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BY KATE VAN PETTENSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE
Featured photo of Barista winners by Kate Van Petten
After a qualifying round in Houston, some of the nation’s best coffee professionals gathered in the foothills of California’s San Gabriel Mountains at Klatch Coffee for three national competitions of the U.S. Coffee Championships.
This is the first year that the U.S. Coffee Championships were hosted without the support of the Speciality Coffee Association, requiring more community-led support than ever. “This was not a business-as-usual year for this competition, and so the lift was so much harder,” says Debra Kaminski, director of foodservice marketing at Pacific Foods, the title sponsor for the event.
With many community-donated resources, including Klatch Coffee’s new 15,700-square-foot warehouse, a diverse team of volunteers across judging, audio-video, time-keeping, and more, the U.S. Coffee Championships were hosted at a smaller scale than usual, independently from the Specialty Coffee Expo. There were many challenges ,including a limited two-bathroom capacity, missing necessary equipment such as proper competition tables, rolling carts, a proper sound system and audio-video team, and more. Despite the challenges, the coffee community came together to execute a beautiful event, which was miraculously live streamed through volunteer support on YouTube.
“It is very DIY. Like the zine of competitions,” says judge and renowned coffee professional Rachel Apple.
Without further delay, here are the results for the 2024 U.S. Coffee Championships.
CUP TASTERS
Mehmet Sogan (he/him) – Memli Coffee Lab – San Diego
Tom Bomford (he/him) – Black Fox Coffee – New York
Ryan Sullivan (he/him) – Mostra Coffee – San Diego
Sean Coyne (he/him) – Brio Coffeeworks – Burlington, Va.
BREWERS CUP
Weihong Zhang (he/him) – BlendIn Coffee Club – Houston
Peace Sakulclanuwat (she/her) – Coffee Project NY – New York
Pack Katisomsakul (he/him) – Newbery Street Coffee Roasters – Boston
Hugo Cano (he/him) – Amberson Coffee – Indianapolis
Andy Sprenger (he/him) – Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters – Lakewood, Colo.
Marc Chiusano (he/him) – Flux Coffee – Farmingdale, N.Y.
BARISTA
Frank La (he/him) – Be Bright Coffee – Los Angeles
Morgan Eckroth (they/she) – Onyx Coffee Lab – Portland, Ore.
Jason Yeo (he/him) – Saint Frank Coffee – San Francisco
Kay Cheon (he/him) – Dune Coffee – Santa Barbara, Calif.
Rafael Levy Diner (he/him) – Onyx Coffee Lab – Rogers, Ark.
Meg Skop (she/her) – The Coffee Movement – San Francisco
Check back tomorrow to get to know some of the champions!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Van Petten (they/them) is a writer, musician, and coffee professional based in Seattle. They have worked in the specialty-coffee industry for years with a focus on creative storytelling through marketing. You can find their songs and poems in Coffee People Zine, and you can listen to their debut audiobook, For Someone, on cassette tape or online via Hello America Stereo Cassette. They are currently an editor and publicist for Poetry Northwest, the Pacific Northwest’s longest-running literary journal. If you want to share a story or connect, you can reach them at katevanpetten@gmail.com.
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