Say Hello to Your 2014 U.S. Barista and Brewers Cup Champions: Ghambari and Goldsworthy

Facebook photo by Cherry Street Coffee House. Ghambari is the one in the middle with the big trophy.

Laila Ghambari of Seattle’s Cherry Street Coffee in Seattle, a business owned by her family, has won the 2014 U.S. Barista Championship.

The finals were held today, featuring by all accounts creative and inspired performances among all six finalists (including Cole McBride of Veltons Coffee, Charles Babinski of G&B Coffee, Camila Ramos of Panther Coffee, Trevor Corlett of MadCap Coffee, and Nora Brady of Kaldi’s Coffee. Ghambari will go on to represent the United States at the World Barista Championship in Rimini in June, where she aims to be the second consecutive U.S. champion after Pete Licata’s win last year.

Ghambari was using coffees from Cherry Street’s wholesale supplier, Sumner, Wash.-based Dillanos Coffee Roasters (Roast Magazine’s 2011 Macro Roaster of the Year).

Brewers Cup

Selfie by Todd Goldsworthy (right) with Todd Carmichael.

The 2014 Brewers Cup champion is Todd Goldsworthy, who goes by the title “Coffee Guru” at Klatch Coffee in Upland, Calif. Goldsworthy is also a driving force behind the growing Los Angeles TNTs. Like Ghambari, Goldsworthy will also represent the U.S. in Italy, following last year’s World Brewers Cup winning effort from Counter Culture’s James McCarthy.

For the U.S. title, Goldsworthy edged out industry veteran, television personality and La Colombe Torrefaction founder Todd Carmichael, who placed second.