Coffee Golden Bean Competition | introduction to African TOH Coffee Competition | Coffee beans in TOH Competition

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Every year, major African coffee producing countries host a national green bean competition called The Taste of Harvest (TOH), similar to the Cup of Excellence in Central and South America, which serves as an arena for discovering the best coffee in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Congo.

The 2017 Harvest Season Flavor Competition in Uganda was won by Kawacom/Kabeywa, and Fisher Coffee from Qingdao, China won the bid!

Many people think Uganda only produces Robusta, but in Mount Elgon, Uganda's eastern Kapchorwa province bordering Kenya, coffee is as good as fine Kenyan. The Kawacom Farmers 'Group, which won the harvest season, is located in Mount Egon. It started in 2000 with 5000 farmers and has grown to more than 10,000 farmers. Individual farmers are very small, with coffee trees ranging from 200 to 500, mixed with other crops such as bananas and soybeans, with an average farm area of only 0.5 hectares. In the past, farmers tended to process cherry fruits with simple peeling machines. After Kava built a first-class washing plant, farmers were strongly encouraged to send cherries to central processing plants to improve their quality.

The varieties grown by Ugandan farmers are SL14 and SL28, SL varieties are developed and selected by Scott Lab, Kenya coffee is world-famous for SL28 and SL34, and the Ugandan government promotes SL seeds and distributes them to farmers. SL14 not only has good flavor, drought resistance, but also can be harvested after two years of planting, which is quite in line with farmers 'needs.

Mount Egon is a still volcano. It is said that it was once the highest peak in Africa. The locals believe that gods only live on the top of the mountain, far from ordinary people. When gods are happy, rain and dew are abundant, and the whole hillside benefits. Everything grows and greenery is abundant. The coffee gardens of Kava members are scattered on Mount Egon. After the volcanic activity ceased, a huge crater was formed on the top of the mountain, which was then accumulated into a lake, and the stream flowing down from the river irrigated the crops on the hillside. During the rainy season, streams surge and form spectacular waterfalls, of which Sipi's waterfall is the largest, falling 200 meters.

Kava was the first organization in Africa to participate in an organic sustainability program, the Hibbi Organic Program, launched in 2002, becoming the first UTZ CERTIFIED coffee in Africa. Compost fertilizer, good shade. Kava's washing plant is equipped with first-class equipment, which focuses on the cherries sent by farmers. On the same day, the cherries are mechanically peeled and pulped, and strict washing procedures are followed. Kava collects fresh cherries from nearby farmers at nine sites and names them after different elevations and collection points. The winning kava of this season was collected in Kabeywa, the runner-up beans were also collected from kava, and the collection point was Masira. In fact, different batches of kava of the new season in 2017 won 7 of the top 10 in TOH, including the top three batches of kava. It is incredible!

Starting in 2015, kava is not only washed, but also subjected to micro-batch sun treatment. After removing unqualified floating beans, it is then subjected to sun drying for 3 weeks, during which fresh fruits are constantly turned to avoid fermentation or mildew, so as to achieve a very clean and rich flavor.

TOH, or Taste of Harvest, is an annual harvest green bean competition among twelve coffee-producing countries in Africa sponsored by the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA), similar in nature to the COE competition in the Americas. The difference is that TOH competitions are held at national, regional and all-African levels.

The TOH competition process is roughly as follows: in the preliminary stage, the batches with cup test scores below 80 points are eliminated, and the highest quality green beans from each region are gradually selected to enter the national competition. Then, the domestic judges and international judges will conduct cup test and score according to the standards of the American Fine Coffee Association (SCAA). The highest score is the annual national champion.

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