United States
The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) gave updates about coffee competitions in December of 2015. The U.S. Cup Tasters Championship will not happen at Expo this year. Instead, it is taking place in January in conjunction with the Good Food Awards in San Francisco.
The change in timing will allow the winner to compete in the World Cup Tasters Championship in Shanghai, China March 29-April 1, 2016.
There will be no U.S. Latte Art Championship competition because there were not enough latte artists registered. The SCAA and the Barista Guild of America are exploring “how to move this Championship forward and grow value for competitors” through a working group of members.
The rebranded roaster competition, U.S. Roaster Championship (previously known as Roasters Choice), will be part of the SCAA Expo in April, 2016. SCAA attendees will play a part in determining winners: “The roasted coffee that earns the top score, as determined by a panel of judges and attendee votes, will be named the winner of the 2016 U.S. Roaster Championship.”
Learn more: uscoffeechampionships.org