Scenes from the USCC Preliminaries—Louisville, Ky.

October 3, 2017 Ashley Rodriguez Competitions, Regional Barista Competitions Comments Off on Scenes from the USCC Preliminaries—Louisville, Ky.

We wrap up coverage of the CoffeeChamps preliminary events with two final competitions from this past weekend. First, we go to Louisville, Ky., and share photos and results from the event hosted by Quills Coffee.

BY ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Photos by Bryan Schiele

The final two preliminary events of the United States Coffee Championships (USCC) took place this weekend, September 28-30, leading up to the Qualifying Competitions and the USCC national competition happening in April 2018. First, we stop in Louisville, Ky., to give you highlights and results of the competition hosted by Quills Coffee.

We’ve covered the previous six preliminary events on the website earlier this month: in Rancho Cucamonga, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Denver, Greenville, S.C., and Washington, D.C. Louisville continued on with the tradition of fun parties, regionally specific trophies, and a lighthearted atmosphere bringing baristas and coffee pros together from all over the Midwest. Photos and highlights of the competition follow—scroll down to see who will advance from both the barista and Brewers Cup competitions!

Matt Foster of Kaldi’s Coffee serves the judges in the Brewers Cup competition. He’ll be moving on to the qualifying event.

 

Louisville saw some previous barista competitors (like Matthew Scott and Andrew McCaslin) take top spots, but also saw newcomers like Paul Johnson of Mission Coffee Co. (above) earn a spot at the qualifying event.

 

Rebekah Cook of Frothy Monkey had only a few days to practice before the event but still placed 10th in the barista competition.

 

Alice Max of Groundswell Coffee in Chicago.

 

Bailey Hunt of the host company, Quills Coffee. The company was vocal in promoting female competitors and keeping judging panels balanced between genders and backgrounds.

 

In keeping with the preliminary events’ theme of unusual and playful trophies, winners received Louisville Sluggers for placing.

BARISTA COMPETITION:

1. Matthew Scott, Lemonjello’s Coffee
2. Andrew McCaslin, Kaldi’s Coffee
3. Sam Schaefer, Mighty Good Coffee
4. Steve Holm, Stovetop Coffee Roasters
5. Stephan Witchell, Tempest Coffee Collective
6. Paul Johnson, Mission Coffee Co.
7. Won Jong, Gimme! Coffee
8. Simeon Bricker, Splitlog Coffee Co.

BREWERS CUP:

1. Sam Miers, Kaldi’s Coffee
2. Argus Keppel, Goshen Coffee
3. Matt Foster, Kaldi’s Coffee
4. Mike Greene, Stovetop Coffee Roasters

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.