An In-Depth Look at the Top 30 Coffees of 2019

Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2019 represents our seventh annual ranking of the most exciting coffees we tested over the course of the year. This annual effort supports our mission of helping consumers identify and purchase superior quality coffees and, in the process, helping drive demand and increase prices to reward farmers and roasters who invest time, passion and capital in producing high-quality coffee. The Top 30 celebrates and promotes coffee roasters, farmers, mill operators, importers, and other coffee industry professionals who make an extra effort to produce coffees that are not only superb in quality but also distinctive in character.
Rigoberto Herrera (background), co-owner of the Cafe Granja la Esperanza farm in Colombia, grower of No. 12 modcup coffee. Courtesy of Jefferson Jimenez, modcup.
In 2019, we tasted more than 1,300 coffee samples and published more than 300 reviews. The reviews focused primarily on the highest-rated coffees, which are of most interest to our readers. This year, around 23% of the more than 1,300 coffees we tested scored 90 points or higher, and over 100 of them, an impressive 8% of the total, rated 94 or higher, a tribute to the ever-intensifying innovation and dedication of the world’s leading coffee producers and roasters.
However, it is important to remind our frequent readers, that the coffees that appear in the reviews on our website represent the tip of the iceberg in terms of distinction and quality. Remember that we cup blind; we determine ratings and main descriptors for a coffee before we learn where it came from and who roasted it. For those curious about how we conduct our testing and rating processes at Coffee Review, see How Coffee Review Works. For what scores mean in respect to the wide range of coffee styles and qualities, see Interpreting Reviews.
However, despite our efforts to make our ratings consistent and meaningful, numbers taken alone have limitations. You may well like a lower-rated coffee that matches your taste preferences more than a higher-scoring coffee that isn’t your style. We do our best to characterize a coffee’s character in the “Blind Assessment” paragraph of our reviews and even more succinctly in the “Bottom Line” paragraph that concludes each review.
Hard Choices: Narrowing Down the List
Amavida Coffee’s Martin Trejo, roaster of No. 21 Espresso Mandarina. Courtesy Aleighsa Wright, Wright Media PC.
All of the coffees that rated 94 points or higher in 2019 are worthy of celebrating, as are the exceptional coffees that hovered just behind them in rating. Obviously, not all of the more than 100 coffees earning 94 points or more in 2019 can appear in the Top 30.  We forced ourselves to select the 30 we felt were the most exciting and the most worthy of recognition.
As in past years, we selected and ranked our Top 30 coffees and espressos based on quality (represented by overall rating), value (reflected by most affordable price per pound), and consideration of other factors that include distinctiveness of style, uniqueness of origin or tree variety, certifications such as Fair Trade and organic, and general rarity.
Top 30 Statistics
Average Ratings. The average overall rating of the coffees on the Top 30 list for 2019 was 95.0 out of a possible 100, generally in line with past averages of 94.6 in 2018, 94.9 in 2017, 95.0 in 2016, and 94.8 in 2015.
Cost per Pound: From Very (Very) High to Reasonable. One can’t directly compare the price of Top 30 coffees from year to year because the mix of coffees varies dramatically.
Tamas Christman and Wilford Lamastus receive Best of Panama award. Courtesy of Specialty Coffee Association of Panama.
In 2019, the outlier in regard to price was the Elida Estate Geisha Green-Tip Natural from Dragonfly Coffee Roasters, the No. 1 Coffee of 2019. Not only was it the first coffee in Coffee Review’s 22-year history to earn 98 points (see At Long Last, A 98-Point Coffee), this coffee also took first place in the 2019 Best of Panama green coffee competition and subsequently was auctioned for the then highest price ever paid for a green coffee: US$1029 per pound. For the handful of high-rolling enthusiasts who had the chance to taste this exceptional coffee, Dragonfly Coffee charged an equally exceptional $100.00 per 21-gram sample, or a whopping $2,187 per pound, for its 98-rated version. The Dragonfly version is sold out, but those who remain interested in sampling this record-breaking coffee still can. As we publish this report, two roasters, Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea and Klatch Coffee, are offering their versions of the same green coffee for sale. We rated both the Willoughby’s and the Klatch versions at 97, only one point behind the Dragonfly. We chose not to place either the Willoughby’s or the Klatch versions in our Top 30, however, to avoid dominating the list with three versions of the same green coffee.
Excluding average-busting 98-point Dragonfly Elida Geisha, the average price of the remaining 29 coffees on the 2019 list was a record-setting $71.77 per pound.  The previous record was an average price of $53.11 per pound in 2017. The very high average price of 2019 was skewed higher by four coffees that were priced at more than $100 per pound, a fifth coffee that cost over $200 per pound, and a sixth that cost over $300 per pound.
As in past years, higher scoring coffees in our 2019 Top 30 tended to cost more:                
98-point coffee (1)
$2,176.87/pound
96- and 97-point coffees (11)
$122.18/pound
95-point coffees (8)
$48.74/pound