the 25 coffees on the list that identified processing method, five were prepared by the natural method and ten by the orthodox washed method. But eight were processed using innovative techniques that defy traditional processing category: anaerobic (limited oxygen ferment), thermic (heat applied to skinned or pulped beans), or various hybrid methods. In most cases these methods involved often radical experiments with fermentation, once seen as a troublesome but necessary step in removing fruit residue during the orthodox washed process, but now being approached as a creative tool to innovate cup character. And this year three additional coffees on the Top 30 list were processed by variations on the honey method, meaning that some fruit flesh or “honey” was allowed to adhere to the beans during drying.

Fewer Espressos

We saw only two espressos make this year’s list, both single-origin Kenyas (No. 7 JBC Coffee Roasters, Karimiuki Espresso; No. 11 Simon Hsieh Aroma Roast, Kenya AA Area Phoenix Special) compared to five espressos on the 2019 list and six in 2018. This drop-off may be related to the impact of COVID-19. Coffee Review cancelled its usual espresso report at the onset of shelter-in-place rules because our espresso tastings are events involving interaction among several participants. Conferences, competitions, and events where espresso brewing is featured also were cancelled, and coffee consumption patterns shifted from coffee shops, cafes, and restaurants, where espresso brewing is typically featured, to brewing at home, where non-espresso methods like drip and French press are more common. Perhaps roasters were not investing their limited time and energy in producing high-end espresso blends during these times of take-home and shelter-in-place.

Continued Achievement in the Face of COVID-19

But despite the extraordinary challenges brought on by COVID-19 on the back of ongoing economic- and weather-related difficulties in coffee lands, everyone along the specialty coffee chain seems to have persevered. Judging from the impressive quality and distinction of the coffees we tested this past year, the majority of specialty growers, millers, exporters, importers and roasters not only endured, but often triumphed. Please enjoy our list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2020.

And all the best from Coffee Review for a happy and prosperous new year, full of both coffee surprises and the reassurance of the fine and familiar.

The post Celebrating the Top 30 Coffees of 2020 appeared first on Coffee Review.

Rigoberto Herrera (background), co-owner of the Cafe Granja la Esperanza farm in Colombia, grower of No. 12 modcup coffee. Courtesy of Jefferson Jimenez, modcup.

In 2019, we tasted more than 1,300 coffee samples and published more than 300 reviews. The reviews focused primarily on the highest-rated coffees, which are of most interest to our readers. This year, around 23% of the more than 1,300 coffees we tested scored 90 points or higher, and over 100 of them, an impressive 8% of the total, rated 94 or higher, a tribute to the ever-intensifying innovation and dedication of the world’s leading coffee producers and roasters.

However, it is important to remind our frequent readers, that the coffees that appear in the reviews on our website represent the tip of the iceberg in terms of distinction and quality. Remember that we cup blind; we determine ratings and main descriptors for a coffee before we learn where it came from and who roasted it. For those curious about how we conduct our testing and rating processes at Coffee Review, see How Coffee Review Works. For what scores mean in respect to the wide range of coffee styles and qualities, see Interpreting Reviews.

However, despite our efforts to make our ratings consistent and meaningful, numbers taken alone have limitations. You may well like a lower-rated coffee that matches your taste preferences more than a higher-scoring coffee that isn’t your style. We do our best to characterize a coffee’s character in the “Blind Assessment” paragraph of our reviews and even more succinctly in the “Bottom Line” paragraph that concludes each review.

Hard Choices: Narrowing Down the List

Amavida Coffee’s Martin Trejo, roaster of No. 21 Espresso Mandarina. Courtesy Aleighsa Wright, Wright Media PC.

All of the coffees that rated 94 points or higher in 2019 are worthy of celebrating, as are the exceptional coffees that hovered just behind them in rating. Obviously, not all of the more than 100 coffees earning 94 points or more in 2019 can appear in the Top 30.  We forced ourselves to select the 30 we felt were the most exciting and the most worthy of recognition.

As in past years, we selected and ranked our Top 30 coffees and espressos based on quality (represented by overall rating), value (reflected by most affordable price per pound), and consideration of other factors that include distinctiveness of style, uniqueness of origin or tree variety, certifications such as Fair Trade and organic, and general rarity.

Top 30 Statistics

Average Ratings. The average overall rating of the coffees on the Top 30 list for 2019 was 95.0 out of a possible 100, generally in line with past averages of 94.6 in 2018, 94.9 in 2017, 95.0 in 2016, and 94.8 in 2015.

Cost per Pound: From Very (Very) High to Reasonable. One can’t directly compare the price of Top 30 coffees from year to year because the mix of coffees varies dramatically.

Tamas Christman and Wilford Lamastus receive Best of Panama award. Courtesy of Specialty Coffee Association of Panama.

In 2019, the outlier in regard to price was the Elida Estate Geisha Green-Tip Natural from Dragonfly Coffee Roasters, the No. 1 Coffee of 2019. Not only was it the first coffee in Coffee Review’s 22-year history to earn 98 points (see At Long Last, A 98-Point Coffee), this coffee also took first place in the 2019 Best of Panama green coffee competition and subsequently was auctioned for the then highest price ever paid for a green coffee: US$1029 per pound. For the handful of high-rolling enthusiasts who had the chance to taste this exceptional coffee, Dragonfly Coffee charged an equally exceptional $100.00 per 21-gram sample, or a whopping $2,187 per pound, for its 98-rated version. The Dragonfly version is sold out, but those who remain interested in sampling this record-breaking coffee still can. As we publish this report, two roasters, Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea and Klatch Coffee, are offering their versions of the same green coffee for sale. We rated both the Willoughby’s and the Klatch versions at 97, only one point behind the Dragonfly. We chose not to place either the Willoughby’s or the Klatch versions in our Top 30, however, to avoid dominating the list with three versions of the same green coffee.

Excluding average-busting 98-point Dragonfly Elida Geisha, the average price of the remaining 29 coffees on the 2019 list was a record-setting $71.77 per pound.  The previous record was an average price of $53.11 per pound in 2017. The very high average price of 2019 was skewed higher by four coffees that were priced at more than $100 per pound, a fifth coffee that cost over $200 per pound, and a sixth that cost over $300 per pound.

