Best Roasters - US Roasting Championships

#1: Post by **keno** » May 12th, 2019, 10:07 am

In case you are looking for some new coffees to try you might want to give these roasters a shot.

These Are Some of the Best Coffee Roasters in the US, According to Experts

#2: Post by **coocooffee** » May 15th, 2019, 4:14 pm

i feel like these "championships" are more advertising venues than they are actually useful.

just looking over the rules sheet for the roasting championships, here's what we have. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... .29+CC.pdf

0. all competitors have to self fund their own expenses. so basically a couple of grand to complete. this will rule out most smaller roasters.
1. 30 minutes to evaluate and just provided beans. so this means that the roaster will probably not be selling the beans used in the "championship"
2. roasting the beans on sponsored machines. meaning that these machines might be not the machines the roasters are using in house and only has a small window of time to familiarize themselves with.
3. then prepare the beans for review.

so i mean, honestly the judges rankings are worthless to the average home consumer because it's just not the same bean and not the same roast. sure, this could help us judge the skill of a roaster but are these the same ones that are mass producing the beans for sale? really this competition just tells us how good the roaster could be. it doesn't mean what they're selling is also good or not. so again, advertising venue unless we can actually buy the beans that are roasted for the judged.

i always find lists like these more akin to advertising than actual useful recommendations. since anyone completing at this level is likely not going to be your small local roaster. it's going to be a national more commercialized brand which means that you likely aren't going to get beans one or two days off roast when you order.

#3: Post by **EddyQ** » May 15th, 2019, 10:32 pm

coocooffee wrote:since anyone completing at this level is likely not going to be your small local roaster. it's going to be a national more commercialized brand which means that you likely aren't going to get beans one or two days off roast when you order.

Actually, I know someone who competed and he owns a small shop. He originated here as a HBer. And check out the winners. They are not working at large commercialized brands.

The competition is a test of a roasters ability. I agree, the roaster familiar with the machine used in competition has an edge. But each roaster must plan his/her roast based on a sample roast. And then nail it with the bigger roaster. Not a simple task. And the most flavorful roast doesn't necessarily win. The qualifiers allows you to roast on your own equipment. So flavor probably does count at that level. Only the best from qualifiers ends up at the championships. So the winners are talented roasters IMO.

#4: Post by **yakster** » May 16th, 2019, 6:19 am

I've really enjoyed Black Oak, wish I could find them still at Whole Foods.