It wasn’t but two weeks ago that the US Coffee Championships were in Durham, North Carolina to host three national competitions: the US Brewers Cup, US Coffee in Good Spirits, and US Latte Art Championship. And this weekend, the USCC returns to nearby Raleigh for one more event, the 2025 US Barista Championship.
The crown jewel of the US competition circuit, the Barista Championship has historically been the most-watched, talked-about, and buzzed-over even of the six USCC disciplines. And as Sprudge so often does, we’ll have boots on the ground at the Black & White Coffee roasting HQ space to bring you the sights and sounds for all three days of USBC action.
It all gets started this Friday, March 7th with Round One, which will pit 19 coffee professionals in a caffeinated battle for one of the six available spots in the Semi-Final round—nine from each Regional as well as the return of 2023 USBC champion Isaiah Sheese. There, they will face off with the six competitors who placed in the top three at the two regionals—Jason Yeo, Dakota Graff, Miranda Huncovsky, Kay Cheon, Hugo Cano, and Seidy Selivanow—in hopes of making it to the final six. And if you can make it to Sunday, it’s anybody’s game.
But before they get there, they have to make it past Friday, which is no small task. So let’s take a look at the schedule of competitors for Round One of the 2025 US Barista Championship.
Round One, Friday, March 7th
11:20am Truc Ngo (she/her) – Boxx Coffee Roasters – Los Angeles, CA
11:40am Christian Ortega (he/him) – Olympia Coffee Roasters – Seattle, WA
12:00pm Wenbo Yang (he/him) – Seattle, WA
12:20pm Rafael Levy Diner (he/him) – Onyx Coffee Lab – Rogers, AR
12:40pm Noel Goodwin (she/her) – Hagen Coffee Roasters – Seattle, WA
1:00pm Tyler Montague (he/him) – Brew Coffee Bar – Raleigh, NC
1:20pm Ren Betten (they/them) – Perc Coffee – Atlanta, GA
1:40pm Cory Sponsler (he/him) – The Coffee Movement – San Francisco, CA
2:00pm Gray Kaufman (they/them) – Seattle, WA
2:20pm Jak Ryan (he/him) – Proud Mary Coffee – Austin, TX
2:40pm Jamie Patel (he/him) – Counter Culture Coffee – Durham, NC
3:00pm Circle Chan (she/her) – The Coffee Movement – San Francisco, CA
3:20pm Christian Gutierrez (he/him) – Moongoat Coffee Roasters – Costa Mesa, CA
3:40pm Olivia Morris (they/them) – Little Bear Coffee – Albuquerque, NM
4:00pm Isaiah Sheese (he/him) – Archetype Coffee – Omaha, NE
4:20pm Journey Smothers (she/her) – Mostra Coffee – San Diego, CA
4:40pm Jake McFarland (he/him) – Black & White Coffee – Raleigh, NC
5:00pm Brooks Berdeen (he/him) – Union Coffee Greensboro – Greensboro, NC
5:20pm Franklin Tigreros (he/him) – Elixr Coffee Roasters – Philadelphia, PA
Stay tuned into Sprudge all weekend long to stay up to date on all the USBC action as it happens! Let’s go!
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
