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.
Check out The Coffee Sprudgecast on iTunes or download the episode here. The Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Oxo, Urnex Brands, Hario, and Swiss Water Decaf.
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 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.
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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 partner of US Coffee Championships.
Follow @SprudgeLive on Twitter and never miss a moment from the shows, and cruise over to SprudgeLive.com to read routine recaps, enjoy dynamic full-color photos, and check in on all the advancing competitors from Denver.
2019 Sprudge Live coverage is produced by Zac Cadwalader. Our lead photographer is Charlie Burt. Multimedia direction by Elizabeth Chai.
See y’all in Nashville!
