The United States Barista Championship (USBC), is an annual American coffee-brewing competition designed to evaluate baristas on their skills in espresso-based drink preparation and service. Competitors prepare and serve three courses of espresso-based beverages consisting of straight espressos, milk beverages, and signature drinks. They are then scored on taste, presentation, and technical proficiency. The winner represents the United States in the World Barista Championship.
All USBC competitors must first qualify at a CoffeeChamps Qualifying Competition, which is an abbreviated version of the USBC. Two Qualifying Competitions are held each year, the top eighteen competitors from each Qualifying Competition move on to USBC. Places 7-18 move into Round One of USBC. The top six from each qualifying competition receive a bye into the semifinal round.
USBC consists of three rounds: Round One, Semi-Finals, and Finals. At the end of the first round, the competitors with the six highest scores advance to the semifinals round and join the twelve competitors who earned a bye from CoffeeChamps. Six competitors qualify for the finals and the champion is determined from this pool. The winner represents the United States in the World Barista Championship.
At the Qualifying Competitions, baristas serve two courses of espresso-based beverages consisting of espressos and signature drinks for two scoring sensory judges, two non-scoring guest judges or judges-in-training, two technical judges, and a head judge. There is a ten-minute time limit.
At the USBC, competitors must make three courses of beverages within a fifteen-minute time limit and are judged by seven different judges. The judging team consists of four sensory judges, two technical judges, and a head judge. The role of the sensory judge is to score the competitor solely on the quality of the beverage served and customer service. The technical judges are not served drinks, but score the competitor on items ranging from cleanliness to consistency of shot times. Judges undergo a certification process before the competition. [1] [2]
The competition started in 2002 and was initially referred to as the North American Barista Competition. [3] [4] The 2021 edition of the competition was cancelled due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. [5]
In 2015, the competition was the subject of the documentary Barista , which followed competitors in the 2013 USBC. [6]
Year | Winner |
---|---|
2002 | Dismas Smith A [3] |
2003 | Heather Perry [7] |
2004 | Bronwen Serna [8] |
2005 | Phuong Tran [9] |
2006 | Matt Riddle [10] |
2007 | Heather Perry [11] |
2008 | Kyle Glanville [2] |
2009 | Michael Phillips [12] |
2010 | Michael Phillips [12] |
2011 | Pete Licata [13] |
2012 | Katie Carguilo [14] |
2013 | Pete Licata [1] |
2014 | Laila Ghambari [15] |
2015 | Charles Babinski [16] |
2016 | Lemuel Butler [16] |
2017 | Kyle Ramage [17] |
2018 | Cole McBride [18] |
2019 | Samantha Spillman [19] |
2020 | Andrea Allen [20] |
2022 | Morgan Eckroth [21] |
2023 | Isaiah Sheese [22] |
2024 | Frank La [23] |
^A In its inaugural year the competition was known as the North American Barista Competition. Dismas Smith was the 2002 NABC champion.
Cappuccino is an espresso-based coffee drink that is traditionally prepared with steamed milk including a layer of milk foam.
Espresso is a coffee-brewing method in which a small amount of nearly boiling water is forced under pressure through finely ground coffee beans.
A barista is a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks and other beverages.
Caffè latte, often shortened to just latte in English, is a coffee drink of Italian origin made with espresso and steamed milk, traditionally served in a glass. Variants include the chocolate-flavored mocha or replacing the coffee with another beverage base such as masala chai, mate, matcha, turmeric or rooibos; alternatives to milk, such as soy milk, almond milk or oat milk, are also used.
Doppio espresso is a double shot which is extracted using double the amount of ground coffee in a larger-sized portafilter basket. This results in 60 ml of drink, double the amount of a single shot espresso. Doppio is Italian multiplier, meaning 'double'. It is commonly called a standard double, due to its standard in judging the espresso quality in barista competitions, where four single espresso are made using two double portafilters.
Lungo is a coffee beverage made by using an espresso machine to make an Italian-style coffee—short black with more water, resulting in a larger coffee, a lungo.
The World Barista Championship (WBC) is an annual barista competition operated by World Coffee Events for the title of World Barista Champion. The competition is composed of the winners of the national barista championships, which are operated by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) chapters, or an approved, independent, non-profit national body. First held in 2000, the event is hosted in a different city every year. The most recent edition in 2023 was in Athens, with the 2024 edition scheduled to take place in Busan, South Korea.
