Coffees Around the World Earn Top Honors
A group of over 250 chefs and sommeliers reviewed global coffee varieties for taste. This evaluation was part of the International Taste Institute’s Superior Taste Awards. Recognized as one of the most prestigious certifications in the food and beverage industry, these awards honored numerous coffees this year.
The assessment covered whole-bean, ground, instant, capsule, pod, and decaffeinated coffees. The judging involved a blind tasting in silence, focusing only on the product category based on the awards criteria. The products had no identifying markers, and judges evaluated them on first impression, vision, olfaction, taste, and texture or final sensation.
The ITI grants the Superior Taste Award to products scoring above 70%. This award represents high quality and prestige. Products are also rated with one, two, or three stars.
Nineteen coffees achieved three-star ratings. Some of these can be bought in the U.S. through specialty retailers and online. Notably, two Lavazza coffees available in America, La Reserva de ¡Tierra! Colombia and Tales of Italy Canal Grande, earned top honors.
La Reserva de ¡Tierra! Colombia, according to Italy Best Coffee, is a 100% Arabica blend ideal for espresso. It boasts a full-bodied flavor with notes of tropical fruits, lime zest, and jasmine. Meanwhile, Tales of Italy Canal Grande combines Arabica and Robusta beans, offering chocolate notes and an intensity score of 8 out of 10 from Walmart.com.
Overall, five Italian whole-bean coffees secured three stars, as did three from Spain, and one each from South Korea, the UK, Germany, Turkey, Japan, and Taiwan. Café San Alberto by Café San Alberto of Colombia was the sole ground coffee with a three-star rating.
Costa Coffee Professional from the UK received three-star awards for pod/capsule products: Signature Medium Decaf, Podio Capsule, Signature Medium Roast, Podio Capsule, and Colombian Character Roast, Podio Capsule.
The only instant coffee to achieve a three-star rating was Oriental Kopi Classic White Coffee by Oriental Coffee International of Malaysia.
According to ITI, products scoring between 70% and 80% earn one star, indicating good quality. Two-star products score between 80% and 90% and stand out within their category. Products with three stars, scoring 90% and above, are deemed exceptional.
Teresa Mull, a freelance writer, reports with the Lifestyle team at Fox News Digital.