Competitors trained for months in hopes of winning at the U.S. Coffee Championships in February.
Competitors trained for months in hopes of winning at the U.S. Coffee Championships in February.
America’s Next Top Barista
By Patricia Kelly YeoPhotographs By Adam AmengualMarch 24, 2020
It was the 19th annual U.S. Coffee Championships, and competitors in the barista division had just 15 minutes to prove their coffee-making prowess.
In that time, each contestant pulled an espresso, made a milk-based beverage and delivered a signature drink (judged for creativity and taste).
Many added a dose of pageantry or politics to their performances.
Michelle R. Johnson, 28, of Los Angeles, was the first black woman in U.S. Coffee Championships history to make it to nationals.
“For the better part of my nine years in coffee, I felt like I had to fit into someone else’s idea of what a coffee professional was,” Ms. Johnson said.
The championships are the specialty coffee industry’s answer to other high-end food contests, including wine sommelier challenges.
The weekend-long event, which convened a month before any U.S. coronavirus restrictions, produced several champions, including finalists in coffee roasting and brewing competitions.
Other competitors in the barista competition included Juan Diaz, 25, of Seattle, who wowed judges with a condenser apparatus.
The device turned his coffee clear, while removing bitter aromatics.
And Leah Ritsema, 24, of Grand Rapids, Mich., who used an edible bubble maker to encapsulate Earl Grey essential oil smoke on top of an espresso shot.
In addition to their drinks, baristas were judged on their customer service skills and knowledge of the tasting notes present in their chosen coffee beans.Competitors used their 15 minutes on stage to talk about anything, including the scientific aspects of coffee-making and the politics of race and class in the coffee trade.
As Anthony Ragler, 26, of Brooklyn, made his signature drink — using bergamot rind and juice to create a chilled, lightly sweetened citrus-inflected beverage — he spoke about the parallels between the journeys of Ethiopian coffee beans and the enslaved ancestors of black Americans.
Two roving technical judges scrutinized every detail, even measuring leftover espresso grounds to the exact gram. (Too much waste, and the judges will ding the competitor.)
Ultimately it was Andrea Allen, 36, of Rogers, Ark., who took the top honor as U.S. Barista Champion.
Her next step, barring travel changes because of the new coronavirus, will be to represent the U.S. at the World Barista Championships later this year.
Produced by Laura O'Neill and Natalie Shutler