Welcome one and all to the 2025 US Barista Championship! We are here at the Black & White Coffee Roasting HQ in lovely Raleigh, North Carolina for three days of intense barista competition action. The thrills! The spills (hopefully not)! The signature drinks!
Things get kicked off today with Round One, featuring 19 coffee professionals from across the country. (The full list of competitors as well as the schedule can be found here.) To make it to the next round competitors must go through what would rightly be referred to as The Gauntlet. You’ve got returning Semi-Finalists like Gray Kauffman, Jamie Patel, Noel Goodwin, and hometown hopeful Jake McFarland. Then there’s Onyx Coffee Lab’s Rafael Levy Diner, who came out of nowhere to make it all the way to the Finals last year, in his rookie season no less. Oh yeah, and there’s 2023 US Barista Champion (and 4th place finisher at WBC that same year) Isaiah Sheese as well as the 2023 Brewers Cup Champion and 2024 Latte Art Champion Wenbo Yang to contend with. All this for just six spots in the Semis. And we won’t even go into who awaits them there.
But contend they must, and contend they most certainly will. We’ll be here all day to recap each and every routine as they happen. We’re going to be regularly updating this very article new competitors give their best 15 minutes, so make sure your cursor never hovers too far away from the refresh button. Lock in and stay locked in because this is going to be fun.
Sprudge’s coverage of the 2025 US Barista Championship in Raleigh, North Carolina is presented in by La Marzocco and Pacific Barista Series.
Truc Ngo – Boxx Coffee Roasters – Los Angeles, CA
Truc Ngo of Boxx Coffee Roasters kicks things off the 2025 US Barista Championship, and her routine offers a blend of what have become competition staples and new wrinkles. Ngo begins her routine with the milk beverage course, which in the days of freeze-distillation and cryodesiccation is not where competitors often place the course, but we’re for it. Another novel addition to her routine is Ngo’s very short shot of espresso, which she uses for all her courses. In lieu of the 2:1 shot, Ngo is pulling her shots at 18g in and 15g out over 26 seconds. Combined with a 4:1 blend of freeze-distilled and coconut milk, her cappuccino-style milk course has notes of vanilla ice cream, gingerbread cookie, and lychee, with a black tea finish.
Moving on to the signature beverage course, to her 18-hour anaerobic fermented, washed processed Colombia from Finca El Diviso in Huila, Ngo adds a milk-clarified pomegranate juice, and flower tea , chilled over ice, and finished with a cinnamon and flower tea foam for notes of raspberry yogurt, watermelon, and passionfruit. The last course, the espressos, Ngo’s super-ristrettos express notes of lychee, hibiscus, and lemon.
Truc Ngo calls time on her routine, and if we see more tweaks like these in other competitor routines, it’s going to be a really fun USBC.
Christian Ortega – Olympia Coffee Roasters – Seattle, WA
Our next competitor today is Christian Ortega from Olympia Coffee. Ortega is competing with an anaerobic fermented Gesha variety produced by the Gutierrez family in San Sebastian, Colombia. As an espresso, pulled into frozen cups at 19g in and 47g out in a very short 19 seconds before being decanted into wine glasses, the Gesha has notes of mango juice, meyer lemon peel, and oolong tea.
Transitioning to the milk course, and Ortega has what may be the most complex mix blend to date. Combining 81% freeze distilled lactose-free milk, 16% oat milk, and 3% cryodesiccated coconut milk, the milk course has very fun notes of Lucky Charms marshmallows and strawberry candy. His last course, the sig bev, Ortega has created a cafe de olla- and arroz con leche-inspired beverage that he describes as a drinking custard. It included a rice and toasted almond-infused evaporated milk, a Mexican sugar and cinnamon syrups, and an N/A bitters, all frothed together for flavors of snickerdoodle cookie, amaretto, and a drinking yogurt tang.
Wenbo Yang – Seattle, WA
Now to the stage is Seattle’s Wenbo Yang. Yang is looking to win his third US Coffee Championships discipline, having already won both the Brewers Cup and Latte Art. Yang is slow-releasing information about the origin of his coffee. We know it’s grown in volcanic soil at 2,300MASL, a blend of varieties, and natural processed. (My guess is Panama. It’s gotta be Panama, right?). Like Ngo, Yang begins with the milk course and goes mostly old school, by which I mean a good old-fashioned full fat whole milk… that’s lactose free for extra sweetness. Steamed to 55C and combined with a 21g in to 36g out espresso, the 4oz beverage has notes of dried apricot, vanilla ice cream, and butter cookie with a milk tea finish.
