Sensory Quality and Harvest-to-Harvest Consistency of Coffea arabica Genotypes Evaluated in the Cerrado Mineiro Region with Potential for Specialty Coffee Production

Identifying Coffea arabica genotypes that combine high cup quality with consistent sensory performance across harvests is relevant for specialty coffee breeding. This study evaluated 37 C. arabica accessions from the EPAMIG Active Germplasm Bank in Patrocínio, Minas Gerais, Brazil, during the 2020 and 2021 harvests. Naturally processed coffees were assessed by trained cuppers using the Specialty Coffee Association protocol and a complementary descriptive ballot for intensity attributes and aroma/flavor nuances. Final cup score, sensory descriptors, across-harvest agreement, principal component analysis, Spearman correlations, and variance components were evaluated. All two-harvest genotype means exceeded 80 points (81.21–85.58), although two genotype-by-harvest means fell below this threshold. The genotype × harvest interaction was significant and exceeded the genotypic variance, resulting in low across-harvest repeatability (H2 = 0.30; 95% CI 0–0.64). Scores were, on average, 1.64 points lower in 2021, with low agreement between harvests (ICC = 0.077). MG 1196, MG 1175, and MG 1197 combined comparatively high means with small between-harvest differences and were identified as priority candidates for further validation. Higher cup scores were associated with body, sweetness, aftertaste, and fruity, floral, and sweet nuances. Additional harvests and environments are required before definitive selection.