The US Coffee Championships kick off in just a little over a month from now in Denver, but if you can’t wait that long (and you live in or are willing to travel to Florida), then you can get a little coffee competition fix this Saturday, October 27th, with the inaugural Florida Brewers Cup. Taking place at Deeply Coffee Company in Orlando, the Florida Brews Cup is taking the competition experience but removing many of the barriers of entry.
Following the format of the preliminary round of the US Brewers Cup, the Florida Brewers Cup wants to replicate the competitive spirit—even down to the two sensory judges and one head judge—but in a friendlier environment in hopes that the event will be “accessible for anyone with a desire to be involved,” per an email sent to Sprudge.
The hosts of the Florida Brewers Cup, Deeply Coffee, also hope the event will “bring positive exposure and competitiveness to the rising coffee scene of Florida as a whole.” For the inaugural event, 12 cafes and roasters from around Florida will send a competitor, who will have eight minutes to “[represent] their company’s identity in Florida.” The coffee companies fielding competitors are: Bandit Coffee Co, Bold Bean Coffee Roasters, Foundation Coffee Co, Jacq & Jack, Lineage Coffee Roasters, Ligature Coffee, Oceana Coffee, Deeply Coffee, LPCX, Craft Kafe, Craft & Common, and King State Coffee.
The winner will be crowned the Florida Brewers Cup champion, holder of a year’s worth of bragging rites over fellow Floridian baristas.
For anyone looking to take in the sights and sounds of coffee competition, the Florida Brewers Cup is free to attend. It all gets started at 4:00pm this Saturday at Deeply Coffee Company in Orlando. For more information, follow Deeply Coffee’s Instagram.
Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
Top image via Deeply Coffee
