Sumatra Aceh Avatara Gayo COE #7

Behind Our Latest Exceedingly Rare Coffee

What is the Cup of Excellence?

To taste Sumatra Aceh Avatara Gayo COE #7 is to experience a historic moment.

This Exceedingly Rare coffee mesmerized judges in the first Indonesia Cup of Excellence competition. Which, of course, gave us the opportunity to fall under its spell.

Started in 1999 in Brazil, the Cup of Excellence has since grown to include twelve coffee-producing countries across the world, each with their own competition. Indonesia, along with Ecuador, joined for the first time in 2021.

Each year, we look to Cup of Excellence competitions to not only discover exceptional coffees for you, but also to continue raising the bar for sourcing transparency and paying farmers more fairly.

How was this Exceedingly Rare coffee selected?

Coffees that entered the inaugural Indonesia Cup of Excellence were cupped by a panel of 9 Indonesian judges, followed by 21 international judges.

Sumatra Aceh Avatara Gayo underwent particular scrutiny: each of the top 10 winning coffees like this one were cupped at least 120 times.

Take just one sip, though, and you’ll get why we instantly knew this had to be our next Exceedingly Rare.

This coffee comes from a small farm run by Dr. Hamdan and his son, Hendra Maulizar. Just under 25 acres, you’ll find Avatara Gayo nestled in the mountainous region of Aceh, on the island of Sumatra.

But it’s more than the environment that matters. How coffee is processed has the potential to tease out wildly different notes. While wet-hulling is more typical in this region, you can thank the natural processing favored by the father-and-son duo running Avatara Gayo for this coffee’s astounding fresh floral aromas and juicy sweetness.

Blue Bottle Coffee and Michelin

For decades, we’ve sought out coffee that was grown with care, for flavor that astounds. We find our emphasis on the details mirrored in the way chefs mindfully choose each ingredient, following their senses to create a moment of transcendent beauty. From this shared purpose, a collaboration was born.

As the Official Coffee of the MICHELIN Guide US, we connected with another son and father: chefs Cedric and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who expanded on this coffee’s expressive flavor using their intimate knowledge of Indonesian cuisine. Watch our video above to enjoy their culinary pairings with this exquisite coffee.