As in past years, higher scoring coffees in our 2019 Top 30 tended to cost more:                

However, one of the selection criteria for the Top 30 coffees is value, measured by price per pound relative to coffees of similar quality. Many of the coffees on our list are priced in line with similar, though usually less distinguished, specialty coffees in the marketplace. One third (10) of the coffees on the list cost $25 or less per pound. Three were priced at $20 or less per pound, namely: No. 25 Kakalove Café (Taiwan), El Salvador Cerro Las Ranas Honey Espresso (94 points; US $11.76/16 ounces); No. 27 Paradise Roasters, Moonbow Decaf (92 points; $14.95/12 ounces), and No. 29 Jackrabbit Java, Rwanda Nyarusiza Station (93 points; $12.00/12 ounces). See our complete list of the Best Value Coffees of 2019.

Origins of the Top 30 Coffees

In each of the seven years that we have published our Top 30 list, our top pick has been a single-origin coffee — meaning a coffee from a single country and region (and usually from a single farm or cooperative). Previous No. 1 coffees were produced in Hawaii (2018), Yemen (2017), Kenya (2016), Panama (2014 and 2015) and Ethiopia (2013).

With six appearances in the Top 30, Panama was the most frequently appearing origin in 2019, primarily due to the presence of five outstanding coffees of the Geisha variety, including the top, 98-rated Dragonfly Elida Estate Natural discussed earlier. Geisha has become a specialty of Panama producers in the years since 2004, when the Price Peterson family rediscovered this startling-tasting Ethiopian variety on their Hacienda Esmeralda farm in 2004. Colombia was second with four coffees, including one Geisha. Origins with two coffees each on the list include Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Hawaii, Kenya, and Sumatra.

Roasters in the Top 30

No. 7 Harimau Tiger Sumatra by JBC Coffee Roasters. Courtesy of JBC Coffee Roasters.

Six roasting companies placed two coffees each on this year’s Top-30 list: Dragonfly Coffee Roasters (No. 1 and 6); JBC Coffee Roasters (No. 2 and 7); Bird Rock Coffee Roasters (11 and 15); Klatch Coffee Roasting (17 and 24); Paradise Roasters (18 and 27); Kakalove Café, Taiwan (20 and 25). This concentration of coffees from certain roasters is certainly not by design. We make a conscious effort to increase the number and variety of roasters that appear in the Top 30.

In fact, this year we consciously limited appearances in the Top 30 to a maximum of two coffees per roaster, regardless of how many high-rated coffees that roaster produced. While that may seem like an arbitrary limit – and it is – it’s important to remember that our list represents our rendering of the most “exciting” coffees of the year, not necessarily the highest-rated. We felt that it wouldn’t be very exciting (to us or others) if the Top 30 list were too much dominated by roasting companies that produced a particularly large number of highly rated coffees over the course of the year. Instead, we felt readers might be more excited about an amazing coffee from a roaster that wasn’t already on the list, rather than a similarly incredible coffee from a roaster that already had two on the list.

That said, Coffee Review has been, from its inception, committed to starting with what we actually experience in the cup, not with product categories or marketing considerations or fashion. It is true that we take into account extrinsic factors like value, rarity and sustainable intentions into account when we narrow the number of candidates from over 100 to 30, but ultimately, sensory quality and distinction in the cup, as determined by blind-tasting and as reflected in rating, is the entry point for consideration and one of the primary factors that influences where coffees land on the list.

Roaster Geography

Of the 30 coffees on the list, 23 were roasted by companies in the United States, and four were roasted in Taiwan. Roasters from Australia, China and Hong Kong also placed one coffee each in the Top 30. Roasters from 14 U.S. states are represented — California roasters lead the rankings, with five representatives overall. Three were roasted in Hawaii.

Tree Variety and the Top 30

Origin Coffee’s Heather Brisson-Lutz with Gerry Ross at Kupa’a Farms, responsible for No. 16 Maui Kupa’a Orange Bourbon. Courtesy of Origin Coffee.

With well over half of the Top 30 coffees, distinctive tree variety appears to play an important role in generating an exceptional cup worthy of a high rating. There are stars and superstars among the hundreds of varieties of Arabica grown in the world today, and coffees from these distinguished varieties frequently dominate the very highest ratings at Coffee Review, whether we want them to or not. They include the still-rare and expensive Geisha/Gesha variety (eight examples on the 2019 list); the ancient heirloom Bourbon (five), and the great SL28 and SL34 varieties of Kenya (three). Also on the list: Mocca, Sudan Rume, Bourbon Pointu, Bourbon Rey, Parainema, Caturra, and Catuai.

Processing Method and the Top 30

Front gate at Ninety Plus Geisha Estates, producer of No. 10 Panama Perci Geisha Natural by Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea. Courtesy of Barry Levine.

Processing method (how the skin and fruit flesh are removed from the beans and how they are dried) also appeared to play a significant role in qualifying for the Top 30. On this year’s list, for example, of the 25 coffees for which processing method is clearly identified, eleven (vs. seven in 2018 and six in 2017) were produced by some form of dry or “natural” processing, meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with wet-processed or “washed” coffees. Until the last 10 years or so, dry-processing was seldom applied to high-end specialty coffees like those that appear on our Top 30 list. This showing is evidence of the continuing trend toward use of alternative processing methods as creative tools for crafting distinctive cup profiles.

Please enjoy our list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2019.

All the best from Coffee Review for a happy and prosperous new year, full of both coffee surprises and the reassurance of the fine and familiar.

The post An In-Depth Look at the Top 30 Coffees of 2019 appeared first on Coffee Review.

Coffee Review’s goal is to celebrate coffee roasters, farmers and mill-owners who make an extra effort to produce coffees that are not only superb in quality but also distinctive in character. In particular, we aim to honor the dedication of coffee producers large and small who, with the support of their roaster and importer partners, are crafting a range of sensory excellence and diversity that has never existed before in the history of the beverage.

In 2018, we tasted nearly two thousand coffees and published more than 300 reviews of the highest rated of those samples. For those who are curious about how we conduct our testing and rating processes at Coffee Review, see How Coffee Review Works.

Hard Choices: Narrowing Down the List

This year, roughly 100 coffees scored 94 points or higher, a tribute in large part to the ever-intensifying innovation and dedication of the world’s leading coffee producers and roasters. Obviously, all of these 94+ coffees are worthy of celebration, as are the exceptional coffees hovering just behind them at 93 and 92. We couldn’t squeeze them all into our Top 30.  We forced ourselves to select the 30 that we felt were worthy of particular recognition.