The sig bev is next, with the conceit for Yang being to turn his natural processed coffee into a washed. For this, he combines a hibiscus and green tea blend, honey, tomato water, and semi-clarified milk, all flash chilled espresso and blended, for flavors of jasmine, ripe orange, raspberry, and green tea. (Felling pretty good about it being a Panama.) For the final course, Yang increases the ratio for his coffee from 20g in to 24g out, for notes of plum and fresh orange with a dark chocolate and black tea finish.
It was an Ethiopia! A mix of Heirloom varieties from Sidama Bensa! I’ve been had.
Rafael Levy Diner – Onyx Coffee Lab – Rogers, AR
“It’s black and white” Rafael Levy Diner says of hospitality, while at Black & White Coffee Roasters. Diner is a strong competitor who placed 5th last year, his first time competing, so big things are expected. He is competing with an anaerobic fermented Gesha variety grown on the Elida Estate in Boquete, Panama by the esteemed Lamastus family. Pulled at a ratio of 20g in to 50g out, it has notes of ripe raspberry, orange blossom, milk chocolate, and salted papaya.
For the milk course, Diner slightly increases the dose to 21g for the same 50g output to combine in a 1:3 ratio with a freeze-distilled milk (with a total of 70% of the weight removed), giving the drink flavors of rich white chocolate, salted caramel, and strawberry shortcake.
Last year, Diner’s sig bev was inspired by his favorite Mexican meal, mole, and this year, he isn’t straying much from the formula that made his so successful last year and delivering an al pastor-inspired drink. To that end, he combines the Panama Gesha, pineapple juice, an al pastor syrup made of peppercorn, paprika, and chiles, and an agave and lime juice mixture. It all gets a dry shake followed by a second shake over ice and finished with a mint and serrano espuma for notes of tepache (a fermented pineapple and brown sugar beverage), tamarind juice, and spicy milk chocolate, with an apple and cucumber aroma.
Noel Goodwin – Hagen Coffee Roasters – Seattle, WA
It’s time for another returning competitor, this time it’s Semi-Finalist Noel Goodwin. Goodwin is using a Sidra variety coffee grown at 1,800MASL at El Vergel in Tolima, Colombia that has been mosto anaerobic fermented and natural processed. As an espresso—served at precisely 45C, which Goodwin measured via thermometer gun—pulled at 20g in to 45g out, the Sidrea has flavors of pomegranate, green grape, blackberry, and dark chocolate.
For her milk course, Goodwin combines a macadamia milk and a freeze-distilled milk in a 1:2 ratio that, with the Sidra, presents flavors of red velvet, cookies and cream, and caramel, with a creamy mouthfeel and a lingering sweet caramel finish. Moving to the sig bev, Goodwin blend a pomegranate reduction, blackberry oleo saccharum, pineapple-infused water, torched lemon juice, and Sidra, served over a chilled ice cube for notes of molasses, rainier cherry, Riesling wine, and sweet orange.
Tyler Montague – Brew Coffee Bar – Raleigh, NC
Our next competitor is Tyler Montague of Brew Coffee Bar, the first of an astounding three competitors going on today from the Raleigh/Durham area (and four from North Carolina)! Montague begins with the milk course (I’m sensing a trend!), with a 1:1 ratio freeze-distilled to whole milk blend. Combined with his anaerobic fermented natural processed coffee pulled at 19g in to 40g out has notes of apricot jam, vanilla, baking spice, and milk chocolate.
Moving on to the espresso course, Montague pulls his shots over chilled spheres, with instructions for the judges to stir 10 times front to back—we love a good stirring instruction—for a medium weight espresso. The last course, the sig bev, mixes fresh mango and hibiscus syrup, a citrus spice blend of star anise, all spice, clove, peppercorn, blood orange, lemon, lime, and charred grapefruit, an oleo saccharum from the peels of the fruits from the citrus spice blend, and water to open up the drink, all nitro charged and served in cairn glasses, giving the drink notes of fresh squeezed navel orange juice and cherry coke.
Ren Betten – Perc Coffee – Atlanta, GA
Please welcome to the stage Ren Betten from Perc Coffee in the ATL. Bettes is competing today with a natural processed, anaerobic fermented coffee grown at 2,200MASL in Ethiopia’s Guji Zone. Beginning their routine with the espresso course, the Guji gets pulled at a 1:3 ratio in 29 seconds for notes of raspberry and Sprite, with lingering dark chocolate finish, light body, and tea-like texture.
