What does it take to reach the upper echelons of coffee competition? Really good coffee and lots of practice are probably two things we can all agree are required, but beyond that it’s a bit of a black box for those of us who only count ourselves as spectators. In a new video series, April Coffee Roasters’ Patrik Rolf—fresh off his second place finish at the 2019 World Brewers Cup run in Boston—peels back the curtain to help demystify the coffee competition process by discussing, for better or worse, everything that went into his routine.
Available now on YouTube, Rolf—the best 2019 competitor not named Du Jianing—explores every facet of his run to the Finals round of the World Brewers Cup in a new 12-part video series. The near combined two-hour total run time of the mini-sodes includes topics like: practice, green coffee, roasting, compulsory coffee, the presentation, coaching, and the score sheets. Rolf also dedicates a video to each of his First Round and Finals Round “Open Services,” where the competitors give their 10-minute presentations on the coffee they brought with them. The video series is one of the most in-depth looks into coffee competition from the viewpoint of a single competitor.
The video series offers a unique insight into what competing looks like proffered by a competitor who went from second-to-last in the 2018 World Brewers Cup to second in 2019. For those looking to get into competing or perhaps looking for a way to take the next steps, these videos would be a good way to spend two hours in the offseason.
For more information, check out the Reflections by Patrik Rolf video series on YouTube.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