As in past years, we selected and ranked our Top 30 coffees and espressos based on quality (represented by overall rating), value (reflected by most affordable price per pound), and consideration of other factors that include distinctiveness of style, uniqueness of origin or tree variety, certifications such as Fair Trade and organic, and general rarity.

Top 30 Statistics

Average Ratings. The average overall rating of the coffees on the Top 30 list for 2018 was 94.6 out of a possible 100, in line with 94.9 in 2017, 95.0 in 2016, and 94.8 in 2015.

Cost per Pound: From High (Very) to Reasonable. One can’t directly compare the price of Top 30 coffees from year to year because the mix of coffees varies too dramatically. In 2018, for example, two coffees on the list were priced as part of a bundle, and, for the first time in 2018, we recognized two bottled cold brew coffees, which are not priced in the same way as coffee beans.

That said, the average price of the remaining 26 coffees on the 2018 list was U.S. $40.23 per pound, down from a record average price of $53.11 per pound in 2017. (The very high average price of 2017 was skewed higher by four coffees that were priced at more than $100 per pound.) In 2016, the average price was $36.61.

Not surprisingly, higher scoring coffees in 2018 tended to cost more:

96-point coffees (7) = $86.67/pound
95-point coffees (9) = $37.27/pound
94-point coffees (10) = $23.57/pound
92- and 93-point coffees (4) = $22.13/pound

However, one of the selection criteria for the Top 30 coffees is value or affordability, measured by price per pound. Many of the coffees on our list are priced in line with similar, though usually less distinguished, single-origin specialty coffees in the marketplace. Half (15) of the coffees on the list cost $25 or less per pound. Four were priced at $20 or less per pound, namely: No. 4 Lexington Coffee Tarime Tanzania (95 points; $14.75/12 ounces), No. 6 Barrington Coffee Twenty Five (96 points; $14.25/12 ounces), No. 23 Big Shoulders Coffee Roasters Burundi Buhorwa  (94 points; 15.00/12 ounces), and No. 28 Paradise Roasters Ecuador Pichincha Typica (94 points; 13.95/12 ounces).

See out list of the Best Value Coffees of 2018.

At the other end of the price spectrum, four coffees on the list—a Kona, Yemen, and two examples of the rare and pricey Geisha/Gesha variety—cost $90 to $150 per pound, although roasters tended to soften the sticker shock by offering these exceptional coffees packaged in small quantities.

Top-30 Origins

In each of the six years for which we’ve created a Top 30 list, our top pick has been a single-origin coffee—meaning a coffee from a single country, region and (usually) from a single farm or cooperative in that country and region. Previous No. 1 coffees were produced in Yemen (2017), Kenya (2016), Panama (2014 and 2015) and Ethiopia (2013).

This year, for the first time, a coffee from Hawaii earned top honors, the 96-point Kona Mocca, grown and roasted in Holualoa, Hawaii by Hula Daddy Kona Coffee. In the review published in November, it was described in part as “A marvel of a coffee, inviting and esoteric, chimerical and grounded, all at once.  Enchantingly rich, intensely floral, unique. Dried black cherry, tea rose, Cognac, chocolate fudge, gently scorched almond wood in aroma and cup.” This rare coffee with its tiny beans and striking cup is available only on the Hula Daddy website through their allocation list.

The Hula Daddy team: owners Lee and Karen Patterson with head roaster Laura Ross. Courtesy of Kim Westerman

Other coffees appearing on the list were grown in 16 different countries. The most frequently appearing origins were Ethiopia and Kenya, with four coffees each. Origins with two coffees each on the list included Burundi, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Sumatra, and Tanzania. Origins appearing on the list with one coffee each included the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Peru, Rwanda, Uganda, Hawaii (United States), and Yemen.

Espressos and Cold Brews

Four espressos appear on this year’s list, three of them single-origin coffees. The fourth is a distinguished blend of coffees from a mix of origins—the impressive 96-point Twenty Five by Barrington Coffee Roasters, at No. 6, the only blend on the list. Numerous blends, both espresso and non-espresso, earned 90-94 points but did not ultimately make our Top 30; we recognize some of the best on our list of the Top Coffees by Category.

States Coffee & Mercantile’s Reserve Cold Brew made with coffee from Tanzania. Courtesy of States Coffee.

For the first time we allowed ready-to-drink, cold-brewed, pure black coffees into consideration for the Top 30. Two superb cold-brewed, bottled coffees made the list, the Bird Rock Red Bourbon Honey-Processed Cold Brew at No. 17 (94 points) and the States Coffee Reserve Cold Brew (from a Tanzania single-origin coffee) at No. 21 (also 94 points). For more on the cold coffee trend see our report Cold-Brewed Black Coffees: Quality in a Can.

The absence of certain coffee types from the Top 30 list is also notable. Despite our extensive efforts to turn up quality decaffeinated coffee samples, no decafs earned a position on the list. We uncovered just one 90-point decaf over the course of the year. Another decaffeinated espresso earned 89 points.

Roast Style and the Top 30

Over the course of the year, we reviewed fewer than a dozen darker roasts. Most were medium-dark at best; some barely that. The majority of darker roasts we reviewed were sent by roasters in Taiwan and most were espressos, reflecting both the time-honored espresso practice of emphasizing chocolate and sweetness through moderate dark roasting, as well as, perhaps, a preference in Taiwan for more traditional styles of espresso as opposed to the lighter-roasted, brighter style of espresso now popular with the leading edge of North American roasters.

For more on our efforts at Coffee Review to wrestle with the current polarization in taste between consumers who prefer darker roasts and those who prefer lighter, see our 2017 report Darker-Roasted Coffees: Confessions and Amends.

Roasters in the Top 30

Two roasting companies placed three coffees each on this year’s Top-30 list: Barrington Coffee Roasters (Massachusetts) and Dragonfly Coffee Roasters (Colorado). Bird Rock Coffee Roasters (California), JBC Coffee Roasters (Wisconsin), and PT’s Coffee Roasting (Kansas) each placed two. This concentration of coffees from certain roasters was definitely not by design. In fact, we did our best to reduce the number of coffees from any one roaster on the list—we would prefer to have more roasters appear on the list rather than fewer.

Tamas Christman of Dragonfly Coffee Roasters considering the roast profile of a new coffee. Courtesy of Amanda Piela

On the other hand, from our inception Coffee Review has been committed to starting with what we actually experience in the cup, not with product categories or marketing considerations or fashion. It is true that we took into account some extrinsic factors like value, rarity and sustainable intentions into account when we narrowed the number of very high-rated coffees from about 100 to 30, but ultimately, sensory quality and distinction in the cup, as determined by blind-tasting and as reflected in rating, was the entry point to consideration for the list and the primary influence on where coffees landed on it.

