How Did the Gesha Coffee Bean and San Roque Perform at COE 2024?
The 2024 Cup of Excellence in Costa Rica has released its results, and the gesha coffee bean again dominated the field, taking the majority of winning lots. Classic varieties such as Typica and Catuai also competed. The standout story, however, was San Roque, a rare variety that first appeared on the Costa Rica COE list in 2018 from Finca Leoncio in the Central Valley, placing 14th.
The competition split entries into three groups by processing method: Traditional Washed, Traditional Honey and Natural, and Experimental. San Roque has returned to COE lists repeatedly since 2018, helped by its distinctive background and strong cup scores. The farm where it was first recorded, Finca Leoncio, was inherited from the owner's grandfather and previously grew mainly Villa Sarchi and SL28.
The results of the 2024 Cup of Excellence (COE) in Costa Rica have recently been officially announced. As in previous years, the competition is divided into three categories based on processing method: Traditional Washed, Traditional Honey & Natural, and Experimental. In this year's event, Geisha remained the dominant variety, but classic varieties such as Typica and Catuai also appeared on the competition stage. Meanwhile, a rare variety that has frequently appeared on the COE list in recent years — San Roque — once again drew attention. Since its first appearance in the COE in 2018, this variety has gradually taken root in the Central Valley production region and achieved repeated success thanks to its unique background and excellent cup flavor. This article will walk you through the discovery history of San Roque, its varietal characteristics, and its flavor performance in COE judging, along with Front Street Coffee's recommendations and interpretation of this variety.
CoE (Cup of Excellence) can be regarded as one of the most influential competitions in the global specialty coffee field, and it is also the first platform to hold auctions of award-winning coffees via the internet. It was founded in 1999 by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE).
Recently, the 2024 Cup of Excellence event in Costa Rica came to a successful conclusion, and the competition results have now been officially released. As in previous editions, this COE divided the participating lots into three categories based on processing method.
Traditional Washed Processes
Traditional Honey & Natural Processes
Experimental
Looking at the lineup of this year's COE participants, the Gesha variety still accounted for the vast majority, but common varieties such as Typica and Catuai also took part. In addition, a relatively new variety — San Roque — also appeared on the competition stage. Since 2018, San Roque has become a rare variety frequently seen on Costa Rica's COE list.
San Roque
According to records, San Roque first appeared on the COE list in 2018, when it came from Finca Leoncio in the Central Valley (Valley Central) and placed 14th.
Farm owner Manuel Antonio Barrantes Zuñiga said that the farm was inherited from his grandfather Leoncio and named after him. At that time, the farm mainly grew two varieties: Villa Sarchi and SL28.
In 2015, Finca Leoncio registered for that year's COE competition, but owner Antonio was not sure at the time what variety was being submitted, so he submitted the sample under the name SL28.
In the end, that lot won the 2015 Costa Rica COE championship with a high score of 91.46 points, immediately attracting attention from all sides. However, people found that this champion coffee was clearly different from traditional SL28, yet its true identity could not be identified.
It was not until 2018 that genetic testing revealed it was actually a variant of SL28. Because it was first discovered in the San Roque area of central Costa Rica, it was named San Roque. Moreover, because of the award-winning effect in 2015, neighbors around Finca Leoncio came one after another to ask for seedlings, and the farm generously distributed them widely, causing this variety to gradually spread through neighboring coffee farms in the Central Valley and appear frequently in COE events in recent years.
In terms of flavor performance, San Roque is quite similar to SL28. The difference is that San Roque's young top leaves are light brown, while SL28's young top leaves are green. San Roque is highly favored because it can adapt to high-altitude growing environments and has excellent cup flavor quality. According to flavor records from past COE judging, whether natural, washed, or honey processed, San Roque coffee shows layered and rich overall fruit notes.
Front Street Coffee suggests that if you want to experience the unique charm of San Roque, you can pay attention to lots of this variety produced in Costa Rica's Central Valley region. Front Street Coffee also continues to select related beans for enthusiasts.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
