Last month, the Leadership Committee for the US Coffee Championships announced that format changes were coming for the 2025 season, the biggest of which was the return of the Regional Qualifying Competition structure. Prior seasons included three different rounds of competition, but in an effort to increase accessibility and defray the overall costs to compete, the new structure has been whittled down to just two: a regional event and the national event.
At the time of the announcements, the host locations had yet to be decided and the SCA was seeking out partners willing to host at least one event in each of the three regions. And now, the host locations for the 2025 Regional Qualifier for the US Coffee Championships has been made public.
Announced via Instagram, the host cities and dates are as follows:
Western Region
Portland, OR (Nov. 21-24): Roasters Championship — Mark Spencer Hotel
Las Vegas, NV (Jan. 17-19): Brewers Cup — Luminous Coffee
Central Region
Houston, TX (Oct. 31-Nov. 3): Roasters Championship — RoasTronix
Lincoln, NE (Nov. 8-10): Latte Art — Zen Coffee Co
Kansas City, MO (Dec. 6-8): Barista Championship, Brewers Cup, Coffee in Good Spirits — Messenger Coffee/The Roasterie
Eastern Region
Westchester, PA (Oct 25-27): Coffee in Good Spirits — Lavazza
Raleigh, NC (Nov 15-17): Barista Championship, Brewers Cup — Black & White Coffee Roasters
Notably absent from the Regional Qualifiers is Cup Tasters, which will not have a Qualifying Round this year and will instead have an open registration for Nationals. Save for the Brewers Cup, no competition will have three regional events this year. This is due to not having a host location for these competitions in the regions where they don’t appear. The SCA states they will be releasing a full transparency report on host selection this Friday, September 13th.
With the first regional event a little over a month away, competitor registration will officially open Friday, September 27th. For more information, visit the US Coffee Championships Instagram page. Any questions or feedback can be sent directly to the Leadership Committee at [email protected].
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
