First Annual U.S. Cup Tasting Championship! April 16-19, 2009

Yes it is true!

The FIRST ANUAL U.S. Cup Tasting Championship will be held April 16-19, 2009 at the 21st Annual SCAA Exposition and Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia in conjunction with the 2009 World Barista Championship.

For more information on applying to compete check back here regularly as well as the SCAA show site.

What is a Cup Tasting Championship?  Well first lets be clear about what it is not.

Last year we saw a wonderful “Roasters Choice Tasting Competition” which was a friendly competition among roasters and their respective coffees.  We also saw the “Coffee of the Year Competition” which was a competition of cup quality removing the roaster as a variable.  The CTC (Cup Tasting Championship) however is a competition among cuppers.  Yes, cupping has taken center stage the last few years and has outgrown it’s traditional role of being a step in quality control and has become an engaging educational experience for all.

While this has taken place for some time around the world, this will be a first in the United States.

Who will be qualified to compete?  You don’t need to be a green buyer for a large roaster or head of a cupping lab at origin.  Whether you are a home roaster, sommelier or celebrity chef; all credentials are left at the door for a truly blind competition of pallets.

The winner will be the one who successfully makes it through 3 flights of 8 triangulations with the highest number accurate in the fastest time – in that order.  For example if you get them all right and use up the maximum allowed time with out going over you will win over someone who gets MOST of them right in a faster time.  People will be eliminated after the first flight as well as the second flight or semifinal.  The winner of the 3rd and final flight will be the 2009 U.S. Cup Tasting Champion and have the opportunity to compete at the World Cup Tasting Championship June 26 – 28, 2009 in Cologne, Germany.

So you’re interested but aren’t sure what a triangulation is?  No problem, this is not a knowledge exam, it’s all about taste buds and sense of smell. 

Yours truly will be the MC – see you there!

Please contact the SCAA or email us a fanatics<at>onyxcoffee.com for more information on competing.  The rules of the competition will be available soon here and or on the SCAA site as well.

~ by . on November 15, 2008.