HB Home Roaster of the Year.

The task this year was to come up with a great blend and a great SO. Therefore, all those who submitted at least one of each, whether for espresso or brew, are eligible for the Home Roaster of the Year title.

Kudos to Henry Chang, Stephan Kupevics, and Todd Werner, each of whom submitted entries in all four categories; in the scoring they gained an edge by having their best SO and blend result used for the combined score. Eight other competitors submitted at least one entry in each category and were eligible for the overall title. So eleven people in all were in the chase.

Both Tom and I scored the entries from 0 to 100. However, I scored the espresso side slightly higher and with a larger spread of scores. So it would be unfair to take the raw scores, since this would penalize the brew entries. Instead, the standings are based on the best brew and SO finishing rank, so that a first place finish in any competition carries equal weight.

Based on this, here are the final standings:

11th Tim Davis. Best Blend Finish = 11. Best SO Finish = 11.
10th Rafael Cobo. Best Blend Finish = 2/3. Best SO Finish = 10.
9th Stephan Kupevics. Best Blend Finish = 5/6. Best SO Finish = 5.
8th Daniel Remer. Best Blend Finish = 8. Best SO Finish = 2.
7th Sherman Chong. Best Blend Finish = 3. Best SO Finish = 6.
5th/6th Jorge Guior. Best Blend Finish = 2/3. Best SO Finish = 6.
5th/6th Patrick Laplante. Best Blend Finish = 1. Best SO Finish = 7/8.
4th Henry Chang. Best Blend Finish = 4. Best SO Finish = 3.
2nd/3rd Jason Griset. Best Blend Finish = 4. Best SO Finish = 1/3.
2nd/3rd Todd Werner. Best Blend Finish = 5. Best SO Finish = 1.
1st Rama Roberts. Best Blend Finish = 1/2. Best SO Finish = 1/3.

Congratulations, Rama, you are HB Home Roaster of the Year.