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 at the World Barista Championship.
Format Qualifying 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.
Presentation rules
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.
History The competition started in 2002 and was initially referred to as the North American Barista Competition. The 2021 edition of the competition was cancelled due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2015, the competition was the subject of the documentary Barista, which followed competitors in the 2013 USBC.
Winners Year Winner 2002 Dismas Smith 2003 Heather Perry 2004 Bronwen Serna 2005 Phuong Tran 2006 Matt Riddle 2007 Heather Perry 2008 Kyle Glanville 2009 Michael Phillips 2010 Michael Phillips 2011 Pete Licata 2012 Katie Carguilo 2013 Pete Licata 2014 Laila Ghambari 2015 Charles Babinski 2016 Lemuel Butler 2017 Kyle Ramage 2018 Cole McBride 2019 Samantha Spillman 2020 Andrea Allen 2022 Morgan Eckroth2023Isaiah Sheese2024Frank La
See also
World Barista Championship
References
External links Official website