Judging coffee championships has shaped my life in ways I didn’t see coming when I started in 2016.
☀️ It’s changed how I taste coffee. When you sit on a panel, you’re forced to taste methodically. You break a cup into its components and you start to notice the subtle things, the ones you’d miss if you were drinking it casually. You learn to build qualitative assessments from what’s in the cup, not from what you assumed it would be.
☀️ It’s taught me to score coffee not by what I personally love, but by the standards the competition is calibrated to.
Holding those two things separately is harder than it sounds. You’re always checking yourself, asking whether you’re reacting to the cup in front of you or to your own ideas of what a great coffee should taste like. Learning that has made me a sharper taster, and a more honest one when I’m just drinking for myself.
☀️ It’s taught me how to disagree well. Some of the most useful lessons I’ve ever had came from sitting in deliberation rooms with other judges, talking through where we saw a routine differently, finding a path through it, arriving at a consensus, and walking away as friends. That skill has translated in so many parts of my life outside of coffee.
☀️ It’s given me the chance to taste some of the best coffees in the world, prepared by some of the best baristas in the world. I’ve watched concepts unfold on stage that have shaped the entire industry. Judging gives you a front row seat to how coffee has evolved and where coffee is going.
☀️ And it’s brought me into this global community of competitors and judges. These are people who I get to hang out with with year after year, in different cities, different countries, different contexts. There’s something special about that. People who care about the same craft, gathering in the same places, building something together over time.
If you’ve ever thought about getting involved in competition, whether as a competitor or as a judge, I’d encourage you to not even think twice about it. It’s been one of the most rewarding things in my life. Ten years in, and I'm still finding new reasons to show up.
Some of you have been around long enough to remember when this account covered general coffee education, barista training, and competitions posts. Over the past year, the focus of this account has narrowed a lot. Almost everything I post now is about competition — judging it, coaching it, building tools for it.
So it’s time for the handle to catch up. From here on out, this account will have the handle: @trent.judges.coffee 👋
Eleven years judging WCC competitions has shaped my career more than anything else I’ve done in coffee. The conversations in judge deliberation, the calibrations, the post-comp debriefs, that’s where I’ve grown the most as a coffee professional. Going forward, this account leans fully into that work. Why I do it. What I’ve learned. And the tools I’m building for competitors, judges, and coaches.
If you’re a current Higher Elevation member, nothing changes for you right now. The site and the membership stay exactly where they are. But changes are coming, and they’re going to make the membership a lot more valuable for the people actually competing and judging at this level. More on that soon.
Thanks for being here and for being a part of this community!
Championship season is in full swing, so I wanted to share a few things I do in the weeks leading up to a competition to keep my palate sharp and my judging mindset ready.
These are 4 exercises that have helped me improve my palate as a lot judge for over 11 years at WCC sanctioned championships.
These exercises are not for the day of championship. They are the work that builds up over weeks. Pick one or two each week and rotate through them.
Save this post for your next prep cycle, and drop a comment letting me know which exercise you will try first 👇
Sensory has always been the part of coffee that pulled me in deepest — the way a single cup can reveal things about how it was grown, harvested, and processed. Learning to read and speak that language has shaped how I think about pretty much everything in this industry.
So holding these two in my hands feels like a huge milestone in my coffee career. Licensed Q Grader. Licensed Q Instructor.
The Q is coffee’s gold standard for sensory assessment. Earning it as a Grader means I am able to effectively complete four assessments that reveal a coffee’s diverse attributes and effectively match a coffee to its purpose. Earning it as an Instructor means I get to bring others into that same training — and that part might be the most meaningful piece of all.
#QGrader #SpecialtyCoffee #CoffeeSensory #CoffeeEducation #TimberlineCoffeeSchool
The 2026 Canadian National Barista Championship is coming to Calgary June 12–14 — and the two days before it, I’m hosting the WCC Judge Skills Program (Brewers Cup) at @timberline.coffee
📆 June 9–10 | 9:00am–5:00pm
📍 Timberline Coffee School, Calgary, AB
This is the official judge training program from World Coffee Championships.