To return to geography, 26 of the 30 coffees on the list were roasted by companies in the United States. Roasters from 12 U.S. states are represented. California roasters lead the rankings, with six representatives overall. Five coffees were roasted in Colorado, three in Taiwan.  One coffee—the Gorilla Conservation Kanyoni—was roasted by a company in Uganda.

Tree Variety and the Top 30

In the case of over half of the Top 30 coffees, distinctive tree variety appears to play an important role in generating an exceptional cup worthy of a high rating. There are stars and superstars among the hundreds of varieties of Arabica grown in the world today, and, whether we want them to or not, coffees from these distinguished varieties frequently dominate the very highest ratings at Coffee Review. They include the still rare and expensive Geisha/Gesha variety (three examples on the 2018 list), the various mainly indigenous varieties grown in Ethiopia (three on the 2018 list), the great SL28 and SL34 varieties of Kenya, and (slightly less distinctive but still likely to impress) the big-beaned varieties Maracaturra (one), Maragogipe (one) and the ancient heirloom Bourbon (four on the 2018 list).

Finally, two varieties appearing on the list are the ultimate in uncommon: the Sudan Rume from Granja La Esperanza roasted by PT’s Coffee and, at #1 on the list, the tiny-beaned Mocca (also spelled Moka) from Hula Daddy Coffee, a variety so rare that it appears to be grown commercially on only three farms in the world.

Processing Method and the Top-30

Processing method also appears to play a significant role in qualifying for the Top 30. On this year’s list, for example, of the 20 coffees for which processing method is clearly identified, seven (vs. six in 2017) were dry- or “natural”-processed, meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with wet-processed or “washed” coffees. Until the last ten years or so, dry-processing was seldom applied to high-end specialty coffees like those that appear on our Top 30 list. This showing is evidence of the continuing trend toward use of alternative processing methods as creative tools for crafting distinctive cup profiles.

On the other hand, the appearance of certain coffees on our list also suggests the value of continuity and tradition in processing. All four Kenya coffees in the Top 30 were subject to the meticulous Kenya variant on wet-processing that has been helping produce consistently great coffees in Kenya for decades. The two Sumatra coffees owe their distinction in great part to refined application of the decades-old “wet-hulling” process still largely unique to Indonesia, particularly to Sumatra. See our 2016 report Learning from Sumatras for more on wet-hulling and sensory distinction.

All the best from Coffee Review for a happy and prosperous new year, full of both coffee surprises and the reassurance of the fine and familiar.

Please enjoy our list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2018 and our Top Coffees by Category.

The post Top 30 Coffees of 2018 appeared first on Coffee Review.

Coffee Review’s goal, as always, is to celebrate coffee roasters, farmers and mill-owners who make an extra effort to produce coffees that are not only superb in quality but also distinctive in character. In particular, we want to honor the dedication of coffee producers large and small who, with the support of their roaster partners, are crafting a range of sensory excellence and diversity that has never existed before in the history of the beverage.

This year, as in past years, we tested thousands of coffee samples and published over 300 reviews of the highest rated of those samples. In 2017, nearly 100 of those reviewed coffees scored 94 points or higher, a tribute in large part to the ever-intensifying innovation and dedication of the world’s leading coffee producers and roasters. Obviously, all of these 94+ coffees are worthy of celebration, as are the exceptional coffees hovering just behind them at 93 and 92. However, we couldn’t squeeze them all into our Top 30.

Nevertheless, we recommend all of these high-rated coffees. Their reviews can be found on CoffeeReview.com using our advanced search, sorting by top-rated, by region or coffee type, or by roaster.

However, we did force ourselves to select from among them 30 we felt were worthy of particular recognition.

As in past years, we selected and ranked these exceptional coffees based on:

• quality and distinction, represented by rating.
• value, reflected by most affordable price per pound relative to rating.
• factors that include individuality or distinctiveness, uniqueness of origin or tree variety, certifications such as Fair Trade and organic, and general rarity

For those who are curious about how we conduct our testing and rating processes at Coffee Review, see Editor-in-Chief Kenneth Davids’ piece, How Coffee Review Works.

The Category Rankings

Continuing a practice we began in 2015, we also have created a separate list of superlative coffees that excel in various specific categories, such as darker roasts, decaffeinated coffees, coffees from origins that appear less often in our reviews, and certified coffees like Fair Trade and organic. Many of the coffees in the Category Rankings did not attract exceptional ratings of 94 points or more, but they nonetheless merit special recognition for their excellence.

Breaking Down the Top 30: Ratings and Prices

The average overall rating of the coffees on the Top 30 list for 2017 is 94.9 out of a possible 100, in line with the 95.0 average in 2016 and the 94.8 average in 2015.

One can’t directly compare the price of Top 30 coffees from year to year because the mix of coffees varies too dramatically. That said, the average price of coffees on the 2017 list is US $53.11 per pound, a new record. It is a dramatic 45% increase from the US $36.61 average price in 2016, driven by four coffees that were $100 or more per pound.

In part, this increase reflects the growth of a top end of the international coffee market that seems willing to pay almost any price for the very rarest and most exceptional coffees, particularly for rare and exceptional coffees that have won awards in prestigious green coffee competitions and auctions. Every year, for example, price records are broken at the annual Best of Panama competition and auction. In July of 2017 a 100-pound lot from trees of the rare and admired Gesha variety was sold at the Best of Panama auction for over $601 per pound as a green coffee.

Nevertheless, although the first- and second-place coffees in our Top 30 reflect this price-is-no-object trend with per-pound prices of $170 and $149, respectively, the third- and fourth-place coffees, despite their remarkable distinction, constituted almost crazy bargains at $24.80 and $19.33 per pound. For more on price and the Top 30 list, see the end of this report.

At the Top of the List

This year’s top coffee is the 97-point Yemen Port of Mokha Hayma Microlot roasted by Dragonfly Coffee Roasters in Boulder, Colorado. In the review published in February, this memorable coffee was described as “an exquisitely composed Yemen coffee, almost other-worldly in its array of fruit and floral notes, all enveloped in a crisp chocolate.” It also offered a piece of living coffee history. Although Ethiopia is the botanical home of Coffee Arabica, Yemen introduced the beverage to the rest of the world in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, and Yemen coffees are still grown from ancient heirloom cultivars of Arabica on stone-walled terraces encircling fortress-like mountaintop villages. Nevertheless, this particular Yemen also represents the new world of fine coffees because it embodies a very small, highly refined and selected example of that ancient tradition.

