On her recent trip to California for the Specialty Coffee Association of America Expo, Katie Garvey made a very important connection. She made contact with the liaison for the Cup of Excellence which she had only dealt with via email until then. Garvey is the director of training for Indy's local coffee roaster Hubbard and Craven's Coffee Co and is in frequent communication with the COE staff to compile information about the coffee the company carries. Truly being able to see the passion for coffee that Garvey has is what landed her a spot on The Cup of Excellence 2008 International Jury.

The Cup of Excellence program is devoted to the recognition of exemplary coffee worldwide. It is managed by the US-based non-profit group, Alliance for Coffee Excellence Inc., in conjunction with coffee producing countries. At last count, those countries included Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, Bolivia, and soon to be added Rwanda. In each country, the coffee crop must pass through three different phases and is cupped five separate times. The top ten coffees are then cupped a sixth and final time to rank their finishing order.

The pre-selection process reduces the number of entrants to approximately 150 through visual inspection. During the National Jury stage, a panel of local coffee experts cup two rounds, lasting about five days. The number of entrants is then cut to the top 80 and then 60, scoring over 80 points in these two rounds. These top 60 move forward to the International Jury stage of competition, where Garvey is a member of the jury.

This process consists of five days of cupping. On the first day there is a calibration to ensure that all coffees are being judged on the same grounds. On the second and third days the International Jury gets down to business and cups all of the coffees passed by the National Jury. On the fourth day the most intense cupping round begins. The jury will cup about 45 coffees which have passed the first round. Coffees scoring an 84 or above during this round are awarded the Cup of Excellence. On the fifth and final day of cupping, the top ten coffees are cupped one more time to rank them and discover the first place winner.

Per the Cup of Excellence, to be considered a qualified cupper, potential judges must "cup several times per week, have a love of great coffee and a desire to reward hard working farmers." Garvey met and exceeded all of those requirements. Though most cuppers are men and are older than 26 year old Garvey, she didn't let that discourage her. She said, "When I first became interested, I thought the coffee world was an old boys' club." Garvey doesn't know which country she will cup in but has high hopes for Rwanda or Brazil. Whichever country it is, watch out world for the young, female cupper from the Midwest.