Susie Spindler is yielding no ground. She knows that the Cup of Excellence® is good not just for the coffee industry but for the individuals involved. "This is about family," she says with a grin.

And she means it. As cofounder of COE, Spindler is in charge of the cupping competition held annually in six countries in Central and South America (and twice a year in Colombia). The competitions are significant because they empower individual farmers and roasters. "A large multinational company gets no more attention than a microroaster, or an individual cupper or farmer," says Spindler, who is executive director for The Alliance for Coffee Excellence Inc., the nonprofit that owns the COE event.

Each country that hosts COE competitions must undergo Spindler's test for inclusiveness and openness. This means minimal political red tape and no chance for powerful landholders to dominate the competition. The best coffees from the best farms are given the opportunity to have their efforts recognized and rewarded. The competition is open to all, without a registration fee, and lot size requirements are small enough to encourage the smallest farmers to participate with their best coffee. As Spindler puts it: "The farmer who hitchhikes to the awards ceremony can compete alongside the farmer who owns the local bank."

With this approach, COE has gained a reputation for introducing quality coffee growing regions never before recognized. Geoff Watts, of Intelligentsia Coffee in Chicago, has participated in nine COE competitions as a cupper/juror. "It's the one event where you can become intimately familiar with a large number of coffees from one region," he says. "I don't think there's anything else like it."

"This is a big deal," adds Andreas Hertzberg of Solberg & Hansen AS in Oslo, Norway. "It is a significant experience for people to be able to come to these countries and taste these coffees."

And it's hard work, to be sure. "It's one of the hardest things, trying to make sure it's about the farmers and that it's open," says Spindler. "But our transparency, knowing where the money is going for these coffees, the farmers know we mean it, and that we want to allow them the pride and identity they are due."

In preparing for this year's competition in Bolivia, there have been some challenges to this open, transparent model. "Some of the cooperatives don't want it to be open," says Spindler. "Traditional co-ops aren't allowing farmers to enter the competition on their own. The coffee industry in Bolivia is not structured to allow farmers to work individually. This is due partly to expenses, with shipping large container loads of green."

In some countries, it just isn't possible to identify individual farmers. "In El Salvador, you can't I.D. a particular farm because of land reform issues. All the farmers own all the land," says Spindler. "So we try to identify the people working on the farms. We certainly identify the area where the coffees are grown."

The best ideas seem obvious once proven successful. And nothing like COE existed in coffee cupping or green brokering models before Spindler and George Howell started brainstorming in 1999. Both were involved in coffee ventures in Brazil and found themselves frustrated by a lack of knowledge in the U.S. market of Brazilian specialty coffees.

Their plan originally involved a few respected cuppers going to origin to select the best quality of that year's harvest, awarding the farmers with recognition and an Internet auction to sell the winning coffees to the highest bidder. "We couldn't know if it would work, but it was worth a shot," says Howell.

"George was instrumental," says Spindler, "as were a few others like Don Holly [of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters], who created the Internet auction platform." Without Holly's efforts, COE would not have an auction platform.

The Brazilian farmers were skeptical at first about holding their coffee for an untested Internet auction. But once the ICO put up the financing for up to 900 bags of the winning coffee, 310 farmers entered the competition. After a 14-member jury selected the best Brazil had to offer, the auction proved a great success. Ten lots of 50 bags to 150 bags sold for an average of $1.73 per pound.

That first competition proved the mettle of the model Spindler, Howell and Holly had come up with. To date, 20 COE competitions and auctions have taken place between Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras and El Salvador. Each event has shown that areas not known for specialty coffee are in fact producing incredible coffees. Recent COE auctions have brought record prices of around $20 per pound.

The COE competition is a celebration of the hard work of coffee farmers, and it could not succeed without the jury of coffee professionals who come from all over the world with different cupping experiences and backgrounds.

For the first COE competitions, jurors were selected by recommendation, but now, with 20 competitions completed, there is a pool of jurors who can participate. "We try to get a significant number who've been on before, then we add new cuppers who've been recommended," says Spindler.

It's also possible to cup the coffees as an observer, whether you're a green broker, a retailer or a journalist who hasn't quite figured out how to slurp loud enough to seem like a seasoned cupper. For someone with little cupping experience, COE might seem like an intimidating place to learn. But as is the case with most worries, this one proves needless. Sure, there are the veterans who've been cupping for decades and have 10 or more COEs under their belts. But observers like myself calibrated our palates and scoring of coffees while gleaning tips from the experienced cuppers at the discussion sessions that followed each round of cupping. (No discussion is allowed before scores are tabulated to assure cuppers are not influenced by other palates.)

While grasping the basics, it can be fascinating to witness the cup characteristics favored by jurors from different countries. A Japanese juror might prefer low acidity, versus one from Norway who looks for high acidity and gives it high marks. Differing preferences by country demonstrate the benefit of an international jury: It helps producers discover different marketplace niches and needs based on flavor profiles that have been selected by cuppers from different parts of the world.

