Here Are the 2020 US Barista and Brewers Cup Champions

The 2020 U.S. Barista Championship finalists, from left to right: Anthony Ragler, Sam Spillman, Kay Cheon, Andrea Allen, Sam Neely, and Isaiah Sheese. United States Coffee Championships press photo by @jenn.hall.photo.

The road to U.S. Coffee Championship status apparently runs through Arkansas. At the U.S. Barista and Brewers Cup Championships this past weekend in Orange County, California, the top Barista spot was claimed by longtime competitor Andrea Allen of Northwest Arkansas’ Onyx Coffee Lab. Allen’s Onyx colleague, Elika Liftee, took the top spot in the Brewers Cup, where the second place spot went to yet another Onyx representative, Lance Hedrick.

The 2020 U.S. Brewers Cup finalists, from left to right: John Kruegler, Paul Menefee, Lance Hedrick, Elika Liftee, Weihong Zhang, and Tyler Duncan. United States Coffee Championships press photo by @jenn.hall.photo.

Allen and Liftee will represent the U.S. at the World Barista and Brewers Cup Championships this coming May in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to the U.S. Coffee Championships, the weekend in Orange County sorted out the qualifying competitors for the U.S. Roaster, Cup Tasters and Coffee In Good Spirits Championships, which will take place this April in conjunction with the Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Portland, Oregon.

Here are the final standings from the 2020 U.S. Barista and Brewers Cup Championships.

US Barista Championship

1. Andrea Allen, Onyx Coffee Lab (Rogers, Akansas)

2. Kay Cheon, Dune Coffee Roasters (Santa Barbara, California)

3. Sam Neely, Amethyst Coffee Company (Denver)

4. Sam Spillman, Dillanos Coffee Roasters (Seattle)

5. Isaiah Sheese, Archetype Coffee (Omaha, Nebraska)

6. Anthony Ragler, Black & White Coffee Roasters (Wake Forest, North Carolina)

US Brewers Cup Championship

1. Elika Liftee, Onyx Coffee Lab

2. Lance Hedrick, Onyx Coffee Lab

3. Weihong Zhang, BlendIn Coffee Club (Sugar Land, Texas)

4. Paul Menefee, Archetype Coffee

5. Tyler Duncan, Topeca Coffee Roasters (Tulsa, Oklahoma)

6. John Kruegler, Blanchard’s Coffee Roasting Company (Richmond, Virginia)