SCAA published details today about the sweeping new qualifying event, CoffeeChamps, that will bring together Barista, Brewers, Roasting, and Cup Tasters competitions
The SCAA Competitions Committee released dates, locations, and a whole new format today for the qualifying events for the 2017 United States Barista Championship. These two events, dubbed the ˜CoffeeChamps,’ will take place in Austin, Texas and Knoxville, Tennessee, respectively, and will encompass not just the Barista and Brewers Cup competitions, but also include Cup Tasters and Roasting competitions as well.
After last year’s cancellation, then restructuring to consolidate the qualifying events into one ˜super’ qualifier, the committee promised to move forward the following year with at least two qualifying events. Eventually, they assured the coffee community that their goal was to move towards a model that includes at least six mini-regional events. However, little was said in terms of what that would actually look like, and for the past few months baristas and coffee professionals alike have been wondering what the next iteration of coffee competitions would look like.
Any barista can register for one of the two events, either the one in Knoxville that will take place January 21-22, 2017, or the one in Austin being held February 11-12, 2017. Each competition will host 60 competitors, and the top six from each will receive an automatic bye into the semi-final round of the United States Barista Championships, which will be held in Seattle, Washington. Much like the qualifying event in Kansas City, Missouri last year, competitors will have ten minutes to present drinks to two sensory scoring judges. However, competitors will still be making four drinks since there will be two non-scoring judges added to the judges table consisting of food professionals and perhaps just random audience members. Competitors will also only participate in two rounds of drink service ”espresso and signature beverages. The milk course will remain as part of the score sheet for the national competition.
You can find this and more information about the event and other rule changes by visiting the new and streamlined US Coffee Championships website. The new rules for each competition are on the website, along with a timeline of the history of the competition, and past winners of every competition. Registration for the events will begin November 6th.
