Blog — us coffee championship

Three fast-paced rounds of competition, three info-packed presentations, and five impeccably-crafted coffee cocktails. That's what Olympia Coffee's Reyna Callejo pulled off this past weekend, April 12–14 at the U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits Championship in Chicago, Illinois. With cool composure and a small amount of (actual) fire she crushed the competition, becoming our nation's reigning Coffee in Good Spirits Champion! Reyna takes the torch from our own Sam Schroeder, who stood by as her coach over the course of the weekend. This makes two years in a row that the Olympia Coffee team has claimed the national title for Coffee...

It's a big week for specialty coffee. Specialty Coffee Expo week, to be precise—a multi-day gathering of friends and partners from across the coffee industry. This time around, it's taking place in Chicago, Illinois. Olympia Coffee's sending a crew of fine folks to represent. If you'll be there too, please come say hey! Whether slinging coffee with our pals or stirring up the competition in Coffee in Good Spirits, here's where you can find us all week(end) long: Thursday, April 11: Necessary and Sufficient Coffee, Printer's Row.What: A guided Q&A session with Oliver Stormshak and some of Olympia Coffee's producers...

Winter blues got you down? Why not warm up with a coffee cocktail? We suggest one of Sam Schroeder's Coffee in Good Spirits concoctions—because nothing beats the winter chill like the thrill of mastering a competition-worthy cocktail, right?Meet the Coffee Sherry: a beautifully balanced and stunningly delicious coffee cocktail. Sam served this little number up at the Coffee in Good Spirits Championships. And he recently teamed up with Reyna (who, in 2024, is embarking upon her own Coffee in Good Spirits journey) to whip up a non-alcoholic version to serve at our Columbia City cafe. For a competition-crushing cocktail, it's...

Our co-founder Sam Schroeder returned from Portland with a shiny first-place trophy from the U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits Championship... and half a mind to take a couple days off after a very long weekend. So, after some well-earned rest, he was gracious enough to meet us back in our Training Lab to chat about what’s next at the World stage of this competition. And to make one of his winning cocktail recipes: a custom creation that he's whimsically dubbed the "Hot Mama." For competition, Sam was tasked with mixing up three cocktails: two of his own creation, one hot,...

What's it like to be the Cup Tasters Champion in the United States? For Jake Donaghy, it's back to work as usual... but with the fun memories of Portland to take with him, and even more excitement ahead to look forward to."I just wanted to go and have fun and see friends and meet people," he admitted of his reasons for entering the competition. "But I ended up winning."As the reigning cup tasting champion in the U.S. division of SCA, Jake now advances to compete on the world stage, which will unfold in Greece in June of this year. How's...