Oregon Coffee Board Sends Five Competitors to USCC Qualifiers Through Internal Competition

Competitors are part of the OCB’s scholarship program, which will cover their expenses for the 2019 U.S. Coffee Championships.

BY KATRINA YENTCH
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Photos courtesy of Maggie Davis

Nathanael May of Pacific Foods addresses the crowd at the Oregon Coffee Board’s scholarship competition at Portland Roasting.

This past weekend, on October 19, several hopeful members of the Oregon Coffee Board community participated in a competition to be part of the USCC Qualifiers. The competitors were a part of the board’s new scholarship program, which will cover the cost of competing in the U.S. Coffee Championships for one person per category (Barista, Brewers Cup, Roasters, Cup Tasters, and Coffee In Good Spirits); benefits include coverage of the entry fee, travel, and a food and beverage stipend, along with mentorship opportunities.

Folks gathered at Portland Roasting Coffee’s training facilities to compete for the Barista and Brewers Cup scholarships. For the Barista category, participants had five minutes to present two espressos and their brewing parameters to the judges, who were also board members of the OCB. As for Brewers Cup, competitors brought their own brewing devices to showcase a coffee and its parameters to the judges. The winners for these categories were Aaron Stout for Brewers Cup and Madeline Mann for Barista.

Aaron Stout (right) is the winner of OCB’s scholarship competition for Brewers Cup. Photo by Katrina Yentch.

Last month, community members interested in competing for Cup Tasters, Roasters, and Coffee in Good Spirits had to submit answers to short essay questions pertaining to these respective categories. The winners were Stephany Dávila in Roasters, Gianna DeMaria for Coffee In Good Spirits, and Yingsha Yang for Cup Tasters.

Winners of the OCB competition (from left): Aaron Stout (Brewers Cup), Madeline Mann (Barista), Gianna DeMaria (Coffee In Good Spirits), and Stephany Dávila (Roasters). Not pictured: Yingsha Yang (Cup Tasters).

These winners will officially move onto the Qualifying Competitions, which take place in Sumner, Wash. (December 7-8); Nashville, Tenn. (January 11-12, 2020); and Orange County, Calif. (February 22-23, 2020). Stay tuned for our recaps with results for these competitions!