Seattle, WA – September 12, 2013
Within the specialty coffee industry there is nothing more stimulating than an excellent cup of coffee paired with friendly competition, and America’s Best Espresso Competition is all that and more. This competition is like nothing seen before, focusing exclusively on the dedicated skill and talent needed to produce excellent espresso roasts and blends. This addition to the Coffee Fest experience is unique because the application to compete is open exclusively to roasters.
32 of the most prominent coffee roasters throughout the Western US and Canada will go head to head in a win and advance or lose and go home format. The competition kicks off on Friday, October 4th, at 12:30pm and will continue in a head-to-head bracket style elimination finishing on Sunday, October 6th. The winning roaster will be announced on Sunday at 4:05pm alongside the champions of Coffee Fest’s Latte Art World Championship Open and DaVinci Gourmet’s, America’s Best Coffeehouse.
Western Finalists:
9 Bar Espresso Vancouver, WA
Augie’s Coffee House Redlands, CA
Bowen Island Roasting Co. Ltd Bowen Island, BC
Cafe Virtuoso San Diego, CA
Caffe Ladro Seattle, WA
Caffe Mela Wenatchee, WA
Colorado River Coffee Roasters Ltd Boulder City, NV
Conduit Coffee Company Seattle, WA
DOMA Coffee Roasting Company Post Falls, ID
Early Bird Coffee Roasters Seattle, WA
Elevation Coffee Traders Englewood, CO
Espresso Vivace Seattle, WA
Evans Brothers Coffee Sandpoint, ID
Fidalgo Bay Coffee Roasters Burlington, WA
Green Earth Coffee Roasters Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Happyrock Coffee Roasting Co. Gladstone, OR
Klatch Coffee Upland, CA
Kobos Coffee Portland, OR
Kuma Coffee Seattle, WA
Madrona Coffee Tacoma, WA
Mt Hood Roasters Rhododendron, OR
Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. Olympia, WA
Resilient Coffee Roasters Richland, WA
Roast House Coffee Spokane, WA
Rogue roasters Grants Pass, OR
Sacred Grounds Coffee and Tea House Ruidoso, NM
Slate Coffee Roasters Seattle, WA
Tony’s Coffees Seattle, WA
Vashon Coffee Company Vashon, WA
Velton’s Coffee Roasting Company Everett, WA
Victrola Coffee Roasters Seattle, WA
William Chu Vancouver, BC
The espresso roaster themselves (or a representative barista) will prepare three shots of espresso to be submitted to the judging table. Coffee Fest Latte Art World Championship Open competitors will perform the arduous task of judging the competition. Judges will evaluate the shots of espresso from each competitor in the categories of:
1) Flavor Complexity
2) Mouth Feel & Appeal
3) Aftertaste
America’s Best Espresso Western Championship is sponsored and made possible by Roast Magazine, Mahlkonig, Nuova Simonelli, Wega, Rancilio and Slayer. For competition matches and times the America’s Best Espresso Western Championship Bracket has been posted at http://www.coffeefest.com
The Rosters taking first, second and third place will earn a seed to compete against 15 other regional finalists at the Grand Championship in Portland, Oregon at Coffee Fest Oct. 17-19, 2014. The top three regional roasters form Seattle 2012, NY 2013, Chicago 2013, Seattle 2013, NY 2014 and St Louis 2014 will be invited to compete for the 2013/2014 America’s Best Espresso Championship.
Coffee Fest has been bringing the specialty coffee, gourmet tea and alternative beverage industry professionals together since 1992, when the show first got its start as a consumer coffee festival in Seattle. Since 1998, Coffee Fest, “The little coffee show that could,” has gathered coffee retailers, roasters, distributors and manufacturers together for over 68 trade shows, three times each year, to help specialty coffee industry attendees build and refine their businesses, have the first peek at new products, and remain current with coffee and tea industry trends. For more information about all the shows, go to www.CoffeeFest.com
