On a very special edition of the Coffee Sprudgecast, we take you live to the event floor at the 2019 US Coffee Champs Qualifying Event in Denver, Colorado! There we join multimedia director Elizabeth Chai, who—in addition to helming our must-follow Instagram coverage of the event—taped a series of original interviews for this week’s episode of the podcast.
In this episode, Chai talks to Julia Peixoto of Peixoto Coffee Roastersin Chandler, Arizona. Peixoto competed in the 2019 US Brewers Cup Qualifiers using coffee grown on their family farm in Brazil.
Chai also chats with Miguel Vicuña and Rita Kaminsky of Sweet Bloom Coffeein Lakewood, Colorado and Snowdrift Coffeein Roscoe, Illinois, respectively. Along with judging USBC and WCE events for a decade, Vicuña is the current Chair of the USCC (United States Coffee Championship) Working Group. Kaminsky is the U.S. Coffee Champ committee chair for the Coffee in Good Spirits.
Sprudge Media Network’s coverage of the 2019 US Coffee Champs is made possible by Joe Glo and Mahlkönig. All of SprudgeLive’s 2019 competition coverage is made possible by Acaia, Baratza, Faema, Cafe Imports, and Wilbur Curtis.
Sprudge is an official media partnerof US Coffee Championships.
Follow @SprudgeLiveon Twitter and never miss a moment from the shows, and cruise over to SprudgeLive.comto read routine recaps, enjoy dynamic full-color photos, and check in on all the advancing competitors from Denver.
The Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Oxo, Urnex Brands, Hario, and Swiss Water Decaf.
On a very special edition of the Coffee Sprudgecast, we take you live to the event floor at the 2019 US Coffee Champs Qualifying Event in Denver, Colorado! There we join multimedia director Elizabeth Chai, who—in addition to helming our must-follow Instagram coverage of the event—taped a series of original interviews for this week’s episode of the podcast.
In this episode Chai talks to Blair Smith, a Brewers Cup competitor for Augie’s Coffee in California’s Inland Empire region. Smith placed 9th overall in the qualifying event, earning a bid to move on and compete at the 2019 US Coffee Championships national event next March in Boston.
Chai also sat down with Hana Kaneshige, a barista competitor and Regional Educator representing Counter Culture Coffee, a wholesale roaster hubbed in Durham, North Carolina and Emeryville, CA with satellite training centers nationwide. Kaneshige would also place ninth in the US Coffee Champs Barista Competition field, earning a coveted spot to move on and compete at nationals next year in Boston.