Kay Cheon of Dune Coffee Roasters in Santa Barbara, California is the 2025 United States Barista Champion. It is his fourth Finals appearance in just six years competing.
We have covered Cheon’s winning routine from just about every angle possible. From live recapping his Semi-Finals and Finals routines to the announcement of his big win to a philosophically waxed post-mortem. And now we’re sitting down with the champ to go deep on his winning USBC routine, including the coffees, the team, and the ever-changing milk course. We also got the chance to ask Cheon about his preparation for the World Barista Championship and what, if anything, from Nationals he expects to carry over to Milan.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Hey Kay! First off, congratulation on the big win! Now that you’ve had a week or so to sit with it, how does it feel to be the champion?
I had a funny realization the other day actually. Usually after USBC has concluded, I start getting excited for WBC and to see what competitors will present and share this year, then I realized that I’ll be one of those competitors!
I’ve had a lot of great experiences and opportunities even since USBC, but beyond that, I’m still just honored to be representing the US this year, and enjoying every step of the way.
Let’s talk routine. The Ombligon. It’s taking the competition stage by storm. How did you first come to try it and what made you want to include it in your routine this year?
I think the first time I tasted Ombligon from El Diviso was in 2023, I had gotten to try some of Jack Simpson’s coffee from WBC in Athens. The following year of course, Frank La used that coffee to win [the USBC], and so that flavor profile was always in the back of my mind. I was actually a bit reluctant to serve it, perhaps because Frank had competed with it the year before, but every time I shared it with someone who hadn’t tasted that coffee before, their reaction was so positive that I knew it had potential.
One of the things that I thought was really wild about your routine was that you also used an experimentally processed Green Tip Gesha from Panama, which some would and have built an entire set around, but you only used it as part of a blended/layered espresso for a single course. What was the process to getting there?
It was definitely a bit of a process! We tasted so many different coffees along the way, across a wide spectrum of flavor profiles. I got to connect with Jamison Savage fairly early on and start a conversation, and so we tasted a few different profiles that we considered serving in USBC. Initially, the plan for the coffee I ended up serving was to serve it alone for espresso.
With the building blocks concept, as well as discussing the potential for a blend with the team, I tried combining the Ombligon with the Gesha, and I knew there was potential there for something exciting. The main reason I went that route was that it allowed me to combine some of the qualities that I really enjoyed from both coffees, so the vibrancy and fruit from the Ombligon, and the florals and the tactile from the Geisha.
For your milk course, you made what you call a “super milk,” a 3:1:1 blend of full-cream dairy, cashew milk, and pistachio milk, which you then spun in a roto-vac to caramelize the sugars. The current trend in the milk course is to increase the fat content, but you chose to enhance the sweetness. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
I almost always start my preparation by working on the milk course, partially because I think there is so much room for innovation there that can make its way to a retail setting. I’ve already seen some people offering super milk in their cafes, which I’m really excited to see!
I’ve tried lots of different milk processing techniques and all sorts of different milks, and I think the fat content is a balancing act. Cashew and pistachio milk have a good amount of fat content already, so using the roto-vac gave me a lot of precision for the resulting milk that I served. The super milk composition that I used was really interesting to work with—it didn’t really work with a lot of coffees, but for the Ombligon, it came together in a really special way.
The milk course is maybe the most fun for me, especially because it’s the course that I can share with the most people. A high scoring milk beverage is usually a really delicious beverage in its own right, and the combination of coffee and milk also has such a familiarity that it’s really easy to pick up on quality or distinct flavors.
I think the competition allowing for plant-based milks allows for so much creativity from competitors. Plant-based milks often have a reputation of imparting too much of their own flavor, or getting in the way of the coffee, but now there’s so much room to take unique approaches with different milks to suit your presentation and your coffee.
The World Barista Championship is still over six months away. How is the layoff going to impact the routine you take to Milan? Are you planning on creating an entirely new one or sticking with your USBC routine?
Likely somewhere in the middle, but we’ll see! For the US this year, the timing is such that there’s plenty of time to make big changes to the presentation and to coffees. My goal is to use the time to connect with a number of people that I’ve always hoped to collaborate with, and really make this a team effort as much as I can.
How does your mindset change moving onto the WBC? Are there any additional considerations you have to make beyond what you did for USBC?
International travel always poses a bit of an unknown, so we’ll want to make sure we’re well prepared once we touch down in Italy. As for my mindset, I really want to double down on enjoying every moment, which was something I focused on in the lead up to USBC. It’s such a huge honor to get to represent the United States in WBC, and no matter how much we prepare and practice, it’s not something I want to lose sight of.
One of the hallmarks of a Kay Cheon routine is an economy of movement and language. Does this sort of efficiency come naturally or is it practiced?
That’s very kind! My presentations almost always start at 2,000+ words before I start editing, so I really try to make sure that what I do and say is exactly what I want it to be, and not anything less or more. I spend a lot of time on the presentation and what I say on stage, since it’s important to remember how much the judges will be able to follow if you say too much, but also, in the hopes that something I do or say can resonate with someone else even after the competition is over, no matter the results.
You’ve gone into depth on Instagram about the folks on your team and the roles they played, but what I’d like to know is: how was the team constructed? Were you more managerial or are you more of the proverbial tip of the spear and someone else is delegating?
Felix and Mal Preheim have been a part of the team as my coworkers at Dune, and we’ve been competing and practicing together since 2018. Over the years, we’ve been able to compete and support a number of different people, one of those being Gavy Oesmanto in 2024, who competed for the first time last year. Gavy also coached me in 2023, the first year that we worked together for competition. Because the four of us have worked together for so many years now, there isn’t as much delegation as you would think, more just that we all know how we work best together.
This year in particular, I took on a lot more of the preparation on myself, and so together with Felix, Mal, and Gavy, we were able to try a few different approaches to every aspect of the competition. I would typically make the final decisions, but in instances where I wasn’t as sure or I knew someone else on the team had a clearer perspective, I trusted the team to make those decisions as well.
Speaking of team, is there anyone you want to give a shout out to?
There are so many people that have been part of the process, not just this year, but in years past. Getting to compete as a team with Felix, Mal, and Gavy makes competition so enjoyable, and of course Julia and Todd at Dune for their support and trust over the years.
Last question. It’s so hard to win the USBC, so when someone does often it is the end of their competition career. Was this the last time we’ll see Kay Cheon compete at the USBC?
I’ve really looked up to how so many past US champions have given back to the community, just through their presence and support of competitions, judges, and competitors. I’m really looking forward to getting to do the same, and pouring back into the community here in the US that has supported so many over the years.
As for whether I’ll compete again in the future, I think a lot of competitors say that they’ll be competing for the last time and then return to the stage. I’ll just say that I’m looking forward to my WBC preparation, and for everything else that’s ahead!
Thanks Kay!
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
