Winners announced in 2nd edition of the Ngorongoro Tanzania Private Collection Auction

Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) in partnership with the Ngorongoro Coffee Group has announced the 20 winning coffees that will be offered for sale in the second edition of the Ngorongoro Tanzania Private Collection Auction on 22 March 2022. The winners represent four farms, four processes, eight varieties, and one peaberry grade. Lot sizes range from 32-300 kg. The 1st place winner, which scored 88.22 points, is a Carbonic process N39 Bourbon from Finagro Plantations.

“What an amazing accomplishment to win the top spot with a processing technique. This gives hope to growers everywhere to strive for excellence with what they have and continue to try new things,” said Mark Stell, co-founder of Ngorongoro Coffee Group.

“The carbonic maceration really added that attention-grabbing depth and complexity of intense chocolate and vibrant tropical acidity, finishing clean, sweet, and round,” said Global Coffee Center (GCC) jurist Hiver van Geenhoven of Chromatic Coffee who purchased the 1st place winning coffee from last year’s auction. Hiver commented that his customers were very happy with the delicacy and sweetness present in the Tanzanian cup.

“We are extremely proud to compete in the Ngorongoro PCA 2022 competition and delighted to have been rewarded with great scores. The coffee that earned rank 1 comes from an area planted with N39 bourbon, it is well shaded and neighbors the indigenous Ngorongoro forest. The varietal is a well-known varietal to Tanzania that has been acknowledged and promoted for its decent cup. We are stewards of our land, local communities, and African wildlife and farm in harmony with nature to ensure a truly sustainable, new future for Tanzanian coffee,” said Neel Vohora, director of Finagro Plantations.

Finagro Plantations had a total of five winning coffees that will go to the auction. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place winning coffees were all Geshas produced by Acacia Hills Coffee.

“The Gesha variety was consistently excellent, boasting notes of bergamot and flowers. The particular qualities in the mouthfeel, along with notes of chocolate and honey, highlighted the shared terroir that presented a unifying theme among all of the tables,” Hiver commented.

The Ngorongoro Coffee Group is the originator of the annual Cupping at the Crater event. Formed by coffee farms surrounding the Ngorongoro Crater in northern Tanzania, the association’s goal is to advance the promotion, quality and awareness of coffee in the surrounding area which represents one of the highest altitude coffee growing regions in East Africa. The Ngorongoro Coffee Group has been working diligently over the past decade to improve processing and a variety of options.

“Sharing our knowledge with our member partners along with our varieties is a critical part of our growth. What is good for the winner is good for the group is our attitude. We as a group are really excited to see one of our growers excel at their processing with standard regional varieties. This shows their commitment to excellence in all parts of growing and pushing the industry to experiment with all types of processing,” said Mark Stell.

The competition had 28 coffees passing to the GCC International stage, which represented 9 companies from around the world. Opening bids start at $4.00/lb for coffee with a score between 85-86.99 and $6.00/lb for coffee with a score between 87-89.99.

Here are some key facts about the winning lots:

  • 20 winning lots
  • Four processes: 10 washed, five Carbonic, four honey, one natural
  • Eight varieties represented: Ethiopia, SL28, Gesha, Kent, Bourbon N39, Pacamara and Blue Mountain ⁠
  • Four farms
  • Lot sizes range from 32-300 kg
  • Scores range from 85.47-88.22 points

For more information on the lots and to order a sample set, visit: allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org/2022-tanzania-ngorongoro-private-collection-auction.

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