Allegra Announces First 15 Roast Masters Teams For The New York Coffee Festival

Who’s ready for Roast Masters? The brand new competition—well, new to America; the inaugural event took place at last year’s Amsterdam Coffee Festival—is bringing the Keepers of the Flame front and center at the New York Coffee Festival happening later this year in October. A total of 30 coffee companies will field teams, each duking it out to reign supreme as the Maillard Maestro, and Allegra Events has just announced the first half of the field.

The competition breaks down into three separate events: The Espresso Blend, The Single Origin, and The Pour Over. For The Espresso Blend, teams will bring a blend of their own making (that is not to exceed $25 per kg) that must hold up well as an espresso, milk drink, and non-dairy plant-based coffee. The Single Origin is a bit like a cupping challenge with a twist. Each roaster will receive 5kg of an unknown coffee to create the best profile they can. Judges will then cup the coffees side-by-side without knowing who made which where they will decide their favorites. And finally, for those lucky enough to make it to the final round, The Pour Over, roasters are tasked with making “the ultimate pour over experience.” Roasters will have 15 minutes to hand brew their filter coffee offering where they will “demonstrate creativity, innovation, and just how far they’re able to push the boundaries.”

Whoever comes out the other side unscathed will the winner.

The 30-team field is set, but Allegra Events has just recently released the first half. They are:

Steve Cuevas, Black Oak Coffee Roasters, California
Justin Enis, Bolt Coffee, Rhode Island
Cord Rawls, Kade Broersma, and Jeremy Moore, Bonlife Coffee Roasters, Tennessee
Chris Bugnacki, Daniel Powers, and César Vega, Café Integral, New York
Tom Isaia and Jordan Pruett, Coffee Express Roasting Company, Michigan
Yeekai Lim and Malvina Segura, Cognoscenti Coffee, California
Evan Inatome and Rodrigo Vargas, Elixr Coffee, Pennsylvania
Stacey Lynden, Harken Coffee, British Columbia
Gabriela O’Malley and Evan Doctor, Infusion Coffee and Tea Crafters, Arizona
Sam Sabori, Intelligentsia Coffee
Roberta Duarte and Suphisara Panmai, Joe Coffee Company, New York
Andrew Sinclair and Kyle Vandevender, Mad Lab Coffee, California
Brendan Cheong, Nguyen Coffee Supply, New York
Scott Angelo, Amy Duell, and Amy Angelo, Oceana Coffee Roasters, Florida
Abe Chen and Rambert Sin, Pop Coffee Works, Ontario
Haden Polseno-Hensley and Grace McCutchan, Red Rooster Coffee, Virginia
Karen Blankenzee, Rosso Specialty Coffee, Florida
Ockhyeon and Daniel Lee, Round K, New York
Joe Wieczorek and Jeremy Varner, Spectrum Coffees, New York
Rich Nieto and Nick Wagstaff, Sweetleaf Coffee Roasters, New York
Tony Grewing, Marcus Dyrer, and Ramsey Smith, Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters, US Virgin Islands

Who’s going to be the Roaster with the Moster? The Bean Queen? The Coffee Browner to take it all Downer? You’ll just have to wait until October 11th through 13th at the New York Coffee Festival to find out.

*top image via the New York Coffee Festival