Scenes from the USCC Preliminaries—Greenville, S.C.

September 27, 2017 Ashley Rodriguez Competitions, Regional Barista Competitions Comments Off on Scenes from the USCC Preliminaries—Greenville, S.C.

Three preliminary events took place Sept. 22-24, and we’re covering each one with pictures, highlights, and results. Next up: Greenville, S.C.!

BY ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Photos by Tony Abbott

This weekend, three preliminary events of the United States Coffee Championships (USCC) took place leading up to the Qualifying Competitions and the USCC national competition happening in April 2018. On Monday we covered the Denver event, and today we’re bringing you coverage of the competition hosted in Greenville, S.C., by Ally Coffee.

We’ve covered the previous three preliminary events in Rancho Cucamonga, Seattle, and Portland, Ore., in August and September, and will provide coverage of the last two preliminaries happening this weekend in Louisville, Ky., and Tulsa, Okla. Greenville attracted competitors from all over the East Coast, but top honors stayed in the Carolinas—this year’s Qualifying Competition will see a large representation of competitors from both North and South Carolina, with seven of the 12 advancing competitors hailing from those states. Here are some of the highlights; a full list of those baristas moving on to the next round is provided at the end.

Dut Goodman of Revelator Coffee competes in the Brewers Cup. He took fourth place and will be moving on to the Qualifying Competition.

 

Evan Pollitt of Summit Coffee in North Carolina took second in the barista competition.

 

Joel Norman of Chattahoochee Coffee in Atlanta broke a little of the North/South Carolina dominance and placed sixth in the barista competition.

 

Jonathan Bonchak of Slingshot Coffee took first place in the Brewers Cup competition. His wife and partner, Jenny Bonchak, is also a Brewers Cup champion.

 

Penelope Hearne represented Counter Culture Coffee and placed seventh in the barista competition.

 

Brad Hartman of Tandem Creperie & Coffeehouse in South Carolina kept the title close to home, winning the barista competition by an almost 20-point margin.

 

Jared Holt represented Black & White Coffee, a new roastery started by the 2016 and 2017 USBC winners, Lem Butler and Kyle Ramage. He placed fifth in the barista competition.

 

BARISTA COMPETITION:

1. Brad Hartman, Tandem Creperie & Coffeehouse
2. Evan Pollitt, Summit Coffee
3. Jon Fiedler, Grateful Brew
4. Alex Medina, Methodical Coffee
5. Jared Holt, Black & White Coffee
6. Joel Norman, Chattahoochee Coffee Company
7. Penelope Hearne, Counter Culture Coffee
8. Austin Dryden, Spiller Park Coffee

BREWERS CUP:

1. Jonathan Bonchak, Slingshot Coffee
2. Wade Preston, Prevail Coffee
3. James Spano, Cup to Cup
4. Dut Goodman, Revelator Coffee

About Ashley Rodriguez 413 Articles
Ashley is the Online Editor for Barista Magazine. She's based in Chicago. If you want to share a story or have a comment, you can reach her at ashley@baristamagazine.com.