Registrations for The United States of Coffee Online Latte Art Competition are now open and completely free! Check out the link below to register! 

Brought to you by Golden Bean North America & Café Creations, we are now accepting entries into an online/Covid-safe latte art competition, using none other than the Café Creations range of barista-edition plant milks – Planet Oat, Almond Breeze, and Rolling Hills Soy!

Starting November 1, your beautiful works of latte art could win you a range of awesome prizes including gift vouchers, Puq Presses, AND a Rancilio home coffee machine!

A huge thank you to all our competition sponsors @goldenbean.northamerica, @café_creations, @planetoat, @rancilio.usa, @baristatechnology, and @puqpressusa!

Enter the competition here to get your competition packs of milk sent DIRECTLY to your door!

Upload a video to your own Instagram within the below timelines using these tags: @goldenbean.northamerica, @café_creations, @planetoat, @rancilio.usa, @baristatechnology, and @puqpressusa for your chance to win!

The United States of Coffee Online Latte Art Competition Official Rules

Competition Name: United States of Coffee Online Latte Art Competition

Title Sponsor: Cafe Creations

Additional Sponsors: Rancilio Group NA, Barista Technology (PUQPress)

Promoter: Golden Bean North America

Competition open to: Baristas – Café Workers – Home Baristas.

Entry: Residency restriction – contest entries are only available to residents of the United States

Entry age restriction: 18 years and older ONLY

Competition Period (PST Time Zone): Nov 1, 2021 to Nov 17, 2021 at 3pm PST (6pm EST)

How to enter: To enter the competition contestants must register via the website’s entry form. Registration dates are between 10/18/21 – 10/26/21 PST.  Contestants will receive 2 cartons of each plant milk (Planet Oat Barista Edition, Almond Breeze Barista Edition, Rolling Hills Soy Barista Edition).

Entrants check in to Golden Bean North America Instagram (@goldenbean.northamerica) 3pm every Monday, starting on Nov 1, to see what pattern and milk will be featured  (drawn from randomizer) Each plant milk and design will run for one week, with the finals being done entirely on oat milk.

Contestants to make an engaging video performing this design with the specified milk, under these guidelines:

• Make sure your video is 59sec and below
• Video must be uploaded to your own Instagram within 24 hours of pattern being selected (i.e. 3pm on Tuesday Nov 2, 9, 16)
• Be engaging, show your face and introduce yourself
• Show milk carton, and initial shake and pour into milk jug, all in scene
• All latte art to be completed in an 8oz cup
• A clear shot of final pattern required
• Make sure your video is in portrait/upright orientation
• You MUST use the supplied plant milks as the milk for your latte art!
• No color or pattern shaping tools can be used.
• Upload video to your own Instagram using these tags: @goldenbean.northamerica, @café_creations, @planetoat, @rancilio.usa, @baristatechnology, and @puqpressusa.

Are multiple entries permitted? Yes, competitors can enter week 1 and 2

Displaying entries: Via promoter and sponsors Instagram sites

Prizes (Week 1 + 2): PUQPress Mini ($850) + $250 Visa Gift Card – One overall winner each week

Grand Prize (Finals): Rancilio Home Machine ($1850), PUQPress Mini ($850) + $500 Visa Gift Card

Total Prize Pool Value: $5,400.00 USD (shipping costs not included here)

Judges: The judges for the competition will be:

Brandon Bir of Crimson Cup Coffee Roasters

Mark Michaelson – Roasting Consultant, former head roaster of Onyx Coffee

Scotty Angelo – Head Judge, Golden Bean North America (and 2016 winner!)

Determining the winner(s): The entries will be judged based on pattern execution & complexity, and barista presentation. Winner(s) will be determined the following day upon conclusion of judging. All judges’ decisions will be final.

Notifying winners: Winner(s) will be promoted across platforms the following day and contacted via their Instagram account; the name and town of each winner will be published at: Golden Bean North America, Café Creations, and additional sponsors IG pages.

PART A – INTRODUCTION

1. Information on how to enter and prize details form part of these terms and conditions.
2. By participating in the Competition, entrants accept and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. For the avoidance of doubt, the terms and conditions include the Schedule above.
3. Entries must comply with these terms and conditions to be valid.
4. Where there is an inconsistency between the Schedule and Parts A to J of these terms and conditions, the schedule will prevail.

PART B – PRIVACY

• The Promoter will collect and use each entrant’s personal information for the purposes of:

(a) conducting the Competition (which may include disclosure to third parties for the purpose of processing and conducting the Competition) and for promotional purposes, public statements and advertisements in relation to the Competition;

(b) providing information about the products and services offered by the Promoter and its related companies and its affiliated retailers; and

(c) research to improve its products and services.

• By entering the Competition, entrants consent to the use of their personal information as described in clause 5.
• