Now is when thing start to get interesting. After two days of Round One action, the field has been winnowed down to 18 for the Semi-Finals of the 2026 US Barista Championship. Welcome to Sprudge’s live coverage of the 2026 US Barista Championship in Denver, where we will be taking a deeper look at all 18 competitor’s routines today.
Saturday is the turn in the weekend. It’s where things really start to get serious. For some, making Semi-Finals Saturday is the goal; it’s the first major milestone in a competitive barista career and indeed we have a few competitors today that are making that very leap. But, unfortunately for them, the vast majority of the roster today has already been here, if not further. (Before the Semi-Finalists were announced, we were correctly able to identify 13 “locks”, folks whose past successes made them seem like shoo-ins to make the first cut.)
So not only has the field become more competitive but the number of spots at stake has dropped significantly. Just six will make it on to tomorrow’s Finals round. Six. To put that into perspective, nine of today’s competitors have already made it to the Finals in the past (10 if you count Seidy Selivanow’s narrow Finals miss last year). That means there will be at least three Finalists who won’t back it back this season. There are no gimmes. Even the vets are going to have to bring it if they want any hope of advancing.
Thus it’s a big day, and we’re stoked to be here all day to bring you up-to-the-minute recaps of all the barista magic that’s going to take place today. Get ready, because things are about to get serious.
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.
Meg Skop (she/her) – The Coffee Movement – San Francisco, CA
Semi-Finals are starting off with a bang. Coming to the stage now is 2024 USBC Sixth Place Finisher Meg Skop of The Coffee Movement in San Francisco, California.
“What would our industry’s version of utopia look like?” That’s the question Skop intends to answer over the course of the next 15 minutes. And the first piece of that puzzle is collaboration. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” It starts with the coffee.
Skop is using a blend today, 90% consisting of a Gesha variety produced by Diego Bermudez while the remaining 10%, a Pink Bourbon, comes from Wilton Benitez, Bermudez’s Cauca, Colombia neighbor. After letting the judges inspect the crema, Skop vacuum-seals and blends the espressos to remove the CO2 before serving, giving them notes of juicy peach, yellow mango, and a black tea finish.
The vacuum-blending continues into the milk course, where Skop’s non-homogenized 95/5 mix of A2 cream-top whole milk and freeze-dried milk gets the vacuum treatment, creating new notes of nougat, melted vanilla ice cream, and a buttery peach Danish.
It’s all vacuum-blended everything for Skop, including the final course, the signature beverage. Jasmine flower and coconut milk, mango olea saccharum, pineapple mango mosto juice, red chili olive oil, and espresso all get emulsified and served at an ambient temperature for flavors of cherry blossom, lime zest, cherry limeade, marzipan, lemon candy, and a warming habanero finish.
Meg Skop calls time at 15:01.
Olivia Morris (they/them) – Little Bear Coffee – Albuquerque, NM
Now to the stage is Olivia Morris of Little Bear Coffee in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is Morris’s second time making the Semi-Finals, following their 2022 performance, as an independent competitor at that.
They compete today with a first-harvest washed Gesha produced by Jhonatan Gasca Zarza at Finca Bella Vista in Cauca, Colombia. Starting off with the signature beverage, Morris combines the Gesha with a coffee lemon peel infusion, chamomile hop water tea, and, peach oleo saccharum, all of which they stir over ice and finish with a lavender sprig. Together, they possess flavors of candied orange, and pink guava, and watermelon, with blueberry aromatics.
In milk, a 50/50 blend of freeze-distilled lactose-free milk and Minor Figures oat milk, those flavors change to candied praline, salted caramel, and white chocolate. In both courses thus far, Morris has modified their flavor calls from their Round One performance. You love to see it.
Finally, the espressos. Morris’s first-harvest Gesha concludes the set with notes of of limoncello, silver needle white tea, light florals, and dried apricot.
And Olivia Morris calls time at 14:04.
Jake McFarland (he/him) – Black & White Coffee – Raleigh, NC
“Living for others is a rule of nature.” The words of Pope Francis will be the focal point of Jake McFarland’s routine today. That phrase will also serve as the judges’ cues to drink the beverages McFarland offers them.
He competes today with a 50/50 blend from two esteemed producers, Benjamin Paz and Edinson Argote. Paz’s washed Gesha from Santa Barabara, Honduras combines with Argote’s advanced processed yeast inoculated thermal shock processed Gesha from Huila, Colombia that, as an espresso pulled at 20g in to 45g out, has notes of sweet lemon, lavender, and mango. Judge are instructed to swirl the cup five times and then take in the aroma before each sip.
Living for others is a rule of nature.
Moving onto the milk course, McFarland is relying on actual milk scientists at NC State and is using a cryo-skim milk reconstituted in lactose-free milk, changing those double-Gesha espresso notes to those of wildflower honey, lavender, and vanilla ice cream.
The signature beverage course is inspired by a New England IPA, specifically the experience of sharing a cold one with good friends, as McFarland has done with Argote and Paz. To recreate this, he adds hyperchilled espresso to mosaic hop water and honey simple syrup, all of which get nitrogen emulsified for flavors of pineapple, green grape, and orange blossom florality.
Jake McFarland of Black & White Coffee calls time at 14:31.
Ziah Bloom (he/him) – Lamppost Coffee – Austin, TX
Our next competitor here in the Semi-Finals is Ziah Bloom of Lamppost Coffee in Austin, Texas. This may be Bloom’s first time at the USBC, but don’t be fooled, the former actor is also the Runner-Up from this year’s US Latte Art Championship. Dude knows how to perform under pressure.
Coffee today for Bloom (great coffee name, btw), a Black Honey thermal shock processed Gesha variety produced by Edwin Noreña 1,800MASL up at Campo Hermoso in Quindio, Colombia. When combined with a 70/20/10 blend of freeze-distilled lactose-free milk, oat milk, and macadamia nut milk, it has notes of brown butter, Neapolitan ice cream, and honeycomb.
This thermal shocked Black Honey Gesha, as an espresso, has a floral sweetness, wine-like acidity, and syrupy body with flavors of grape candy, lemon rind, black tea, and coconut sugar.
“Raw, intentional, and completely exposed,” the voice of this coffee is seen most plainly as an espresso, Bloom tells the judges.
A clarified cascara, cardamom, and yuzu syrup, champagne yeast fermented honey tea, and fresh red grape juice all get added to hyperchilled espressos, nitrogen infused, and finished with a lemon oil spritz. Served in long-stem glassware and lightly swirled before tasting, Blooms signature beverage has notes chamomile tea, caramel, apricot jam, and grapefruit juice.
Ziah Bloom of Lamppost Coffee calls time at 14:50. That’s only one second different than his Round One performance, without his own music, just in case you were wondering.
Cole Oppedisano (he/him) – Corvus Coffee – Denver, CO
The action doesn’t stop and neither does our coverage. Up now is the hometown hope, Cole Oppedisano of Corvus Coffee Roasters right here in Denver, Colorado. Oppedisano is using coffees from two producers Corvus has a close working relationship with, Juan Peña of Hacienda La Papaya in Ecuador and Jameson Savage of Finca Deborah in Panama.
Starting with the milk course, he is using a Mejorado variety from La Papaya that, when added in a 1:1 ratio with whole milk, has notes of lemon cream pie, malted vanilla shake, and a milk chocolate finish.
Like with last round, the ceramics in his milk service Oppedisano made himself. Meanwhile his soundtrack consists of a band he helped record. Oppedisano’s fingerprints are all over every part of this routine.
For the espressos, Oppedisano switches over to Panama, to Finca Deborah’s Enigma, an extended natural processed, carbonically macerated, Gesha producing notes of sweet concord grape, smooth blackberry juice, and pear brandy, with a soft effervescence and velvety mouthfeel.
The signature beverage looks to play on the Enigma’s inherent boozy characteristics that will serve as the basis for his high-end mocktail. Hyperchilled Gesha, chamomile clarified tea, honey simple syrup, lemon oleo saccharum, aquafaba, and soy lectin are combined and finished with an orange blossom spritz and a candied lemon peel, creating flavors of sweet concord grape, smooth blackberry juice, and pear brandy, with a soft effervescence and velvety mouthfeel.
Cole Oppedisano calls times at 14:45. He went over time by 23 seconds in Round One and still made it to Semi-Finals, so you have to imagine he’ll be happy with today’s routine.
Circle Chan (she/her) – The Coffee Movement – San Francisco, CA
Due up next is 2025 USBC fifth place finisher Circle Chan. Chan is the second competitor today to represent The Coffee Movement in San Francisco, following another former Finalist in Meg Skop. In just her second year competing, Chan is already putting together some memorable performances. This one draws inspiration from moments spent with her grandfather.
She competes with a Gesha variety coffee produced by Diego Bermudez at Finca El Paraiso in Colombia. Named after his middle daughter Salma, Bermudez yeast-inoculated overripe Gesha cherries then thermal shocked them. The Salma Gesha Chan uses today was roasted by Hydrangea Coffee Roasters.
Combined with a 1:3 ratio with a blend of 70% lactose-free whole milk, 29.5% evaporate milk, and .5% non-fat milk powder, the Salma Gesha expresses flavors of black milk tea, vanilla pudding, and wildflower honey.
The signature beverage today for Chan is inspired by ballpark snacks she and her grandfather would get while attending Giants games, peanuts and cracker jacks in particular. For it, she incorporates toasted corn stock, clarified mango puree, and maple orange blossom syrup with Salma espresso, all blended with ice to chill and dilute some of the drink’s inherent sweetness, opening up flavors of sesame cookie, peanut butter, grape jelly, orange creamsicle, and mango lassi.
Last up is the espresso course. Pulled at 20g in to 45g out, stirred at least 10 times, and consumed once she called time, Chan’s Salma espressos have notes of mango, dulce de leche, and elderflower, with a medium weight, creamy texture, and a lingering mango finish.
And Circle Chan calls time at 14:35, over a full minute faster than yesterday’s 15:49. The screws are getting tightened on these Semi-Finals routines, and that’s a quick 49 extra points Chan just earned back.
Christian Ortega (he/him) – Olympia Coffee – Seattle, WA
Our next competitor is Christian Ortega of Olympia Coffee in Seattle, Washington. Ortega’s theme today is about moments and memories and the way we process them, with each course representing a different aspect.
He competes with a carbonically macerated, white honey processed Gesha produced by Sebatian Ramirez of Finca El Placer in Quindio, Colombia.
The first course, the espressos, are all about encoding, or the initial processing of a moment. Pulled into frozen cups to preserve volatile aromatic compounds, Ortega’s Gesha espressos have notes of bergamot, meyer lemon, and apricot, with a medium weight and silky texture.
For the milk course, the theme is stabilization, or when the moment sticks and becomes memory. For this, Ortega uses a blend of 64% freeze-distilled lactose free milk, 35% freeze distilled oat milk, and 1% cryo coconut powder, giving the drink notes of coconut, candied macadamia nuts, and cereal milk.
Lastly, retrieval, when a moment comes back. As a signature beverage, Ortega expresses this idea by using the Gesha pulled to the same specs as the first course, mixed with peach hibiscus tea concentrate, honey syrup, and a clarified Froot Loop milk tincture, all hyperchilled and nitrogenated for new flavors of dark cherry, apricot, and orange liqueur.
Christian Ortega calls time at 15:06.
Miranda Huncovsky (they/she) – Go Get Em Tiger – Los Angeles, CA
Now to the stage is Miranda Huncovsky of Go Get Em Tiger in Los Angeles, California. Their routine today focuses on the Japanese idea of Kaizen, or growth, which will be expressed in different ways across the three courses.
The first principle of kaizen to be explored is that of incremental progress, which will be the focus of Huncovsky’s signature beverage. Using a yeast inoculated, darkroom dried Gesha produced by Julio Madrid at Finca Milan in Colombia—“I chosen a Gesha because it’s the best representation of progress our industry has made,” Huncovsky explains—juniper berry syrup and Fever Tree tonic make up the rest of the components, that all get a nitrogen infusion and fished with a magnolia tea air. It has notes of jasmine green tea, Brisk iced tea, and orange juice.
Course two, the milk course, is about efficiency. The milk today for Huncovsky is a lactose-free 2% milk that has been freeze-distilled to 75% by volume. To maximize efficiency, Huncovsky is pouring all four milk drinks at the same time using milk pitchers that they’ve velcroed to a serving tray. Really creative stuff, super fun to watch. Notes for those milk drinks are caramel, guava Danish, and macadamia nuts.
You know there was once another GGET competitor whose routine was all about efficiency, particularly in a cafe setting. His name was Charles Babinski and that routine made him the Runner-Up at the World Barista Championship that year.
Finishing with the espressos, Huncovsky’s Gesha has flavors of dried mango with a papaya sweetness, starfruit acidity, and a black tea bitterness, with a medium weight and a grapefruit-juice like texture.
Miranda Huncovsky calls time at 14:17.
Anthony Ragler (he/him) – Black & White Coffee – Raleigh, NC
Anthony Ragler is our next competitor here at the 2026 USBC Semi-Finals. Competing for Black & White Coffee Roasters, Ragler’s theme is an homage to his two non-verbal autistic sons. Their influence is visible from the start, including a card with illustrations on it similar to ones non-verbal children use to communicate as well as noise-cancelling headphones, which the judges will use when consuming all three of Ragler’s courses today.
Ragler is one of the few competitors to not use a Gesha in some form in competition this year, instead opting for a thermal shock Sidra produced by Edinson Argote at Quebraditas Coffee Farm in Huila, Colombia.
For the first course, the signature beverage, Ragler is riffing on an affogato, that iconic blend of espresso and one of his son’s favorite foods, ice cream. Over a custard of steeped parmesan rind and turbinado sugar, Ragler instructs the judges to pour a shot of espresso and stir to incorporate. They are then to add a balsamic glaze, giving the drink notes of salted caramel, raspberry compote, and chocolate mousse.
For the milk course, Ragler combines lactose-free milk with a freeze-dried milk powder, adding them to Sidra espresso for new notes of chocolate cake, cherry, whipped cream, like a black forest cake.
If you are wondering, yes that is Smash Mouth’s All-Star currently playing during Ragler’s routine.
For the espresso course, Ragler has the drinks down a full two minutes before the judges are instructed to drink. In that time, he’s relaying additional information about the processing of Argot’s Sidra while also presenting the judges with a cloth and soft red ball that matches the texture of the espresso, which has a silky mouthfeel and flavors of craft chocolate.
Anthony Ragler of Black & White Coffee Roasters calls time at 14:55.
Seidy Selivanow (she/her) – Kafiex Coffee – Vancouver, WA
Up next is Seidy Selivanow of Kafiex Roasters in Vancouver, Washington. Not to say that it’s Finals or bust for Selivanow, but she definitely wants to improve upon last year’s seventh place finish, and the only way for the Sprudge Twenty Class of 2026 inductee to do that is by making the Finals.
Beginning with the espresso course, Selivanow has selected an SL28 variety that has undergone a 48-hour yeast inoculation followed by a washed processing courtesy of Julio Madrid at Finca La Riviera in Risaralda, Colombia. Pulled at 18g in to 50g out and stirred five times, the SL28 as espresso has notes of orange blossom, peach, grape, and an orange sweetness with a floral finish.
Selivanow switches to a blend of sorts for the milk course. It is a mix of Aji and Sudan Rume varieties that have been processed together, the Aji providing brightness and the Sudan Rume bringing complexity. Produced by Nestor Lasso of Finca El Diviso in Pitalito, Colombia, when combined with Selivanow’s 80/20 blend of freeze-distilled lactose free milk and cryosdesiccated milk, the Aji/Sudan Rume blend presents flavors salted caramel, milk chocolate, and hints of stone fruit, like peach cobbler.
The SL28 returns for the signature beverage, where it gets hyperchilled and combined with a pink peppercorn and vanilla bean simple syrup, strawberry clarified milk punch, and a mango and cempasúchil water, creating notes of caramel, pineapple, and honeycrisp apple, with a juicy, tropical finish. Drinks are down at 13:45, and the judges are instructed not to drink until she calls time.
Seidy Selivanow call time on her routine just a half minute later at 14:17.
Jak Michael Ryan (he/him) – Proud Mary – Austin, TX
Next up we’re turning back time with Cher and Jak Michael Ryan of Proud Mary Coffee in Austin, Texas. Ryan’s routine is all about time. Being in time, falling out of it, speeding up, slowing down, how altering time can affect a coffee.
That coffee for Ryan is a Gesha variety produced at 1,700MASL on La Salsa in Santa Barbara, Honduras by Benjamin Paz. Known as Lot No. 1, this Gesha comes from Hacienda Esmeralda seed stock and has undergone a darkroom dried natural processing, a method that slows down fermentation to allow for greater control. As an espresso, served in frozen cups, it has notes of raspberry, nectarine, and dark chocolate, with a medium weight and a silky texture.
Ryan’s cheeky music selection continues with the Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show.
For the milk course, Ryan has blended in equal parts a lactose-free milk freeze-distilled to 50% by weight and a traditional whole milk, and when added to his Gesha creates new flavors of white chocolate cheesecake, caramel, and spiced malt cookie, like a Biscoff (be still my heart).
Inspired by his time—get it, time?—in Honduras with Paz, Ryan is incorporating various tropical fruits he experienced at origin to create a drink reminiscent of a tiki cocktail. Lacto-fermented passionfruit juice, a clarified solution of plantain and honey, and mango distillate all mix with espresso for notes of orange blossom, golden raisin, and kiwi.
Jak Michael Ryan calls time on his Semi-Finals routine at 15:02.
Elika Liftee (he/him) – Houston, TX
Up now is independent competitor Elika Liftee from Houston, Texas. Liftee, a back-to-back Brewers Cup winner, is the first of three former US Coffee Champions to compete today, and he is looking to transfer that success to his first year competing at the USBC.
The flow of Liftee’s routine is like that of many folks as they begin their specialty coffee journey, going from the more fun sig bev drinks, in his case a breve white mocha-inspired drink, to the more coffee-forward espresso course.
For that breve white mocha sig bev, Liftee is using an anaerobic fermented, natural processed Liberica coffee rom Indonesia. To it he adds a cold-pressed pineapple shrub, clarified tropical white chocolate, panela simple syrup, and orange blossom water, all of which are shaken and chilled and garnished with black Hawaiian sea salt for notes of candied plum, milk chocolate, and rose, with a peach ring candy and salted milk chocolate finish.
In the milk course, Liftee blends the Liberica with a new Arabica variety, Chakira, an Ethiopian landrace heritage variety produced in Boquete, Panama. Using a 60/40 blend of freeze-distilled whole milk and lactose-free freeze-distilled whole milk, the blend has flavors of peach, butterscotch, and milk tea, with a creamy texture reminiscent of melted milk chocolate and a white grape finish.
Finishing with the espressos, Liftee modifies the blend further, pushing the Chakira to 90% and the Liberica to 10%. Pulled over frozen spheres and placed in a vacuum sealer to remove the CO2 and bitterness in the espresso expresses notes of peach, jackfruit, and tea, with a white grape juice and orange blossom finish.
Elika Liftee calls time at 14:56.
Jason Yeo (he/him) – Saint Frank Coffee – San Francisco, CA
Completing the San Francisco triumvirate here at Semi-Finals is Jason Yeo of Saint Frank Coffee. Yeo is a veteran competitor who punched through last year with a third-place finish, his best to date. There’s little improvement left for Yeo that doesn’t also result in a trip to Panama later this year.
Like he did last year, Yeo competes with a coffee from longtime Saint Frank partner producer Benjamin Paz. For 2026 it is the first lot of Green Trip Gesha that Paz has darkroom-dried natural processed at his farm La Salsa in Santa Barbara, Honduras. As an espresso, pulled at 19g in to 40g out, it has flavors of tangerine, rainier cherry, and a black tea finish.
Yeo’s milk today is a mix of lactose-free and rice milk that has had 30% of the water content evaporated out. When combined with Green Tip Gesha, it creates notes of cheesecake, caramel, and butter cookie.
Yeo’s soundtrack switch to Nice Dreams by Radiohead. And I’m not saying playing Radiohead is going to help him win, but 2024 USBC Champion Frank La might.
