FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Missoula MT. (May 31, 2005) - The famous colonial town of Granada was the setting for the fifth Nicaraguan Cup of Excellence and the 25th competition for the program. Church bells in the 500 year old town square heralded the cupping early each day as the international jury convened to decide the best coffees from over 500 entries.

On Friday night May 12th, Price Waterhouse Cooper delivered the sealed envelope to the master of ceremonies while the packed crowd of farmers, ambassadors and government dignitaries anxiously awaited the results of the weeklong final cupping. Among the 25 winners were four exceptional presidential award coffees scoring over 90 points from the final cupping day.

The year’s highest honor went to José Noel Talavera with a score of 91.60. Rosalío Majía Medina won the second prize with a close score of 91.40. Domingo Herrera Ruiz and Mauricio Vilchez Urbina took third and fourth.

Farmers from the Nueva Segovia region received the lion’s share of the awards this year as more favorable weather conditions and attention to detail by the farmers produced very good coffees. “Overall the quality of coffee this year in Nicaragua was very good. The coffees were very clean with notably sweet flavor and nice aromatics,” explained Paul Songer, the head judge for the competition. “It was a very difficult choice for the jury to select a winner.”

Cup of Excellence has worked in partnership with Asociacion Cafés Especiales de Nicaragua for the past five years to identify and develop the country’s unique quality coffees and make these available to top specialty roasters worldwide. Over the past four years Cup of Excellence juries have selected 122 coffees as Nicaraguan winners and auctioned them to the highest bidder at significant premiums. June 20th, 2006 will mark the auction day for the 2006 winning coffees.

Each winning coffee had over 100 cups evaluated by teams of both national and international cuppers. This year Lithuania was represented for the first time on a Cup of Excellence jury. Other countries represented were Russia, Germany, US, Japan, Taiwan, Denmark, The Netherlands and Canada. Cuppers from thirty-one countries have slurped and scored for the Cup of Excellence competitions over the past 7 years creating an international appeal not often found among coffee programs. The program so far has been conducted in Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia, with plans to expand into other countries.

Cup of Excellence is owned by The Alliance for Coffee Excellence, Inc. a US based non-profit corporation. For more information about the program benefits and becoming involved log on to www.cupofexcellence.org.