The United States Barista Championship has completed two of its qualifying rounds, with just one left to go. The final qualifier happens at the Big Western Barista Competition, coming up on February 17th-19th in Los Angeles, hosted by the Wilbur Curtis Company and Portola Coffee Lab. Sprudge.com will be live on site to cover this event as Official Media Partners of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. But before that coverage begins, right now we’ve got a clearer picture of who’ll be competing at nationals later this year.

The following 24 baristas have qualified to compete at the 2014 United States Barista Championship, held this coming April in Seattle, Washington. Of those 24 competitors, 8 have earned themselves a first-round bye at nationals by placing either first or second in their respective regions – we’ll mark them below with a classic asterisk.

First place finishers have also earned a free trip to Ecuador, courtesy of Cafe Imports. Let’s check out the field so far.

All photos by Charlie Burt for Sprudge.com.

Three days of competition by baristas from across the Central Time Zone, from Houston to Milwaukee and all points between. The weekend produced twelve United States Barista Championship finalists – six per region.

This event happened October 25th-27th 2013, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was hosted by Cafe Imports and the Wilbur Curtis Company. Sprudge.com’s coverage of this event was made possible by direct support from Nuova Simonelli, Cafe Imports, and Wilbur Curtis Co.

(Relive our complete coverage from the 2014 Big Central Regional Barista Competition.)

* First Place: Josh Wismans / Colectivo Coffee Roasters, Milwaukee, Wisconsin / @joshwismans @ColectivoCoffee

* Second Place: Brenna Kail / Intelligentsia Coffee, Chicago / @Intelligentsia

Third Place: Josh Taves / Dogwood Coffee Co., Minneapolis / @coffeeuphigh @DogwoodCoffee

Fourth Place: Talya Strader / Bow Truss Coffee Roasters, Chicago / @BowTruss @TalyaStrader

Fifth Place: Sam Brown / Stone Creek Coffee Roasters, Milwaukee / @stonecreekcoffe

Sixth Place: Andrew Grassmick / Madcap Coffee Co., Grand Rapids, MI / @angentpilgrim @madcapcoffee

 

* First Place: Tyler Rovenstine / Oddly Correct Coffee Roasters, Kansas City / @oddlycorrect @TRovenstine

* Second Place: David Fasman / Kaldi’s Coffee, St. Louis / @Kaldis_Coffee @DavidFasman

Third Place: Patrick Burns / Palace Coffee Company, Canyon, TX / @palacecoffee

Fourth Place: Mike Marquard / Blueprint Coffee, St. Louis /  @BlueprintCoffee @mikenorth

Fifth Place: David Buehrer / Blacksmith, Houston / @Bl4cksmith @greenwaybarista

Sixth Place: Nora Brady / Blueprint Coffee, St. Louis / @BlueprintCoffee @snackpackbrady

Three days of competition by baristas from across the Eastern Time Zone, from Boston to Miami. The event crowned twelve United States Barista Championship finalists – six per region.

This event happened January 17th-19th 2014, in Durham, North Carolina, and was hosted by Counter Culture Coffee and Dallis Bros. Coffee. Sprudge.com’s coverage of this event was made possible by direct support from Nuova Simonelli, Dallis Bros. Coffee, and Counter Culture Coffee.

(Relive our complete coverage from 2014 Big Eastern Regional Barista Competition.)

* First Place: J. Park Brannen / Counter Culture Coffee, NYC /  @counter_culture @jparkbrannen

* Second Place: Erika Vonie / Ultimo Coffee, Philadelphia / @ultimocoffee @OkAn_EerieEvil 

Third Place: Corey Reilly / Everyman Espresso, Manhattan / @everymanny @Cor_Rei

Fourth Place: Joshua Littlefield / Intelligentsia Coffee, NYC / @Intelligentsia @IntelliNYC @littlejfield

Fifth Place: Hadassah Wilson / Square One Coffee, Lancaster, PA / @squareonecoffee @hadassahedith

Sixth Place: Tamara Vigil / Irving Farm Coffee Roasters, NYC / @IrvingFarm

* First Place: Camila Ramos / Panther Coffee, Miami / @panthercoffee @milamos

* Second Place: Trevor Corlett / Madcap Coffee Co., Washington, DC  / @MadcapCoffee @tjorlet

Third Place: Dawn Shanks / Independent, Washington, DC / @DawnShanks

Fourth Place: Tim Jones / Jubala Coffee, Raleigh, NC /  @JubalaCoffee @TimmJones

Fifth Place: Michael Butterworth / Quills Coffee, Louisville, KY / @QuillsCoffee @mjbutterworth

Sixth Place: Nathan Nerswick / 5 & 10, Athens, GA / @fiveandten @nateners

Sprudge.com’s official coverage of the 2014 United States Barista Championship season continues this weekend in Los Angeles, at the Big Western Regional Barista Competition. Event details and schedules coming soon. A sincere thank you to our regional and national sponsors for this year’s coverage – your support makes our work possible.