For the final course, Yeo adds hyperchilled espresso to a freeze-clarified hibiscus, peppercorn, pineapple, and soursop punch and a non-alcoholic California dessert wine combined with an elderflower cordial, fructose, and polydextrose. Blended together, these components coalesce into new notes of lime sherbet, peach, lychee, and white grapefruit.
Jason Yeo of Saint Frank Coffee calls time at 14:23.
Stephanie Hernandez-Salazar (she/her) – Vignette Coffee Roasters – Greensboro, NC
Somehow there are only five competitors left today. Where does the time go? Semi-Finalist number 13 is Stephanie Hernandez-Salazar of Vignette Coffee Roasters in Greensboro, NC. The theme for Hernandez is about connection and weaving moments, which she represents visually with a pastel tapestry she crocheted herself. Each of the colors holding special significance.
She competes with a Gesha variety produced by Franky Hoyos at Finca El Encanto in Huila, Colombia. Starting with the milk course, representing warm and the color pink, Hernandez uses a freeze-distilled lactose-free milk to create a 3:1 ratio beverage with notes of melted chocolate ice cream, fruity pebbles, and orange creamsicle.
The next course, the signature beverage, is about identity and how even when the same pattern is used, each tapestry created from it is unique; the same can be said of humans. Drawing from her own Mexican American identity, Hernandez combines piloncillo and Gesha and topping them with a coconut hibiscus cold foam. Candied tamarind, dried cherry, tootsie roll, and fruited confectionary chocolate are the results of Hernandez’s sig bev.
Finishing with the espresso course, which represents resilience and the color teal, Hernandez’s drinks present notes of bergamot and crafted chocolate, with a medium-light weight, silky texture, and a malted chocolate aftertaste.
And Stephanie Hernandez-Salazar of Vignette Coffee Roasters calls time at 13:56.
David Buehrer (he/him) – Greenway Coffee Company – Houston, TX
What is time, I mean really? Does it even exist? Some say no. Our next competitor, Houston, Texas’s David Buehrer of Greenway Coffee Company will be exploring such ideas. Be prepared, y’all, the gravy might get a little wavy.
Buehrer competes today with a cold room dried, washed Gesha grown by producer and Panama Barista Champion Juan Sebastián Hernandez at 1,800MASL on Finca Lerida in Boquete. For the first course, Buehrer is explaining the tenseless theory of time, which states that the past, present, and future are all the same thing. As an espresso, pulled at 21g in to 41g out, that is expressed via notes of apricot, peach, yuzu lemon, pink lemonade, fresh apple, and sparkling green grape.
Moving to the milk course, we’re also moving to the growing block universe theory that the past and present are equally real but the future hasn’t happened yet. For this Buehrer switches to a Rwandan coffee, the only one of the competition this year. It’s an anaerobic fermented, natural processed Red Bourbon from Nova Farm, and when combined with a 70/20/10 blend of freeze-distilled organic whole milk, lactose-free freeze-distilled milk, it creates flavors of raspberry sauce, hot fudge, cherry, and cheesecake.
If you had to select a theory of time based solely its flavors, are you more of a yuzu and pink lemonade tenseless theorist or a raspberry sauce and cheesecake growing block universalist? I’m a punchy little tenseless is what I am.
Our last theory is presentism, which as it sounds like, suggests that only the present moment is real. Buehrer represents this with his signature beverage, incorporating a Gesha blossom tisane, a fructose-based simple syrup, and citric acid, all of which get blended with an ice cube, giving it notes of tangerine, peach, apricot, and lychee gummy candy.
Can one go over time in a barista routine if time doesn’t exist? Who knows, doesn’t matter because David Buehrer calls time at 14:46.
Juan Diaz (he/him) – Know Where Coffee – Miami, FL
Now up to the stage is Juan Diaz of Know Where Coffee in Miami, Florida.
The theme today for Diaz is honesty, which will be explored in various ways over the three courses. And part of that honesty is to not reveal any origin information about the coffee until after all drinks have been served so as to let the beverages speak for themselves. What we do know is that Diaz will be using the same coffee for each course but it will be roasted by three different roasters.
For the first course, the theme is honesty at origin, and what better way to truly experience that than in espresso. This version of the coffee was roasted on a Loring, and pulled over frozen spheres, it expresses notes of red cherry, raspberry, 70% dark chocolate, and tangerine.