Steep-terraced coffee trees in Yemen.

Other Winning Origins

For each of the five years we’ve created a Top 30 list, our top pick has been a single-origin coffee. This past year, however, saw the first time a coffee from Yemen topped the list. In 2016, a Kenya appeared in first place, and in both 2014 and 2015 coffees from Panama (both from trees of the Gesha variety) prevailed. In 2013, the number one coffee was an exceptional Ethiopia.

This year, six of the Top 30 selections were produced from trees of the Gesha variety, which, since its rediscovery in 2004, continues to produce rare, expensive, and generally stunning and original coffees. Five of the six Top-30 Geshas were from farms in Panama.

Other origins with multiple coffees on the list are Colombia (3), Ethiopia (3), Kenya (3), Sumatra (2), Hawaii (2), Rwanda (2), and El Salvador (2).

The Winning Roasters

Twenty-four of the coffees on the Top 30 list were roasted by companies in the United States, including roasters in 11 U.S. states. California roasters led once again in numbers, with five representatives overall. Multiple coffees from roasters in Wisconsin, Colorado and Connecticut appear on the list, along with coffees roasted by companies in Taiwan, Canada, Australia, and Rwanda.

Three 2017 Top 30 coffees were roasted by JBC Coffee Roasters (Wisconsin), and two each by Dragonfly Coffee Roasters (Colorado), Hula Daddy (Hawaii), Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea (Connecticut), and Kakalove Café (Taiwan).

Laura Ross, roaster for Hula Daddy, checking her roast profiles. Courtesy of Kim Westerman.

All five of these roasters advertise on Coffee Review, and, altogether, 16 coffees on the list were roasted by advertisers. But it is important to note that status as a Coffee Review advertiser has no bearing on review ratings or selection to the Top 30. We cup all coffees blind, identified by number only. We do this consistently and rigorously. It is not advertising that leads to consistently high ratings, but rather consistently high ratings often lead companies to become advertisers, presumably to further capitalize on the success of their coffees.

The Impact of Tree Variety and Processing Method

Tree variety continues to play what appears to be a crucial role in the success of many coffees on this year’s Top 30 list. We noted earlier that six Top 30 selections were produced from trees of the Gesha variety. Four more were mainly produced from the heirloom, Bourbon-related SL28 and SL34 varieties responsible for the finest coffees of Kenya; two came from trees of the rare, big-beaned Pacamara variety, and four from heirloom varieties grown only in Ethiopia. A coffee produced from the very rare Pointu Laurina mutant of Bourbon appeared at number 10 on the list, and at least three more selections were most likely produced from the great Bourbon-related varieties responsible for most of the finest coffees of the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

For more on botanical variety and the role it plays in fine coffee see Kenneth Davids’ How Coffee Review Works or our December 2011 tasting report, Single-Variety Coffees: Aficionado Fun.

Wet-hulling in Sumatra. Courtesy of Crop to Cup Coffee.

Processing method also appears to play a significant role in the sensory differentiation that helps qualify a coffee for the Top 30, although a less important role than tree variety. On this year’s list, for example, at least five selections were dry- or “natural-”processed, meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with the more orthodox wet-processed or “washed” method. Until relatively recently, dry processing was seldom applied to high-end specialty coffees like those that appear on our Top 30 list. In addition, one selection, the #6 El Salvador Finca Kilimanjaro, was wet-processed using a rather radical experimental variation applied to the key fermentation step, and two others were processed using the “wet-hulling” variation of wet processing practiced in Sumatra. If the details of the processing were mapped for all of these Top 30 selections, we most likely would see additional variations in the basic wet method surfacing as crucial influencers of sensory style. At any rate, this year’s selections are evidence of continuing attention to processing methods and details as creative tools in the crafting of distinctive cup profiles.

Categories Rare or Missing

Three espressos appear on this year’s list. Two are single-origin coffees and one is a blend. Red Rooster’s 95-point Flight Seasonal Espresso is the only blend of any kind to appear on the list. Numerous espresso and non-espresso blends earned 90-93 points over the year but did not ultimately make it to our Top 30. We recognize some of the best on our list of Top Coffees by Category.

The absence of certain types of coffees from the Top 30 list is also notable. Despite our extensive efforts to recruit quality decaffeinated coffee samples, no decafs earned a position on the list. We identified just one 90-point decaf over the course of the year. Two others earned 87 to 89 points.

In an attempt to identify more distinctive dark roasts, we dedicated our August tasting report to darker-roasted coffees. Amavida’s Finca El Obraje Colombia Gesha earned 95 points and appears at number 21 on the Top 30 list. A more decisively dark-roasted Gesha—San Francisco Bay Coffee’s Panama Geisha—earned 94 points and appears at Number 27 on the 2017 list.

The Cost Factor

Returning to value considerations, the average price of coffees on the 2017 Top 30 list is $53.11 per pound.  As in past years, higher scoring coffees garner higher prices, certainly in part due to higher production costs but primarily due to rarity. In 2017, the price differential by score is striking, as shown below:

97-point coffees (4) = $154.68/pound
96-point coffees (3) = $64.22/pound
95-point coffees (12) = $43.83/pound
94-point coffees (8) = $24.61/pound
93-point coffees (3) = $19.69/pound

One of the selection criteria for the Top 30 coffees is value or affordability, measured by price per pound. Many of the coffees on the list are priced in line with similar single-origin specialty coffees in the marketplace. Half (15) of the
coffees on the list cost less than $25 per pound. Eight coffees are priced under
$20 per pound.  We compiled a list of the top value coffees of 2017.

Please enjoy our list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2017 and our Top Coffees by Category.

The post Top 30 Coffees of 2017 appeared first on Coffee Review.

In 2016, we cupped thousands of samples and published nearly 400 coffee reviews. Approximately 90 of the reviewed coffees scored 94 points or higher. Obviously, all coffees earning scores of 94 points or more are exceptional, but we couldn’t include of all of them in the Top 30. Some were more exciting or noteworthy or better values than others. Consequently, some outstanding coffees were left off the list. However, every coffee included in the ranking is remarkable or exciting is some way.

