The 2026 coffee competition season is picking up steam. Last week, SCA has announced the dates and host location for the US Coffee In Good Spirits and US Latte Art Championships. And then, on Saturday, they announced the deets for the next event, the US Roasters Championship, which will take place at the end of February in Houston, Texas.
If the words “Houston” and “Roasters Championship” sound like a familiar pairing, it’s because the city was the most recent host of the World Roasters Championship, that took place alongside the last and final SCA Expo in April of 2025. (It is not the last specialty coffee expo, but the last one to be referred to as Expo; future installation will be rebranded at World of Coffee.)
Per the Instagram announcement, the 2026 national competition will take place Friday, February 27th through Sunday, March 1st at the Roastronix Headquarters (technically in Missouri City, a southwestern city in the greater Houston metroplex). This year’s event will feature 24 total competitors, and like the previous two events announced, some of those spots will be reserved for Finalists from the 2024 and 2025 competitions; for Roasters this year it is eight, as opposed to six for CIGS and Latte Art. If any of the eight spots aren’t taken by past competitors, they will open up to the public.
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Registration for the 2026 US Roasters Championship has already opened and interested parties can sign up via the Eventbrite page. As with the prior two, an online learning session with more information about the event will occur, this one on January 26th at 6:00pm CST. A recording of the session will be made available for anyone unable to attend in person.
Three down, three to go. When will we learn about the Barista Championship, Brewers Cup, and Cup Tasters? It’s all happening, so get ready.
For more information on the 2026 US Roasters Championship, visit the US Coffee Championships’ official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