For the milk course, the honesty is that of innovation. Using a blend of 70% full lactose milk, 20% reduced caramelized almond milk, and 10% freeze-distilled milk, Diaz’s mystery coffee, this time roasted on a Diedrich, has flavors of rum raisin shake, strawberry cheesecake, and salted butter cookies.
Diaz reveals that the coffee he is using today is an SL28 variety, a traditional Kenyan coffee variety but this time grown in Cauca, Colombia by Paola and Carlos Trujillo at Finca Patio Bonito.
For the signature beverage, Diaz switches to a Stronghold-roasted version of the SL28, to which he adds to multiple expressions of grape. A clarified grape punch, dried raisin syrup, and a grape shrub are all blended together with SL28 to create notes of lime sherbet, skittles, pineapple orange juice, and apple cider. This course represents honesty in Diaz’s professional journey.
Juan Diaz calls time at 14:55.
Morgan Eckroth (they/she) – Onyx Coffee Lab – Portland, OR
You didn’t think the Semi-Finals were going to go out with a whimper, did you? Our penultimate competitor is none other than 2022 US Barista Champion Morgan Eckroth of Portland, Oregon representing Onyx Coffee Lab.
Coffee is magic. Is it cheesy to say? Maybe. But is it also true? It’s the question at the heart of Eckroth’s routine this year, and for her first course, magic is the result of innovation. Starting with the espressos, Eckroth is opting for a Gesha variety grown at 1,9000MASL on Elida Estate in Boquete, Panama by the Lamastus family. It has been darkroom dried and natural processed, producing flavors of raspberry, earl grey tea, and a chocolate covered orange finish.
In the second course, Eckroth is recreating the magic that initially enamored them with specialty coffee, which was a milk drink. For this, Eckroth switches to an SL28 variety coffee produced by Edinson Argote at Quebraditas Coffee Farm in Huila, Colombia.
Using a blend of lactose-free whole milk freeze-distilled to 50% by volume, Pacific Barista Series coconut milk, and lactose-free whole milk powder, Eckroth’s SL28 milk beverage has notes of milk chocolate, red cherry, and salted caramel.
The third magic is one of alchemy and it will be represented in Eckroth’s signature beverage that uses both coffees from the prior courses. Orange and mango juice, bergamot and panela milk punch, and soy lecithin, all get combined with the hyperchilled espressos, nitrogen charged, poured over a rose snow at the bottom of the cup for notes of strawberry yogurt, milk chocolate, and orange creamsicle.
Morgan Eckroth calls time at 14:58.
Sam Schroeder (he/him) – Olympia Coffee – Seattle, WA
Our final competitor here at the 2026 US Barista Championship is multi-time Finalist and 2023 US Coffee in Good Spirits Champion Sam Schroeder of Olympia Coffee in Seattle, Washington.
For his coffee, Schroeder has selected a five-day cold room anaerobic fermented and natural processed Gesha variety produced by Maria Amoruso of Finca Lérida in Boquete, Panama. Kicking off with the espressos, pulled at 19g in to 50g out, the Geshas have notes of apricot, jasmine tea, and lemongrass, with a medium-light weight, silky body, and a lingering finish.
To further boost the flavor clarity, Schroeder serves the espresso in a Better Vessel, a new tool from Philippines Barista Champion Michael Harris that removes the crema, and much of the coffee’s bitterness with it.
Moving to the milk course, Schroeder’s Gesha undergoes a longer roast time and shorter shot to help boost flavor so that it can hold up better in milk. With his 50/50 freeze-distilled blend of lactose-free 2% milk and grassfed whole milk, the flavors that punch through are those of honey and canned peaches.
Combining a cacao nib and lemongrass tea, whey, anaerobic fermented peach and plum syrup, and carbonated water, Schroeder’s signature beverage is finished with a floral lemongrass atomized mist, creating new flavors of oolong, semi-sweet chocolate aftertaste, and guava.
Sam Schroeder calls time on the Semi-Finals round at 14:53.
Thanks for tuning in with us today. We’ll be back shortly with Finalist announcements!
