BOSTON, USA – The highly anticipated 2022 U.S. Coffee Championships (USCC), which took place this weekend inside the Activities Hall at Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston, have come to a close. The U.S. Barista, Cup Tasters, Roaster, Brewer’s Cup, Coffee in Good Spirits and premier Latte Art Champions were announced at the closing awards ceremony on the Barista Stage Sunday evening.
The 2022 U.S. Coffee Champions are:
U.S. Cup Tasters Champion: Julien Langevin (he/him) | Coffee By Design | Portland,
ME
2: Lindsay (Ran) Rho (she/her) | Idea Coffee | New York, NY
3: Thomas J. Chandler (etc) | Black Oak Coffee Roasters | Ukiah, CA
4: Charles Gonzalez (he/him) | Ground Control | San Antonio, TX
U.S. Barista Champion: Morgan Eckroth (she/they) | Keeper Coffee | Portland, OR
2: Brooke Wolfe (she/her) | Elixr Coffee Roasters | Nashville, TN
3: Elisabeth Johnson (she/her) | Dayglow | Los Angeles, CA
4: Meg Skop (she/her) | Independent | San Francisco, CA
5: Bryan Overstreet (he/him) | The Coffee Movement | San Francisco, CA
6: David Buehrer (he/him) | Greenway Coffee Company | Houston, TX
U.S. Brewers Cup Champion: Elika Liftee (he/him) | Onyx Coffee Lab | Rogers, AR
2: Marvin Duncan (he/him) | Perc Coffee Roasters | Savannah, GA
3: Tommy Kim (he/him) | Balrog Coffee Inc. | Los Angeles, CA
4: Sam Spillman (she/her) | Caffe Vita | Seattle, WA
5: Matt Brosinski (he/him) | Blanchards Coffee | Richmond, VA
6: Elise Tanyag (she/her) | Blanchards Coffee | Richmond, VA
U.S. Roaster Champion: Nick Berardi (he/him) | Mostra Coffee | San Diego, CA
2: Jen Apodaca (they/she) | Mother Tongue Coffee | Oakland, CA
3: Rudy Altamirano (he/him) | Ilustre | San Diego, CA
4: Evan Inatome (he) | Elixir Coffee | Philadelphia, PA
5: Andrew Coe (he/him) | Elevator Coffee | Portland, OR
6: Wenbo Yang (he) | Blue Hill Coffee | Seattle, WA
U.S. Latte Art Champion: Piyapat (Flook) Lapteerawut (he/him) | Coffee Project New
York | New York, New York
2: Tracy Jiang (she/her) | Intelligentsia | Boston, MA
3: Ed Griffin (they/them) | Messenger Coffee | Kansas City, MO
4: Ujae Lee (he/him) | PlantShed | New York, NY
5: Proph (he/him) | Exemplar | Brooklyn, New York
6: Donald Perdomo (he/him) | The Good Witch Coffee Bar | Hastings on the Hudson, N.Y.
U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits Champion: Alexandra Hager (she/her) | CJ Foodville USA |
Los Angeles, CA
2: Dakota Graff (he/him) | Onyx Coffee | Bentonville, AR
3: MiMo (they/them) | Juno Coffee, Cora Coffee | Sacramento, CA
4: Linnea True (she/her) | Boxcar Coffee Roasters | Denver, CO
5: Christina Lee (she/her) | Round K Coffee Roasters | New York, NY
6: Mo Koolphanich (she/her) | Slipstream | Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Barista, Cup Tasters, Roaster, Brewer’s Cup, and Coffee in Good Spirits Champions will go on to represent the U.S. at the World Coffee Championships events in Milan, Italy, and Melbourne, Australia, later this year.
It’s been an exciting three days of fast-paced competitions, with 101 competitors from around the US vying for the title of U.S. Coffee Champion across six different skill-based competitions.
After the cancellation of the 2020 cycle and postponement of the 2021 Championships, these events are the culmination of regional qualifying events that took place in the 2019-2020 competitions season, and a lottery selection of competing Championships that were unable to hold qualifying events in the 2020-2021 cycle.
The US Coffee Championships are especially poignant this year as the first USCC event since the COVID-19 Pandemic.
With the exception of Cup Tasters, each competition is judged based on a series of number of requirements:
- For the US Barista Champion title, competitors must prepare and serve espressos, cappuccinos, and a personally designed signature beverage for four sensory judges; all while being assessed on their preparation abilities by two technical judges.
- The US Brewers Cup is an exciting competition that highlights and celebrates the art of manual coffee brewing. All competitors will initially prepare the same coffee, before giving a prepared presentation with the coffee of their choice.
- Coffee in Good Spirits competitors must prepare and serve coffee cocktails for taste judges; all while being assessed on their preparation abilities by a technical/visual judge.
- Cup Tasters competitors preform a fast-paced display of sensory skills by discerning taste differences in a “triangulation.” The competitor with the ability to taste, smell, concentrate, and recall, those with the most correct answers in the shortest amount of time will take home the title of US Cup Tasters Champion.
- Roaster competitors green grade a compulsory coffee, make a roast plan, and roast their compulsory coffee onsite.
- The all-new Latte Art Championship allows competitors to present their original designs in a set of two identical lattes and two identical macchiatos, judged by two visual judges and one technical judge.
This year’s competitions were led by generous volunteer leadership from the SCA USA Chapter, and our event Sponsors, whose support makes the U.S. Coffee Championships possible. USCC is supported by U.S. Brewer’s Cup Championship Title Sponsor Origami; U..S Coffee in Good Spirits Championship Title Sponsor Faema; U.S. Roaster Championship Title Sponsor Savor Brands; U.S. Barista Championship Title Sponsor Pacific Foods and U.S. Cup Tasters Championship Title Sponsor Technivorm Moccamster as well as the official USCC Cleaning Product Sponsor Urnex Brands; Official USCC Water Sponsor Pentair; and Official Small Wares Sponsor Rattleware; among many others listed at: uscoffeechampionships.org.