The base of Betten’s milk course is a 9:1 ratio of whole milk to freeze-distilled milk, and when combined with the Guji spro has notes of caramel, shortcake, and blueberry. Moving now to their sig bev, Betten’s drink includes peach nectar, brown butter syrup, and espresso, all twice infused with nitrogen and finished with a pink Himalayan sea salt saline spritz, imparting flavors of Swiss Miss hot chocolate, crème bruele, apricot, and strawberry frosting.
Cory Sponsler – The Coffee Movement – San Francisco, CA
The first of two competitors from San Fran’s The Coffee Movement is Cory Sponsler. He is using a carbonic macerated natural processed Green Tip Gesha produced by Jamison Savage at Finca Deborah in Volcán, Panama. At a 19g to 45g ratio pulled in 25 seconds, the Green Tip Gesha has notes of juicy passionfruit, papaya, tannic red wine, bergamot citrus, and a creamy 65% dark chocolate finish.
For the milk course, Sponsler updoses just a touch, to 20g in for 45g out in a longer total time of 28 seconds. His milk is a 1:3 ratio of fresh cream top milk to freeze-distilled lactose free milk that he finishes with a toasted freeze dried non-fat milk powder. In a 3:1 blend with the Gesha, it has flavors of melted Cherry Garcia ice cream, brown butter toffee, and a nostalgic chocolate malt Ovaltine. Sponsler’s signature beverage was inspired by many of the wine techniques Savage uses to produce the coffees on his farm. It includes a pineapples and blueberries fermented with a strawberry probiotic yogurt in a nitrogenated environment, lemongrass tonic water, Gesha filter coffee, and Gesha espresso, all aerated to incorporate. It has a fresh mint aroma up front, followed by notes of juicy blackberry, sangria, and a purple violet florality.
Gray Kauffman – Seattle, WA
Now up is Gray Kauffman, an independent competitor from Seattle, Washington. A seasoned competitor, Kauffman is here today with an anaerobic fermented Gesha grown at 1,700MASL from La Palma y El Tucan in Colombia. Pulled at 17.5g in to 46 out over frozen spheres, Kauffman’s La Palma Gesha has notes of lily, candied lemon, and rainier cherry with an oolong tea finish.
The milk course, which Kauffman says “tastes like milk tea,” combines lactose-free whole milk and coconut milk, and when steamed to 140F has notes of wildflower honey, sweet cream, and white chocolate. Finishing off with the sig bev, Kauffman mixes chilled espresso with lacto-fermend blood orange juice, guava panela reduction, and cold brewed oolong tea, topped with a jasmine and mandarin orange peel aromatic fog for flavors of lychee, yuzu, and orange blossom.
Jak Ryan – Proud Mary Coffee – Austin, TX
Our next competitor, like the company he competes for, comes to us from Australia via Austin. It’s Jak Ryan of Proud Mary Coffee! Ryan today uses a Gesha variety coffee known as Toña, grown at 1,750MASL in Panama at Mama Cata by the Garrido family. Incorporated into a milk freeze-distilled to 50% of its original volume, the Mata Cata Gesha has notes of malt biscuit (or cookie for the non-Antipodeans), raw cashew, and panela sugar. On its own as an espresso, Ryan’s Gesha tastes of strawberry, bergamot, and blackberry, with a slippery texture and malt chocolate finish.
Finishing off with signature beverage, Ryan is taking inspiration from a multi-sensory approach to dialing in espressos in a cafe setting. He steeps cedar in freeze-distilled milk, combining it with a steam-distilled blueberry reduction-but-not-a-reduction and aerating it and serving it over a cedar plank spritzed with hydrol, giving the beverage flavors of banana cream, candied ginger, and blackberry.
Jamie Patel – Counter Culture Coffee – Durham, NC
We’ve got another hometown favorite up to the stage now, here’s Jamie Patel of Counter Culture in Durham. Patel competes with a Gesha from the famed Finca Nuguo in Chiriqui, Panama, which is apropos of where the USBC is being held, as both Black & White Coffee cofounders—Lem Butler and Kyle Ramage—won the USBC using coffee from this farm. The Green Tip Gesha is grown at 1,800MASL by Jose Gallardo and has flavors of black tea, sweet lime, and jasmine, with a long floral finish when pulled at a ratio of 20g to 45g.