Intelligentsia Coffee is an American coffee roasting company and retailer based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1995 by Doug Zell and Emily Mange, Intelligentsia is considered a major representative of third wave coffee. In 2015, Peet's Coffee & Tea acquired a majority stake in the company.
Latte art is a method of preparing coffee created by pouring microfoam into a shot of espresso and resulting in a pattern or design on the surface of the latte. It can also be created or embellished by simply "drawing" in the top layer of foam. Latte art is particularly difficult to create consistently, due to the demanding conditions required of both the espresso shot and milk. This, in turn, is limited by the experience of the barista and quality of the espresso machine. The term also applies to other beverages containing milk foam, such as cappuccino and hot chocolate.
Third-wave coffee is a movement in coffee marketing emphasizing high quality. Beans are typically sourced from individual farms and are roasted more lightly to bring out their distinctive flavors. Though the term was coined in 1999, the approach originated in the 1970s, with roasters such as the Coffee Connection.
James Alexander Hoffmann is an English barista, YouTuber, entrepreneur, coffee consultant, and author. Hoffmann first came to prominence after winning the World Barista Championship in 2007 and has since been credited as a pioneer of Britain's third-wave coffee movement. Hoffmann has published three books, including The World Atlas of Coffee, amassed a significant following on YouTube, started several businesses, including the specialty coffee roaster Square Mile Coffee Roasters, and consulted for several coffee ventures.
A bikini barista is a woman who works as a barista, preparing and serving coffee beverages, while dressed in scanty attire such as a bikini, lingerie or a crop top combined with bikini bottoms or hotpants. In the United States, this marketing technique originated in the Seattle, Washington area in the early 2000s. Similar phenomena have appeared in countries such as Chile and Japan since at least the 1980s.
Michael Phillips is a barista who won the United States Barista Championship in Portland, Oregon, in March 2009, while working at Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Chicago, IL. He also won the 2010 United States Barista Championship, becoming the second repeat U.S. champion. He has since become the first US Barista to win the World Barista Championship in London, England, in 2010.
The World Brewers Cup is an annual international coffee brewing competition organized by World Coffee Events, an organization founded by the Specialty Coffee Association. The stated goal of the competition is to showcase the craft and skill of filter coffee brewing by hand, promoting manual coffee brewing and quality of service. Contestants qualify for the international competition by winning their respective national championships. As of 2019, there were approximately 40 participating national organizations. The annual location of the event is determined by the World Coffee Events organizing committee, and is typically held in conjunction with the World Barista Championship, the World Coffee Roasting Championship, and the World Latte Art Championship. The first World Brewers Cup was held in 2011 in Maastricht, Netherlands. The 2022 WBrC was held in Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Colectivo Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Until July 2013, the company was known as Alterra Coffee Roasters. Colectivo roasts its coffee and makes all its food products in Milwaukee and is known nationwide as a wholesale coffee supplier.
Sasa Sestic is a Bosnian-Australian barista from Canberra, Australian Capital Territory who won the 2015 World Barista Championship.
Raf or Raf coffee is a popular coffee drink in some countries of the former USSR, which appeared in the late 1990s in Russia. Prepared by adding cream and vanilla sugar to a single shot of espresso and then foaming the mix with a steam heater. The main differences from latte are the use of vanilla sugar and cream instead of milk and the fact that the whole mix is foamed together instead of just milk. The Syrup is often used instead of vanilla sugar.
Eisbock milk is a condensed milk drink. It is produced using low temperature filtration technology that physically purifies milk by removing part of its water content, the idea which is inspired by a type of strong beer from Germany.
Morgan Eckroth, also known by their username MorganDrinksCoffee, is an American online content creator and barista. A resident of Portland, Oregon, Eckroth maintains a popular TikTok account and YouTube channel along with participating in barista competitions. After competing in nationals and qualifiers for the United States Barista Championship in 2019 and 2020 respectively, Eckroth became the United States Barista Champion in 2022, thereby qualifying to represent the US in the 2022 World Barista Championship (WBC). Eckroth placed second at the WBC, where they were sponsored by Onyx Coffee Lab, an Arkansas-based coffee roaster where Eckroth also serve as the content marketing specialist.
A sidecar is a term for a small glass of sparkling water or seltzer served beside an espresso. The purpose of the water is to cleanse a person's palate before and after drinking an espresso shot. It is commonly associated with the third-wave coffee movement and may be served by default alongside an order of espresso.