Starting in 2027, this certificate will be a required pre-requisite for anyone pursuing WCC Certified Judge status to judge at the world level.
Whether you’re a competitor looking to understand the judging process from the inside, or a new or experienced judge building toward certification — this is your opportunity.
Click the link in bio to register or visit: https://timberline.coffee/products/wcc-judge-skills-program
#WCC #JudgeSkillsProgram #BrewersCup #CoffeeChampionship #TimberlineCoffeeSchool
Competing or judging in the Latte Art Championship in 2026? Knowing the competition inside-out could be the difference between advancing and going home early.
Join me on Thursday, March 5th for a comprehensive breakdown of the 2026 LAC format, judging criteria, and scoring methods.
Whether you’re a first-time competitor, seasoned barista, coach, or aspiring judge, this session will give you the insider knowledge you need.
What we’ll cover:
✔ Complete 2026 format & structure breakdown
✔ Art Bar & Stage Performance judging protocols
✔ Score categories decoded from a judge’s perspective
✔ Design evaluation methods explained
✔ Common penalties & how to avoid them
Workshop Details:
📅 Thursday, March 5, 2026
⏰ 9:00am - 11:30am Calgary Time (GMT -07) (includes 30min live Q&A)
💻 Online + recording included
Open to all and FREE for Higher Elevation Members ✨
Don’t compete blind. Know the rules and compete with confidence.
🔗 Register now - link in bio
Questions? Drop them below 👇
#LatteArt #LatteArtChampionship #WorldCoffeeChampionships #CoffeeCompetition #makeitsimpler
If you’re not familiar with it, cezve / ibrik is one of the oldest ways of preparing coffee in the world — finely ground coffee brewed slowly in a small pot, deeply tied to hospitality, ritual, and culture across many regions.
The Cezve/Ibrik Championship exists to honor that history and to explore how this brewing method can continue to evolve in today’s coffee world.
This year marked my second time serving as Judge Operations Lead, a role that oversees judging for the world championship — training judges, creating schedules, and ensuring the competition is conducted with integrity and in line with the standards of World Coffee Championships. But at its core, the role is about people: supporting judges so they can do their best work, and protecting a fair, clear experience for competitors who have invested so much to be here.
This championship is one of the most underrated in our industry. It asks a beautiful question: How do we respect tradition without freezing it in time? This year’s competitors answered that question in deeply personal and creative ways.
We had five incredible competitors representing Romania, the UAE, Turkey, France, and Greece — each bringing their own voice, heritage, and interpretation of cezve. In the end, @_jane_espante_ won 🥇, with @angeloofficial taking 🥈and @wael.hcm taking 🥉. Each of these competitors should be so proud of what they brought to the competition stage and I felt honored to get to be a sensory judge for each of the in the finals.
Hosting the competition at World of Coffee Dubai couldn’t have been more fitting. A city that honors its history while constantly innovating — a perfect reflection of what this championship stands for.
I’m incredibly grateful to the judges for showing up with care and professionalism. And a huge thank you to @thejordanharvey , who wore about ten different hats and somehow executed every one of her roles exceptionally.
This championship matters.
Its history matters.
And I’m thankful to be part of helping it move forward. ☕️
Photos by @worldcoffeechampionships
What a weekend! 🙌
Thank you to everyone who joined our Judge Skills Program — we even had students fly in from Taiwan, London, and Seattle!
A big thanks to our alignment baristas @thibautpaggen and @kobefock for providing routines for us to evaluate.
Already excited for the next one!
#coffeecommunity #coffeeeducation #judgetraining #wcc #sca #coffeeculture #calgarycoffee #timberlinecoffeeschool #coffeeworkshop #baristalife
@benjaminput placed 3rd in the World Barista Championship!!! 🥉
Can you imagine being third best in the world at something? What an incredible achievement — and what a feeling that must be.