As the international jury cupped its way through 60 coffees over five days in Colombia last September, a wide range of opinions were shared about each coffee. Head judge Sherri Johns of WholeCup Consulting (and frequent contributor to Fresh Cup) noted that as the top coffees were cupped and recupped, "expect it to get more interesting." As judges got to know each other's tastes, they became more vocal with their opinions during the discussion sessions. "It's all fun, a learning process, and a little ribbing each other," says Johns.

The top contenders were narrowed down to 45, then 10. The top 10 were then cupped and ranked for placement, and further agreement was reached. "Still, it's nice to know even when there's agreement that a coffee was bad, good or great, different judges taste different things," says Jeff Taylor of PT's Coffee in Topeka, Kan., a juror at September's COE in Colombia. The coffees cupped there were often described as sweet, floral and fruity, and on a few occasions noted as nutty. Among a group of well-qualified and calibrated cuppers, different ideas nevertheless arise about the same coffee. What one might perceive as a pleasant nuttiness, another might say, "Hmm, not so good . tasted like peanut butter."

"I am always amazed at the concentration and dedication that these cuppers put into it," says Spindler. And it seems the jurors get as much out of it as they contribute. Lasting friendships are formed, and ties are developed with the hosting countries and their farmers.

Winning farmers are recognized during a national ceremony on the last day of the COE competition. Eighty-five percent of the earnings at auction go back to the producers. The winning farmers also are recognized internationally as quality producers, providing them exposure to potential buyers for future crops. A winning farm and even an entire producing region can expect to receive future visits and inquiries.

And as they say, the proof is in the cup. Many COE-winning farmers cup their own coffees. They have learned the characteristics that will bring high prices. The winner of September's competition in Colombia was 64-year-old Gregorio Arnulfo Botina. This was his first opportunity to enter his coffee in a cupping competition. He dedicated the award to his coop and repeated, "Quality pays! Quality pays!" upon receiving his award. Out of the record 776 coffees that ranked below his, the fact that there was quality in this farmer's cup might be an understatement. There was magic, passion and dedication spun into gold.

With six countries in Central and South America in the COE fold, plans for expansion are under way, including key producing countries in Africa. A COE competition currently is being coordinated with the East African Fine Coffee Association. "We'll have a schedule by EAFCA conference in February," says Spindler.

"Everything is so different there. We wanted to be sure we knew how to do it, change the rules if need be. We'll look at it country by country. It's difficult to identify each farmer in some countries. We may have to do the competition by co-op."

As for other areas of growth for COE, Spindler has her sights on specialty coffee retailers. "It would be nice to have retailers as members," she says. "We're not going to be sustainable until the consumer knows to pay more for an award-winning coffee."

The retailer is the final gateway to the consumer. As more retailers become aware of Cup of Excellence, Spindler hopes the word of mouth will reach the consumer. "Retailers can promote the connection to the farmer, to quality in the cup, in a sense that a small wine estate would do."

A new COE Web site was launched last month that could prove revolutionary for coffee aficionados at every level. The site houses a database that can be accessed by COE members. It is probably the most extensive compilation of information on exemplary coffee ever created. "We've gone back to all the farm information from the beginning, loaded it into a database that roasters or any member can search by cup characteristics, variety, score, price, origin, et cetera," says Spindler. Anyone looking for exemplary coffee can find one at a particular elevation in say, Nicaragua, perhaps with apricot or honey notes. The database can categorize information to determine if cup characteristics are regional, altitudinal, et cetera. "It will give the trade an incredible resource," says Spindler. "We might charge a nominal fee for this membership feature, to finance the site's upkeep."

The Cup of Excellence® bridges the gap between specialty coffee farmers and their customers in consuming countries. COE makes it easier to source and identify quality coffees and quality farms. Loyal buyers return to Cup of Excellence® auctions because they, and their customers, love these coffees. Farmers are able to build direct buying relationships worldwide as never before. Many buyers repeatedly purchase winning coffees and have been inspired to travel to origin as a result.

Additionally, COE helps identify where and what quality improvements are needed in specific regions while creating a new benchmark pricing system that bypasses the traditional futures market. The transparent auction levels the playing field and allows large and small companies an equal chance at owning rare and exclusive coffees.

Growers and producing countries see benefits from COE long after the auctions close. "We are identifying farmers and entire regions," says Spindler, adding that some government authorities, aware of a region's potential, are getting more involved in quality programs to help those areas become more active in the specialty market. Word is spreading about the potential rewards of a strong specialty coffee program, raising the bar for quality production in countries where COE competitions are held.

Sometimes a first-place COE coffee doesn't receive the highest price at auction, though this is rare, perhaps occurring when a certain buyer is looking for something different. "I like auctions where there isn't a huge difference between number one and number two," says Spindler. (In Colombia recently, there was just a half-point score difference between first and second place.) "Do [small differences in score] warrant $10 a pound?" she asks. "I don't think so. I like it when the prices are even among the top winners and higher for everything because they're all really good coffees. I'm not as concerned about a blowout number one as I am about everyone getting a just reward."

Again, it's all about the farmers. If Spindler gets her wish, this philosophy will come full circle, from the cupping to the auction to the consumer.