For the milk course, Patel uses a 2:1 ratio of freeze distilled lactose free milk to coconut milk that, when added to the Green Tip Gesha, has notes of lemon curd, shortbread cookie, and butter toffee. Finishing off with the sig bev, Patel combines gardenia tea, clarified milk, and a meyer lemon oleo saccharum top create new flavors in the Finca Nuguo espresso of white flower bouquet and pineapple cream soda.
Circle Chan – The Coffee Movement – San Francisco, CA
We’re almost two-thirds of the way done with Round One, where did the day go? But that seems like a good of a time as any for our first blend of the competition. And that’s what The Coffee Movement’s Circle Chan competes with today. But this is no ordinary blend. It’s a mix of 25% champagne natural processed Kona Gesha and 75% “traditional” washed Gesha from Volcan, Panama. (Isn’t it wild that here in 2025 Geshas are so ubiquitous that a washed Panama Gesha can be called “traditional” and be totally right? Wild doesn’t begin to describe it.)
As an espresso pulled at 21g in and 50g out in 25 second and stirred with frozen spoons, it has notes of apricot, peach, lemon candy, and a jasmine blossom finish. In the milk course, Chan uses a blend of 85% cream-top milk freeze-distilled to 50% by weight and 15% macadamia nut milk, finished with a coconut milk powder, that in a 2:1 ratio with the Gesha blend has notes of haupia (a Hawaiian coconut pudding), nougat candy, and rice pudding.
For her sig bev, Chan incorporates lactose syrup, coconut water, and passionfruit puree that gets served with a sidecar beverage that includes baking soda such that when the two are combined, the drink carbonates. Her sig bev has notes of cream soda, guava jelly, strawberry yogurt, and salted caramel. Chan finishes her routine by presenting each of the judges with a lei.
Christian Gutierrez – Moongoat Coffee Roasters – Costa Mesa, CA
Now to the stage is Christian Gutierrez, one of the rookie competitors at the 2025 USBC. Gutierrez competes todays with an anaerobic fermented Bourbon-Sidra from Colombia. As an espresso, it has a galactose sweetness like that of lactose free milk with a raspberry acidity, blood orange bitterness, and a lilac finish. For his milk course, Gutierrez, blends freeze-distilled lactose free milk to A2 whole milk in a 2:3 ratio for notes of yogurt candy and chocolate mousse.
For his cafe de olla-inspired sig bev, unrefined brown sugar syrup and cinnamon and star anise simple syrup get added to a 90/10 mix of A2 and freeze-distilled milks from the prior course, which all get steamed together and combined with the Bourbon-Sidra for notes of caramel and licorice.
Olivia Morris – Little Bear Coffee – Albuquerque, NM
Now up to the stage is Olivia Morris of Little Bear Coffee in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and we’ll have to check the tape, but Morris may just be the first USBC competitor to represent New Mexico. Definitely one of the first. They compete today with a triple-washed anaerobic Tabi variety coffee grown between 1,600 and 1,700MASL at Bellavista in the Caldas region of Colombia. Pulled at 18.5g in to 40g out, the Tabi has notes of rainier cherry, nougat, papaya, and lemon zest, with a juicy and mouthwatering finish.
In a 1:4 ratio milk drink made with a blend of freeze-distilled lactose free whole milk and freeze-distilled Minor Figures oat milk, Morris’s Tabi spro has notes of melted vanilla ice cream, salted caramel, and white chocolate. Finishing up with the sig bev, Morris combines macerated raspberry syrup, clarified lactose free whole milk, espresso, and a sous vide Tabi and lemon peel infusion, all topped with a white tea foam to created notes of guava, blueberry, pineapple juice, peony, and a white rose aroma.
Isaiah Sheese – Archetype Coffee – Omaha, NE
Next up is the 2023 US Barista Champion himself (and 4th place finisher at the 2023 WBC) Isaiah Sheese of Archetype Coffee. During his winning run, Sheese wore lots of pink, had an all pink routine, and even used a Pink Bourbon. Today he’s trending purple, and I swear to you, if he uses a Purple Bourbon, I’M. GOING. TO. SCREAM.
Sheese is the first competitor today to start with the sig bev, which he uses an “advance processed” Ombligon coffee from Colombia. Last year’s winner Frank La used Ombligon in his routine, and would you like to proffer a guess as to who one of his coaches was? To the Ombligon he adds orange juice, demerara simple syrup, milk, and egg white powder, all blended and garnished with freeze-dried raspberries for notes of blood orange, creamsicle, fruity pebbles, and chocolate covered cherries.