When I first got into coffee back in 2014, Ben was already a fast-rising star in the competition world. I still remember sitting in a bar in Manila, watching the World Barista Championship finals being livestreamed, cheering him on from across the world. Even then, he had this mix of precision, creativity, and warmth that made him stand out. He quickly became one of my coffee heroes — someone who made me proud to be 🇨🇦 and proud to be a barista.
These days, I get to call Ben more than just a hero — he’s a friend. When I moved back to Canada, he opened his doors and gave me space to teach my courses. He often pops in to those courses to meet my students and share beautiful coffees with them. That’s who Ben is! That’s just who Ben is — generous, genuine, and endlessly kind and so, is a hero to many others in the industry!
Of all of Ben’s sets, this is the one that I am the most proud of. He did what Ben does and brought his usual heaps of innovation that will no doubt be talked about for years to come and will shape what competitors do on stage and baristas in their shops. Along with that, he honored the people who shaped him, who helped him become who he is, and invited us all to reflect on the people who’ve done the same for us. No matter how many times I’ve watched his routine, it still gets me every single time.
Ben, while I so desperately wanted today’s win for you, you didn’t need it. You have already won in so many ways, so many times. Thanks for allowing be to come on this journey with you and be a part of your preparation for this championship. I am deeply honored to call you hero and friend and look forward to many more adventures together.
….also, that milk beverage was so damned delicious! 😋
#worldbaristachampionship2025 #WBC2025 #worldcofferchampionships
⏱️ Do you give judges enough time to evaluate your drinks?
At the 2024 World Barista Championship, each finalist gave judges time to evaluate their beverages.
Why does this matter?
👉 Judges need focused space to taste.
👉 If you keep talking while they drink, it forces multitasking.
👉 That can feel like you haven’t anticipated their needs — and it can affect your Presentation score.
📝 Pro tip: Build intentional evaluation windows into your routine. Time them in rehearsal and adjust as necessary.
#worldbaristachampionship #wbc2025 #baristachampionship #competitortips #makeitsimpler
A little late in posting, but last month’s 2025 Canadian National Barista Championship was truly one for the books! ✨ I’m so proud of both the judges and competitors who brought their absolute best, raising the bar for competitiveness and judging quality this year.
Huge thanks to @thecolombianyeg for being such fantastic hosts in Edmonton and for setting the stage (literally!) for such a memorable event. And a big shout-out to our incredible head judges — @nathanielfried , @bicerincoffeelab , @amingz.coffee , and @juheejaimee — for the leadership and mentorship you poured into this championship.
Congratulations to every competitor. You should be incredibly proud — it was a joy to experience your creativity, your craft, and your perspective on espresso and the barista profession.
And of course, a massive congratulations to our 2025 National Champion @benjaminput for a hard-fought and well-deserved win. We’re so excited to see you represent 🇨🇦 on the world stage in Italy!
A heartfelt thank you as well to the entire @sca_canada team and to @joshhockin for putting on a great competition.
This year’s championship season was phenomenal, and while I’m sad it’s wrapped up for 2025, I’m already looking forward to 2026!
#baristachampionship #2025cnbc #worldbaristachampionship #worldcoffeechampionships
📸 Photos by myself, @coldbrewcreative_ , and @monogramco
This was my first experience as a Judge Operations Lead for a world coffee championship. I am so grateful for my amazing judge team for the 2025 Cezve/Ibrik Championship who were so focused and dedicated and committed to bring excellent judging for the competitors. @aleksandrtsibaev@phoenix0928@bieker_coffee@bicerincoffeelab@dceydaokay thank you so much! Special shoutout to @filter.paper.trail and @minnienie for providing extra support for the finals round.
A huge thanks as well to our wonderful calibration barista and 2025 3rd place finisher @i.bilousovv . You really went above and beyond in so many ways!
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be JOL alongside of @teijalublinkhof@truckeeeemmmma@ania_oleksak who I got to learn from and who are just great role models.
And finally, none of this could have taken place without the extremely hard work of the @worldcoffeechampionships team. @thejordanharvey@irenann@sk_giorgos@thechickenmoon James, thanks for creating such a supportive environment. These championships are a beast to put on and you all do this so well!
Already can’t wait till Milan!
