Welcome, welcome, welcome to Day One of Round One for the 2026 US Barista Championship. We are here at Huckleberry Roasters HQ in Denver, Colorado to bring you live coverage of every competitor taking the stage today. Sixteen. That’s the number of routines we’ll see today, and a whopping six of them come from former Finalists. One of whom, San Schroeder, is also a Coffee in Good Spirits Champion. If it feels like it’s a stacked day, it’s because it is (except spoiler alert: tomorrow is the exact same).
And we’re here for the whole thing, to bring you the sights and sounds and all those mind-bending flavor calls. We’ll be updating this very article you are reading with the informational deep dives on each routine as they happen, so make sure your finger is glued to that refresh button. It’s going to be an exciting year for the US Barista Championship, and it all starts here. Here we go!
Sprudge Media’s coverage of the 2026 US Barista Championship is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, Ghirardelli, Swiss Water, Cafe Imports, La Marzocco, and Huckleberry Roasters.
Livestream the 2026 US Barista Championship on YouTube hosted by event sponsor Roastronix.
Circle Chan (she/her) – The Coffee Movement – San Francisco, CA
Kicking things off at the 2026 US Barista Championship is Circle Chan of The Coffee Movement in San Francisco. Chan is looking to improve upon last year, where her incredible Hawaii-focused routine took her all the way to the Finals, finishing in fourth place, in her first year of competing no less.
This year Chan competes with a Gesha variety coffee produced by Diego Bermudez at Finca El Paraiso in Colombia. The coffee, which has been roasted by Berkeley’s Hydrangea Coffee Roasters, whose Ashlynne Wike took second at this year’s Brewers Cup, was created by yeast-inoculating overripe Gesha cherries then thermal shock processing them.
Starting with the milk course, in a 1:3 ratio with a blend of 70% lactose-free whole milk, 29.5% evaporate milk, and .5% non-fat milk powder to enhance the perception of sweetness, the Salma Gesha has flavors of black milk tea, vanilla custard, and wildflower honey.
The signature beverage course is a tribute to Chan’s grandfather, particularly their time at Giants baseball games together. It’s going full Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks, combining espresso with toasted corn stock, clarified mango puree, and maple orange blossom syrup. It gets blended with ice to chill and dilute for notes of sesame cookie, peanut butter, grape jelly, orange creamsicle, and mango lassi.
Chan ends her set with espressos. Stirred at least 10 times, to be consumed after time is called, they have flavors of mango, dulce de leche, and elderflower, with a medium weight, creamy texture, and a lingering mango finish.
Circle Chan closes out the first routine of the 2026 US Barista Championship by calling time at 15:49.
Sam Schroeder (he/him) – Olympia Coffee – Seattle, WA
“Elevate, amplify, preserve. Three pillars in the pursuit for clarity.” That’s the way 2023 US Coffee in Good Spirits and multi-time USBC Finalist Sam Schroeder kicks off his routine. Schroeder competes today with a Gesha produced by Maria Amoruso of Finca Lérida in Boquete, Panama. Unlike Chan’s coffee, these cherries were picked just before the peak of ripeness, then undergoing a five-day cold room anaerobic fermentation.
Pulled at a longer 19g in to 50g out, as an espresso the Panama Gesha has notes of apricot, jasmine tea, and lemongrass, with a medium-light weight, silky body, and a lingering finish. Schroeder removes the crema from his espressos using the Better Vessel, created by Philippines Barista Champion Michael Harris, who used the device to post top marks in the espresso course at last year’s World Barista Championship.
For the milk course, Amoruso’s Gesha undergoes an extended roast time, to elevate the floral and stonefruit characteristics, and when combined with a 50/50 blend of lactose-free 2% milk and grassfed whole milk—freeze-distilled to 50% of the total weight—the flavors transform to those of honey and canned peaches.
Ending with the sig bev, Schroeder combines a cacao nib and lemongrass tea, whey, anaerobic fermented peach and plum syrup, and carbonated water, finished with a floral lemongrass atomized mist, to give the Gesha notes of oolong, semi-sweet chocolate aftertaste, and guava.
And Olympia Coffee’s Sam Schroeder calls time at 15:02.
Cole Oppedisano (he/him) – Corvus Coffee – Denver, CO
Following two former Finalists, we’re moving on to our first first-timer of the competition with Cole Oppedisano. He’s also the first local, representing Denver’s Corvus Coffee Roasters. More firsts accrue, as Oppedisano is the first to use multiple coffees over the duration of his routine.
Not to belabor the point, but he is also the first (and most likely only) competitor this weekend who made his own ceramics, at the nearby Kinship Studio.
For the first course, the milk beverages, Oppedisano is using a Mejorado variety from the esteemed Juan Peña of Finca La Papaya in Ecuador. In a 1:1 ratio with whole milk, the macchiato-style drink has flavors of lemon cream pie, sweet marzipan, and a dark chocolate finish.
Moving onto the espressos, Oppedisano switches the Enigma, an extended natural processed, carbonically macerated Gesha produced by Jameson Savage on Panama’s Finca Deborah, expressing notes of sweet concord grape, smooth blackberry juice, and pear brandy, with a soft effervescence and velvety mouthfeel.
Sticking with the Enigma, Oppedisano combines chamomile clarified tea, honey simple syrup, lemon oleo saccharum, aquafaba, and soy lectin, finishing with orange blossom spritz and a candied lemon peel. It presents in the cup (read: glass stemware not created by Oppedisano) with floral notes, blueberry lemon bar, and a milk chocolate finish. Cole Oppedisano calls times at 15:23.
Will Shadley (he/him) – Mandarin Coffee – Los Angeles, CA
Next up to the stage is Will Shadley of Mandarin Coffee in Los Angeles, California. Shadley may be a rookie, but he has teamed up with Jaymie Lao, who coached 2024 US Barista Champion Frank La, 2025 US Coffee in Good Spirits Champion Jerry Troung, 2026 US Latte Art Champion Marco Monzon, and 2025 Brewers Cup Runner-Up Christian Bak. All of which to say, if you’re trying to spot the first-time competitor that comes seemingly out of nowhere to make a deep run, smart money is on Shadley.
For the milk course, Shadley is using a natural processed ET47 variety coffee produced by Jonny Alvarado at La Cusuka and the in Costa Rica. His milk is a 2% milk that has been freeze distilled down to 50% by weight. Shadley chose this lower fat milk for its higher sodium content, which gets concentrated even more in the freeze distilling process. It gets finished up a touch of whole and coconut milk, and combines with a shorter shot of the natural ET47 for notes of warm sake, white miso, and cheesecake, with a lingering golden kiwi finish.
Moving on to the espresso course, Shadley switches the coffee to a washed Gesha from Marlene Rojas at Finca El Nevado in Inkawasi, Cusco, Peru. It expresses a blackberry acidity, with notes of peach, red plum, and pomelo, and a light, silky tactile. In the signature beverage, the same Gesha espresso gets combined with turbinado oleo sacchrum, agave peppercorn syrup, Yunnan white tea, and agar clarified pine honey, all nitrogen charged for flavors of cola, paloma, osmanthus, and butterscotch.
Will Shadley of Mandarin Coffee calls time at 15:11.
We’ll be updating this article with more routines as they happen, so stay tuned!