For the milk course, Sheese creates a 65/35 blend of cryodesiccated milk of Gurnsey cows, who produce a higher fat content milk, and a Barista Series coconut milk that creates notes of strawberry, milk chocolate, and creamy butterscotch. Finishing his routine with the espresso course, Sheese switches to a 50/50 blend of Ombligon and a washed Pink Bourbon produced by Lucy Galindez at Finca Bellavista in Huila, Colombia. It has notes of tart raspberry, rose florality, and a 70% dark chocolate finish.
Journey Smothers – Mostra Coffee – San Diego, CA
Now to the stage is Journey Smothers of Mostra Coffee. Smothers brings with her a natural processed Gesha grown at 1,800MASL in Panama. Her espressos are on the longer end, at a 3:1 ratio, and when pulled over frozen spheres have notes of jasmine, cherry, and almond.
For the milk beverage, Smothers switches gears and goes for a 1:1 ratio pull. When combined with a 1:1:2 blend of 2% milk from grass-fed cows, organic half and half, and lactose-free milk, the Gesha has notes of strawberry yogurt, cashew, and butterscotch. Is this enough half and half to consider it a breve? A little baby breve? I’m here for it.
For the sig bev, Smothers incorporates roasted and pureed pineapple, honeycomb syrup, sodium bicarb, and a cold steeped milk and green tea, all finished with a dusting of toasted ground ginger that give her beverage flavors of Thai tea, vanilla, and black cherry.
Jake McFarland – Black & White Coffee – Raleigh, NC
A crowd has gathered, so that must mean it’s time for Black & White’s own Jake McFarland to take the stage. McFarland’s coffee today is yeast-inoculated, thermal-shocked natural processed Pacamara variety from Bruselas, Colombia. Pulled over frozen spheres, the Pacamara espresso has notes of juicy cherry, cara cara orange, lilac, and single origin dark chocolate. As a milk beverage, it transforms into cooked cherry, marzipan, single origin dark chocolate, which McFarland says combines to taste something like a cherry cordial.
For the sig bev course, McFarland hyper-chills the Pacamara and adds it to pineapple juice, coconut cream, and isoamyl acetate, presenting flavors of strawberry, marshmallow, coconut icing, bruleed banana, and single origin dark chocolate.
Brooks Berdeen – Union Coffee Greensboro – Greensboro, NC
Up now is Brooks Berdeen of Union Coffee just down the road in Greensboro, NC. Using an aerobic fermented Sakura Sidra produced by Julio Madrid and processed by Julio Quinceno in Colombia, and roasted by Black & White. As an espresso pulled at 19.2g in and 42g out in 25 seconds, it has notes of white florals, lychee, orange, and chocolate. In a 1:3 ratio milk drink using freeze-distilled lactose-free milk, it has notes of rose, sweet vanilla, and chocolate
For the sig bev, Berdeen hyper-chills his Sakura Sidra and combines it with hibiscus tea, mango juice, rice milk, and compressed coconut water. They all get a nitrogen infusion, giving them flavors of jasmine tea, guava, and sweet cream in this dessert-like drink.
Franklin Tigreros – Elixr Coffee Roasters – Philadelphia, PA
It’s already here, can you believe it? The last competitor of the Round One of the 2025 US Barista Championship. Please welcome to the stage Franklin Tigreros of Elixr Coffee in Philadelphia. Tigreros competes today using a natural processed Gesha produced at 2,000MASL on Hacienda La Papaya high up in the Ecuadorian Andes. Starting off with the espressos, the Gesha has notes of apricot, fresh raspberries, and panela.
Moving to the milk course, Tigreros aims for a dessert-like drink with a blend of freeze-distilled and lactose-free milks. In his two-ounce drink, there are flavors of blueberry muffin, tiramisu, and a lingering note of shortbread cookies. For our last sig bev of the day, Tigreros delivers what he calls similar to an orange creamsicle. He combines red grapefruit, coconut syrup, condense coconut milk, and salt for a beverage that tastes like orange, lime, and sweet cream.
That’s a rap on today’s competition! Thanks for tuning in and come back tomorrow as we bring you more live coverage of the 2025 US Barista Championship!
Sprudge’s coverage of the 2025 US Barista Championship in Raleigh, North Carolina is presented in by La Marzocco and Pacific Barista Series.
