12th Place Winner of the 2026 Cup of Excellence Nicaragua – Natural & Honey Category (87.72 points)

About Cup of Excellence

Cup of Excellence is one of the world’s most prestigious coffee competitions, organized by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence. Each year, hundreds of coffees are submitted by producers hoping to earn recognition among the finest coffees their country has to offer.

These coffees undergo multiple rounds of rigorous blind evaluation by national and international juries composed of experienced coffee professionals. Each coffee is evaluated for attributes including flavor, aftertaste, acidity, sweetness, mouthfeel, balance, and overall quality. Only the highest-performing coffees advance through the competition, ultimately earning the distinction of Cup of Excellence winners.

Unlike other coffee scoring systems, Cup of Excellence uses its own rigorous evaluation standards. Scores are not directly interchangeable between organizations such as Coffee Review, Q Grading, and Cup of Excellence. An 88-point Cup of Excellence coffee, for example, may represent an exceptionally high level of quality despite receiving a lower numerical score than coffees evaluated under other systems.

Cafe Kreyol has also had the privilege of serving on the International Jury for Cup of Excellence, giving us firsthand experience evaluating some of the world’s most extraordinary coffees.

About Sergio Ortez & Finca El Porvenir

Nestled in the cool, misty mountains of San Fernando, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, Finca El Porvenir is a family-owned coffee farm operated by third-generation producer Sergio Noé Ortez Ortez. The farm’s history dates back to the 1950s, when Sergio’s grandfather planted the family’s first coffee trees, establishing a legacy that continues more than seven decades later.

Today, Sergio combines generations of agricultural knowledge with a commitment to innovation, careful processing, and exceptional cup quality. His dedication to the Yellow Pacamara variety reflects his belief in finding coffees that thrive in the farm’s unique microclimate while offering remarkable sweetness, complexity, and character.

Located approximately 1,150 meters above sea level, Finca El Porvenir emphasizes selective hand-harvesting, careful fermentation, and slow drying on raised African beds. These practices help develop the distinctive sensory qualities that have earned the farm recognition in Cup of Excellence competitions for three consecutive years.

In the 2026 Nicaragua Cup of Excellence competition, Sergio’s naturally processed Yellow Pacamara earned 12th place in the Natural & Honey category with a score of 87.72 points, securing its place among Nicaragua’s exceptional competition coffees.

However, this particular coffee holds a special distinction for us at Cafe Kreyol.

Of all the extraordinary coffees in our holiday competition collection, this was my personal favorite. While the international jury awarded it 87.72 points, I personally evaluated this coffee above 90 points during cupping. Its remarkable character stood out to me even among coffees that ultimately placed higher in the competition.

This is one of the beautiful aspects of specialty coffee. Even among experienced judges, individual preferences and sensory perceptions can differ. A competition ranking provides valuable recognition, but it doesn’t necessarily determine which coffee will create the most memorable experience for an individual.

Our selection, which we’ve named Spiced Peach, showcases a captivating combination of ripe peach sweetness, bright grapefruit acidity, and warming cinnamon spice. The result is a beautifully expressive coffee with a distinctive flavor profile that sets it apart from more traditional specialty coffees.

For Sergio, this recognition represents another milestone in his family’s long history of coffee cultivation. For us, it represents something equally meaningful: a reminder that some of the most extraordinary coffees are the ones that connect with us personally, regardless of where they finish on a competition leaderboard.

We’re proud to feature Sergio’s award-winning Yellow Pacamara as part of Cafe Kreyol’s limited holiday competition collection, and especially excited to share a coffee that left such a lasting impression on our own cupping table.

We serve whole bean coffee for maximum quality and freshness.