What to Expect at the US AeroPress Championships
The US AeroPress Championships, in its third year, is finally being held in conjunction with an excellent PARTY - following the example set by the evolution of the World AeroPress Championship event.
The AeroPress, which is one of the most simple, popular, and tweakable brew methods in all of coffee, is the perfect brewing device to have its own competition. It has many great variables that can be modified to personalize a recipe - grind, water amount, water temp, steep time, and method (inverted, regular, stir). Unlike other competitions in coffee, the AeroPress Championship is meant to be highly interactive and fun to watch. The competition is never formal and silence is not really allowed - there's no presentations, no yap yap yap about coffee sourcing, and no judges with clipboards. Competitors will brew three-at-a-time for three taste judges. Rounds only last 8 minutes, and the results are revealed on-the-spot in a sudden death elimination style. Judges will taste from each brew, and select their favorite. The cups, marked only on the bottom, will reveal the winner of each round. Winner moves on, the others are instantly eliminated.
Twenty competitors will battle for the top spot - 18 open round competitors from across the U.S. and 2 regional champions who will enter the competition after round one. (One regional competitor is represented by a "surrogate" who will compete on his behalf using the Southern champion's recipe to brew.)
The party, generously hosted by Stumptown Coffee Roasters, will feature their famous cold brew on tap, beer by Elysian Brewing, pizza by Veraci Pizza, and the most gingery ginger beer you've ever tasted - by Rachel's Ginger Beer! Meanwhile, the 20 competitors will compete in 10 rounds (8 min per round), three at a time, to determine who is 2014 USAC Champion.
There are 18 competitors in the open round, who will be joined by the two regional champions (Central and South) in the second round. The finalists will place 1st, 2nd and 3rd and each receive trophies and prizes.
This year's competition coffee is the Peru Cecovasa, sourced and roasted by Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Each competitor received a sample of the coffee (from the same roast batch as for the competition) to practice their brew recipe.
Although some events (regionals) allow competitors to use any coffee, the USAC provides a selected coffee so that all competitors have equal access - and the competition becomes about brewing and extraction skill - without giving advantage to those who may have access to excellent sourcing and roasting. This allows non-coffee professionals to compete on equal footing.
Stumptown's stellar design team created this rad poster for this year's event.
The poster designs have become a phenomenon, with inspired designers creating framable art. See some of this year's sexy examples:
France - Sweden - Japan - Norway
Stumptown, with the help of Barista Magazine, printed a limited-run of 100 posters. USAC Competitors and judges and sponsors will each get one. A limited supply of the posters will be sold at the USAC for $15 each, with all proceeds from the sale going to Jubilee Women's Center - a Seattle organization that helps impoverished women.
Thanks to everyone who has supported the USAC and regional events this year. We're excited to see the energy and momentum that continues to fuel this little competition.
Special thanks to Stumptown Coffee Roasters (especially Mark Pfaff & Andrew Daday), Sarah at Barista Magazine, Sarah Dooley and Joyce Klassen at Baratza, and Alex and Constance at Aerobie for making this year's USAC happen.