As in past years, we selected and ranked our Top 30 coffees and espressos based on quality (represented by overall rating), value (reflected by most affordable price per pound), and consideration of other factors that include distinctiveness of style, uniqueness of origin or tree variety, certifications such as Fair Trade and organic, and general rarity.

Our rankings often feature a significant number of high-scoring coffees produced from botanical varieties of Arabica with striking sensory properties, such as coffees of the Gesha/Geisha variety and coffees from distinctive traditional varieties grown in Ethiopia and Kenya. Continuing a practice we began last year, we have created a separate list of superlative coffees in ten categories, including South American coffees, espresso blends and darker roasts. The goal of the category rankings is to provide recognition for fine coffees from less celebrated origins and/or produced from more common botanical varieties. Many of the coffees in the Category Rankings did not attract exceptional ratings of 95 points or more, but they nonetheless merit recognition for their excellence.

For those who are curious about why coffees from certain tree varieties tend to score better than coffees from other tree varieties, or are generally interested in how we conduct our testing and rating processes at Coffee Review, see Editor Kenneth Davids’ piece, How Coffee Review Works.

Breaking Down the Top 30

The average overall rating of the coffees on the Top 30 list for 2016 is 95.0 out of a possible 100, slightly higher than the 94.8 average in 2015 and 2014 and the 94.4 average in 2013.

One can’t directly compare the price of Top 30 coffees from year to year because the mix of coffees varies too dramatically. That said, the average price of coffees on the 2016 Top 30 list is US $36.61 per pound, which is roughly in line with past years. It is down nearly four US dollars from the US $40.33 average in 2015. It is nearly the same as the average of US $37.98 in 2014 and US $35.00 in 2013. The higher average price in 2015 was largely skewed by the six examples of the rare and expensive Gesha variety on the 2015 list, as opposed to three or four Geshas in other years.

This year’s No. 1 coffee is a Kenya Guama Peaberry roasted by Bird Rock Coffee Roasters in San Diego, California. Cited as “An exuberant expression of the classic Kenya cup … deeply sweet, sumptuous, … laden with berry and spicy floral suggestions,” it earned 97 points (out of a possible 100).

For the fourth year in a row, our top coffee of the year is a single-origin coffee. However, it is the first time a coffee from Kenya has topped our list. In 2014 and 2015, a coffee from Panama was named the top coffee of the year; in 2013, the No.1 coffee was from Ethiopia.

Three of the Top 30 coffees in 2016 come from trees of the Gesha variety, a rare Ethiopia-derived botanical variety of Arabica with elongated beans and a distinctive floral- and cocoa-toned cup. Two of the three Geshas were from farms in Panama.

Coffees appearing on the list were grown in eleven different countries. The most frequently appearing origin is Kenya, with seven coffees on the list. Other origins with multiple coffees on the list are Ethiopia (6), Sumatra (4), Panama (3), Hawaii (2), and Brazil (2).

Given that Coffee Review’s tasting facilities are based in the United States, where nearly 70 percent of our readership resides, it is not surprising that 26 of the 30 coffees on the list were roasted by companies in the United States. Roasters from 12 U.S. states were represented. California roasters dominated the rankings this year, with seven representatives overall. Coffees roasted by companies in Taiwan, South Korea and Australia also appear on the list.

Regular Coffee Review readers will recognize many of the roasters appearing on the Top 30 list. Six roasters had two coffees on the 2016 Top 30 list: Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, Dragonfly Coffee, Hula Daddy, JBC Coffee, Temple Coffee, and Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea. All six of these roasters are Coffee Review advertisers, although their status as advertisers had no bearing on their review ratings or their selection to the Top 30. We cup all coffees blind, identified by number only. We do this consistently and rigorously. It is not advertising that leads to consistently high ratings, but rather consistently high ratings often lead companies to become advertisers, presumably to further capitalize on the success of their coffees.

Tree Variety, Processing Method and Coffee Diversity

The variety of tree that produced each coffee on this list appears to play a crucial role in producing superlative coffees. Based on information provided by roasters, in 2016, five coffees come from the heirloom, Bourbon-related SL28 and SL34 varieties responsible for the finest coffees of Kenya. Three coffees come from the rare and celebrated Gesha variety. Two coffees were produced from trees of the rare, big-beaned Pacamara variety. In addition, one coffee on the list comes from the tiny-beaned, but even rarer Mokka variety. Two are from the revered heirloom Bourbon variety of Arabica. Finally, all six of the Ethiopia coffees on the Top 30 list almost certainly were produced from the unique tree varieties long grown in southern and western Ethiopia.

So, in the case of well over half of the Top 30 coffees, distinctive tree variety appears to play an important role in generating an exceptional cup worthy of a high rating. For more on botanical variety and the role it plays in fine coffee see Kenneth Davids’ How Coffee Review Works or our December 2011 tasting report, Single-Variety Coffees: Aficionado Fun.

Processing method also appears to play a significant role in qualifying for the Top 30. On this year’s list, for example, at least six coffees were dry- or “natural”-processed, meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with wet-processed or “washed” coffees. Until relatively recently, dry-processing was seldom applied to high-end specialty coffees like those that appear on our Top 30 list. This showing is evidence of the continuing trend toward use of alternative processing methods as creative tools for crafting distinctive cup profiles.

The number of coffees intended for espresso brewing modestly increased in the 2016 Top 30. Five espressos appear on this year’s list, four of which are single-origin coffees. That’s up from four espressos in 2015 and one and two in 2014 and 2013, respectively. Perhaps this result is a small confirmation what appears to be a general trend toward more production of refined, carefully profiled single-origin espressos in preference to blends among leading roasting companies.

The absence of certain types of coffees from the Top 30 list is also notable. Despite our efforts to recruit quality dark roasts and decaffeinated coffee samples to review, we did not turn up a single 90-point decaf. We did test a handful of decaffeinated coffees that scored 88 or 89, but none seemed worthy of recognition in the special decaffeinated category ranking, which we had initially planned but reluctantly dropped for 2016. While we do offer a selection of noteworthy darker roasts (ranging in score from 90-94) in our Category Rankings, none qualifies as a strictly defined dark roast based on Specialty Coffee Association of America terminology. All fall into the category of medium-dark. We are planning a particularly concentrated push in 2017 to surface more darker-roasted coffees that we feel merit relatively high ratings.

