BY SARAH ALLEN
BARISTA MAGAZINE
Photography by Paige Hicks
Fifty-two baristas, 36 Brewers Cup competitors, 13 Coffee In Good Spirits (CIGS) contenders, 48 Cup Tasters hopefuls, and 32 Roaster competitors gathered in Nashville, Tenn., over the weekend to vie for a spot in the upcoming United States Coffee Championships event slated for March 15–17 in Kansas City, Mo. Those who made the cut—12 roasters, 15 cup tasters, 13 CIGS competitors, 12 brewers, and 18 baristas—made up a more diverse group of competitors than these competitions have ever seen. They will join those who qualified for U.S. CoffeeChamps at the selection event in Denver in December to fight for the respective United States Championship titles. And those five eventual winners will go on to compete at the international level in the coming months.
Hundreds of coffee professionals and enthusiasts spent the weekend at the Track One event space in Nashville not only to watch the exciting competitions, but also to walk a mini-trade show, talk to vendors about the latest products on the coffee market, and then go on to multiple parties and latte-art throwdowns in the evenings at some of Nashville’s hottest coffeehouses.
If the dynamic daytime activities and lively nightlife built around the qualifying competitions is any indication of what’s to come in Kansas City for the national events, we can expect to be in for some of the most exhilarating, community-focused, and quality-driven events in specialty coffee all year.
Here are the names of the competitors whose performances in Nashville this weekend earned them a spot in the upcoming Kansas City events. To see the full lists of folks who competed in Nashville, and their scores, just follow this link.
BARISTA COMPETITION
1st: Dylan Siemens, Onyx Coffee Lab
2nd: Samantha Spillman, Dillanos Coffee Roasters
3rd: T. Benjamin Fischer, Elixr Coffee Roasters
4th: Jenna Gotthelf, Counter Culture Coffee
5th: Rodrigo Vargas, Rival Bros Coffee Roasters
6th: Isaiah Sheese, Archetype Coffee
7th: Elisabeth Johnson, Venture Coffee Co.
8th: Gisel Alvarez, Monarch Coffee
9th: Ryan Wojton, Madcap Coffee Co.
10th: Anthony Ragler, Counter Culture Coffee
11th: Kay Cheon, Dune Coffee Roasters
12th: Cris Mendoza, Saint Frank Coffee
13th: Samuel Schaefer, Stovetop Roasters
14th: Juan Diaz, Deeply Coffee Co.
15th: Ali Abderrahman, State Street Coffee/La Reunion
16th: Shane Hess, Jubala Coffee
17th: Ben Vollmar, Flatlands Coffee
18th: Rachel Diaz, Flatlands Coffee
BREWERS CUP
1st: Grace McCutchan, Red Rooster Coffee Roaster
2nd: Jennifer Hwang, Klatch Coffee
3rd: Tyler Duncan, Topeca Coffee Roasters
4th: John Kruegler, Blanchard’s Coffee Roasting
5th: Ben Martin, Madcap Coffee Co.
6th: Kenneth Selby, Vashon Coffee Co.
7th: Cody Barnhart, Vienna Coffee Co.
8th: Gunnar Langenhuizen, Dune Coffee Roasters
9th: Chelsey Walker-Watson, Atlas Coffee
10th: Elika Liftee, Onyx Coffee Lab
11th: Skyler Richter, LAMILL
12th: Felix Felix, Dune Coffee Roasters
COFFEE IN GOOD SPIRITS
1st: Kris Wood, Black Fox Coffee Co.
2nd: Nathanael Mehrens, Stay Golden
3rd: Matt Foster, Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co.
4th: Leo-Charles Salerno, Greater Goods Coffee Roasters
5th: Brodie Lewis, Madcap Coffee Co.
6th: Rachel Huffman, Dose Nashville
7th: John Martin, LAMILL
8th: Jen McElroy, Klatch Coffee
9th: Brian Beyke, Quills Coffee
10th: Koji Daremo, The Ruin Daily
11th: Dan Hilburn, Backyard Beans Coffee Co.
12th: Joel Cronenberg, Provision Coffee
13th: Lindy Schubring, Greyhouse Coffee & Supply Co.
CUP TASTERS
1st: Matthew McDaniel, Summit Coffee
2nd: Summer Zhang, Onyx Coffee Lab
3rd: Aaron Lerner, SkyTop Coffee
4th: Sarah Lambeth, Congregation Coffee Roasters
5th: Brandon Hutchingson, Mission Coffee
6th: Rachel Stanich, Red Fox Coffee Merchants
7th: Bear Soliven, Onyx Coffee Lab
8th: Samuel Demisse, Keffa Coffee Importers
9th: Elisabeth Johnson, Venture Coffee Co.
10th: Hyoung Wuk Jung, Loit Coffee
11th: Jeff Mooney, Folly Coffee Roasters
12th: Jarrett Johnson, Lineage Roasting
13th: Cameron Metzinger, Backyard Beans Coffee Co.
14th: Joshua Edens, Onyx Coffee Lab
15th: Helen Choi, Luce Ave Coffee Roasters
ROASTER COMPETITION
1st: Amanda Hagenbuch, Rival Bros. Coffee Roasters
2nd: Jeremy Moore, Bonlife Coffee Roasters
3rd: Steve Cuevas, Black Oak Coffee Roasters
4th: Eduardo Choza, Mayorga Organics
5th: José René Martinez, J. Rene Coffee Roasters
6th: Kenneth Thomas, Umble Coffee Co.
7th: Anthony Greatorex, Red Rooster Coffee
8th: Jason Burkum, Archetype Coffee
9th: Matthew Delarosa, Ironsmith Coffee Roasters
10th: Evan Pollitt, Summit Coffee
11th: Aaron MacDougall, Broadsheet Coffee Roasters
12th: Eric Stone, Mudhouse Coffee Roasters
