Special Communication on Outcomes from Ad Hoc Regional Competitions Committee Meeting, Held in Seattle, WA

This morning, members received the following message regarding the future of regional qualifying events for USCC. The full text of the email can be found below.

Dear Coffee Community,

It was an honor and a pleasure to lead the Ad Hoc Committee on Regional Barista Competitions last weekend in Seattle. A variety of stakeholders donated their valuable time and put considerable effort into finding a solution for preserving the value of these events. We considered the contributions and suggestions made to us by the coffee community through email, social media, and a recent member survey. The survey, in particular, gave us important insights into what the community values about these events. In the end, I am confident that we found a productive way forward. We created a plan, which aims to increase the value and sustainability of regional barista qualifying competitions for years to come. Barista Guild Chair Lorenzo Perkins will elaborate on the plan below, but it is important to note that the strategy was achieved with a consensus of representatives of the Barista Guild of America Executive Council, SCAA Board of Directors, SCAA Competitions Committee, Barista Competitors, Brewers Cup Competitors, and Sponsors. I’m grateful for their work and proud of the outcome.

Sincerely,

mike_strumpf-2ecd70ff4c889bb3349d123c4dd50135

Mike Strumpf Chair, Ad Hoc Regional Competitions Committee

 

Dear Baristas and Coffee Competitors,

We have an amazing opportunity before us to re-imagine what regional events look like, what it means to compete at the USBC, and how we present ourselves as a unified industry to the consumer. One of the most exciting outcomes of our meeting last weekend was a long-term vision for the future of regional coffee competitions as events. In order for these events to be sustainable in the long-term, they need to fulfill the mission of both the SCAA, to recognize, develop, and promote specialty coffee, and the BGA, to provide baristas with a community dedicated to innovating, sharing, and demonstrating best practices in coffee preparation.

We want to re-frame these competitions as craft food events, emphasizing the crafted nature of specialty coffee and showcasing the skills of coffee professionals as practitioners of their craft, and at the same time advocate for specialty coffee at the consumer level. We envision much more consumer-friendly regional events that are inviting and accessible to specialty coffee consumers, by placing an emphasis on sensory experience, demonstrations, and sampling.

There were also a lot of questions around what else the BGA was working on to add to regional coffee activity. For the last 3 months, we have been working on establishing a separate and new kind of barista professionals’ event, dedicated to industry-facing interaction and networking, providing an expanded opportunity for growth and development seen in regional coffee professional activity. We feel strongly that this new vision is what the coffee community is asking for in order to continue to develop as coffee professionals, and at the same time advocating for specialty coffee at the consumer level.

The 2015-2016 competition season will have to be a building year towards that vision. Given the realities we're facing, we came up with the following vision:

  • We will hold one qualifying event in late winter in the geographic center of the country, which 100 competing baristas can attend. The event will last 4 days.
  • The top 6 barista competitors from the Western Conference and the top 6 from the Eastern Conference will be determined. Each of these 12 will automatically advance to USBC semi-finals.
  • The 24 remaining highest scoring baristas from the entire country will advance to the initial round of the USBC.
  • The regional barista qualifying competition will be a condensed version of the full USBC. We envision 2 espressos, 2 milk based drinks, and 2 signature drinks served to 2 sensory judges with 2 technical judges and 1 head judge. There will be a 20 minute practice period, a prep time of 10 minutes and performance time of 10 minutes. The competitions committee will update scoring sheets and rules documents accordingly.
  • Brewers Cup will be open to 50 competitors and include both compulsory and open service for all competitors.
  • The top 6 Brewers Cup competitors from the Western Conference and the top 6 from the Eastern Conference will be determined. Each of these 12 will automatically advance to US Brewers Cup.
  • The 24 remaining highest scoring brewers from the entire country will advance to the initial round of the USBrC.

We will communicate updated rules, dates for the qualifying event, and other information as we get it.

Last, I want to thank the members of the ad hoc committee, the Barista Guild Executive Council, and every member of the specialty coffee community who contributed their ideas and made their voice heard in this process.

Cheers,

LorenzoSig-b279b6126b89cfb31000ca0ea605227c

Lorenzo Perkins, Chair, Barista Guild of America Executive Council

Please contact events@scaa.org with any questions, comments, or concerns. 

BlogDanny Pinnell