The Cost Factor

Returning to value considerations, the average price of coffees on the 2016 Top 30 list is $36.61 per pound. Not surprisingly, higher scoring coffees tend to cost more:

96- and 97-point coffees (9) = $53.05/pound

95-point coffees (10) = $34.75/pound

94-point coffees (11) = $23.20/pound

However, one of the selection criteria for the Top 30 coffees is value or affordability, measured by price per pound. Many of the coffees on the list are priced in line with similar single-origin specialty coffees in the marketplace. Half (15) of the coffees on the list cost less than $25 per pound. Four coffees are priced under $20 per pound, namely: No. 7 Willoughby’s Brazil Fazenda Passeio Natural (94 points; $13.99/16 ounces), No. 19 Crescendo Black Panther Sumatra (South Korea; 94 points; equivalent to $8.54/8.8 ounces), No. 26 Revel Coffee Brazil Estancia Telese (94 points; $13.25/12 ounces), and No. 29 Klatch Coffee Sumatra Mutu Batak (94 points; $14.50/12 ounces). At the other end of the price spectrum, four coffees on the list—two Geshas and two Hawaii Konas)—cost more than $75 per pound.

We are pleased to share our list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2016.

The post Top 30 Coffees of 2016 appeared first on Coffee Review.

In 2015, we cupped thousands of samples and published more than 300 coffee reviews. Approximately ninety of the reviewed coffees scored 94 points or higher. Obviously, all coffees earning scores of 94 points or more are exceptional. But we couldn’t include them all, and some were more unusual or noteworthy or better values than others. Consequently, some outstanding coffees were left off the list. However, every coffee on the list is remarkable or exciting in some way.

As in past years, we selected and ranked our Top 30 coffees and espressos based on quality (represented by overall rating), value (reflected by most affordable price per pound), and consideration of other factors that include distinctiveness of style, uniqueness of origin or tree variety, certifications such as Fair Trade and organic, and general rarity.

As in past years, our rankings featured a significant number high-scoring coffees produced from botanical varieties of Arabica with striking sensory properties: coffees of the Gesha/Geisha variety and coffees from the distinctive traditional varieties from Ethiopia and Kenya. In 2015, in an effort to provide greater variety in the Top 30 and somewhat minimize the dominance of coffees from these super-star varieties, we refined our ranking process to place greater importance on factors other than overall score.

For 2015, we also decided to create additional categories to help focus attention on fine coffees from less celebrated origins and/or produced from more common botanical varieties. The coffees in the category rankings may not have attracted superlative ratings of 95 points or more but they merit recognition for their excellence, nonetheless.

For those who are curious about why certain coffees from certain tree varieties tend to score better than coffees from other tree varieties, or generally are interested in how we conduct our testing and rating process at Coffee Review, we recommend reading Editor Kenneth Davids’ piece, How Coffee Review Works.

Breaking Down the Top 30

The average overall rating of the coffees on the Top 30 list for 2015 is 94.8 out of a possible 100, the same as 2014 and slightly higher than the 94.4 average in 2013. The average price is $40.33 per pound, up from $37.98 in 2014, and $35.00 in 2013.

For the second year in a row, a coffee from Panama was named the top coffee of the year. This year’s No. 1 coffee is Finca La Mula Geisha, roasted by JBC Coffee Roasters in Madison, Wisconsin from coffee grown on Willem Boot’s La Mula farm in western Panama. We described the coffee, which earned 97 points (out of a possible 100) as, “Immense, sweet, juicy, intricate. Lilac and jasmine, peach, apricot, rosehip, much more in aroma and cup.”

Six of the Top 30 coffees in 2015 come from trees of the Gesha variety grown in Panama. Gesha or “Geisha” is a rare Ethiopia-derived botanical variety of Arabica that boasts elongated beans and a distinctive floral and chocolate cup.

Coffees appearing on the list were grown in eleven different countries. The most frequently appearing origins are Panama and Ethiopia, with six coffees each. Other origins with multiple coffees on the list are Kenya (4), Colombia (2), Nicaragua (2), Costa Rica (2), and Sumatra (2).

Given that Coffee Review’s tasting facilities are based in the United States, it is not surprising that 27 of the 30 coffees on the list were roasted by companies in the United States. California roasters dominated the rankings this year with nine representatives overall. However, coffees roasted by companies in Canada, Taiwan, and China also appeared on the list at No. 29, No. 8, and No. 2, respectively.

Regular Coffee Review readers will recognize many of the roasters appearing on the Top-30 list. Six roasters had two coffees on the 2015 Top 30 list: Dragonfly Coffee, JBC Coffee, Klatch Coffee, Old Soul Co., PT’s Coffee, and Temple Coffee. All six of these roasters are Coffee Review advertisers, although their status as advertisers had no bearing on their review ratings or their selection to the Top 30. For one thing, we cup coffees blind, identified by number only. We do this consistently and rigorously. Also, here is what happens over the long run: Roasters interested in Coffee Review send us their coffees for review. Some of these coffees do not attract high ratings. Others do. Those roasters whose coffees attract high ratings then send even more coffees for review on a more consistent basis, and at some point may become advertisers in order to further capitalize on the success of their coffees. In other words, it is not that advertising leads to consistent high ratings, but that consistent high ratings sometimes lead to advertising.

Tree Variety, Processing Method and Diversity

The variety of tree that produced the coffee appears to play a crucial role in cracking the Top 30. In 2015, six coffees came from the rare and celebrated Gesha variety, six from trees of ancient, distinctive-tasting varieties native to Ethiopia, and four from the heirloom, Bourbon-related SL 28 and SL 34 varieties responsible for the finest coffees of Kenya. In addition, two Top-30 coffees were produced from trees of the rare, big-beaned Pacamara variety and one from the tiny-beaned, but even rarer Mokka. So, in the case of at least 19 of the Top 30 coffees, unusual or rare tree variety appeared to play an important role in generating an exceptional cup worthy of a high rating. For more on botanical variety and the role it plays in fine coffee see Kenneth Davids’ How Coffee Review Works or our December 2011 tasting report, Single-Variety Coffees: Aficionado Fun.

Processing method also appears to play a significant role in qualifying for the Top 30. On this year’s list, for example, seven coffees were dry-processed or “natural,” meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with wet-processed or “washed” coffees. Until relatively recently, dry-processing was seldom if ever applied to high-end specialty coffees like those that appear in our Top 30 list. This showing is evidence of a continuing trend toward use of alternative processing methods as creative tools for crafting distinctive cup profiles.

There are other signs of greater diversity of coffee types in the 2015 Top 30 list. For example, last year there were no decaffeinated coffees in the Top 30. This year, one at least, No. 23, was a decaf. Last year, only one blend appeared. This year, there were two. In 2014, only one coffee designated for espresso brewing made the list, versus four in 2015. At least three Top 30 coffees in 2015 were certified organic.

The Cost Factor

Returning to value considerations, the average price of coffees on the list was $40.33 per pound, although that average was skewed upwards by the six extremely expensive Geshas.

Not surprisingly, higher scoring coffees tended to cost more:

97-point coffee (1) = $119.90/pound

96-point coffees (7) = $78.74/pound

95-point coffees (11) = $23.68/pound

94-point-or-less coffees (11) = $25.30/pound

However, one of the selection criteria for the Top 30 coffees was value or affordability, measured by price per pound. Many of the coffees on the list are priced in line with similar single-origin specialty coffees. Three coffees on the list were priced at less than $18 per pound, and 16, or more than half, cost less than $25 per pound. The top two coffees on the list were also the most expensive, selling for the equivalent of more than $120 per pound. The three most affordable coffees on the list were the No. 29 Reunion Island Colombia Las Hermosas ($11.95/12 ounces), No. 30 Red Rooster FTO Congo Sopacdi Cooperative ($13.49/12 ounces), and No. 10 Willoughby’s Kenya AA Kigwandi Estate ($17.99/16 ounces).

VIEW TOP 30 COFFEES OF 2015

The post Top 30 Coffees of 2015 appeared first on Coffee Review.

We selected and ranked these exceptional coffees and espressos based on quality (represented by overall rating), value (reflected by most affordable price per pound), and consideration of other factors that include distinctiveness of style, uniqueness of origin or tree variety, certifications such as fair trade and organic, and general rarity.

This year’s list actually includes 31 coffees.  Two coffees share spot No. 29 because their roasters, without intending to, sourced the same exceptional green coffee, brought it to an identical roast color based on Agtron readings, and even charged the same price.  Reassuringly, perhaps, these two versions of the same coffee also earned the same score in separate blind cuppings a month apart.

In 2014, we cupped thousands of samples and published roughly 350 coffee reviews. Approximately eighty of the reviewed coffees scored 94 points or higher. Obviously all of the 94+ point coffees were exceptional. But we couldn’t include them all, and some were more unusual or noteworthy or better values than others. Obviously some outstanding coffees were left off the list; on the other hand, every coffee on the list is remarkable or exciting in some way.

Breaking Down the Top 30

Regular Coffee Review readers will recognize many of the roasters and coffees appearing on the Top 30 list. Fourteen of the coffees were sourced and roasted by Coffee Review advertisers, though that played no role in their original scoring or in their selection to the list.

The average overall rating of the coffees on the Top 30 list is 94.8 out of a possible 100. The average price is $37.98 per pound, although many coffees high on the list cost considerably less. Three coffees on the list were priced less than $18 per pound, and half cost less than $25 per pound. The most expensive coffee on the list sold at a whopping $120 per pound.

Of the ten coffee-producing countries that appear on the list, Ethiopia and Kenya dominated, with seven coffees each. Other origins with multiple coffees on the list are Panama (3), Colombia (3), Nicaragua (3), and Sumatra, Indonesia (2). Two coffees grown in the United States made the list: a coffee from Kona in Hawaii, as well as the first commercially grown coffee from California.

Roasters from four countries appeared on the list: United States (27), Taiwan (2), South Korea (1), and Hong Kong (1). In the United States, coffee from California roasters dominated the rankings this year, with thirteen representatives overall, including four of the top five. Roasters from Sacramento, California, placed four coffees in the 2014 Top 30 list.

In terms of number of appearances on the list, the rich got richer in 2014. In 2013 no roaster appeared on the list more than once, whereas this year five roasters appeared on the list twice: Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, JBC Coffee Roasters, Klatch Coffee, Old Soul Co, and Temple Coffee and Tea. Two coffees from Klatch Coffee appeared in the top five.

There were no decaffeinated coffees on the Top 30 list in 2014. There was only one blend, No. 7 Holiday Blend by Olympia Coffee. There was only one coffee designated for espresso brewing, No. 22 SO Espresso Brazil Fazenda Rainha Natural by Paradise Roasters.

The trends in high-end coffee that prevailed in 2013 seemed to have intensified in 2014: fewer blends (though we detected a swing back toward two-coffee blending toward the end of the year), more refined and specifically identified single-origin coffees, and more coffees processed by the dried-in-the-fruit or “natural” method (a surprising total of fourteen). An impressive number of coffees made the list that were produced exclusively from one variety of tree, including five from the rare Gesha (or Geisha) variety, three from the heirloom Bourbon variety, two from the big-beaned hybrid Pacamara, one from the similarly big-beaned Maracaturra, and one from the Caturra variety.

If we look at tree variety generally as a crucial differentiator in cracking the Top-30 list, then we might add to these Geshas, Bourbons, etc., the seven coffees that appear from Ethiopia, which were almost exclusively produced from trees of very ancient varieties native to Ethiopia, and the seven Kenya coffees on the list, all of which were primarily produced from the heirloom, Bourbon-related SL 28 and SL 34 varieties. Looked at this way, twenty-seven of the top thirty-one coffees had as a likely driving differentiator the variety of tree from which they were produced.

The Cost Factor

Returning to value considerations, the average price of coffees on the list is $37.98 per pound, although that average was skewed upwards by the presence on the list of five examples of the still very rare, very expensive Gesha/Geisha variety. Generally, higher scoring coffees tended to cost more:

97-point coffee(1) = $99.90/pound

96-point coffees (5) = $44.98/pound
95-point coffees (16) = $34.84/pound
94-point-or-less coffees (9) = $32.46/pound

However, one of the selection criteria for the Top 30 coffees was value or affordability, measured by price per pound. Many of the coffees on the list are priced in line with similar single-origin specialty coffees. Nearly half of the coffees on the list cost $24 per pound or less. Given that a pound of coffee produces the liquid equivalent of close to one case of wine, this means some of the best coffees in the world are priced less per serving than the famous (or infamous) Charles Shaw “Two Buck Chuck” wine.

The three most affordable coffees on the list are the No. 22 Paradise S.O. Brazil Espresso ($12.95/12 ounces), No. 6 Topéca Ethiopia FTO Worka ($14.50/12 ounces) and No. 28 Equator Colombia ($15.35/12 ounces).

Read Reviews

The post Top 30 Coffees of 2014 appeared first on Coffee Review.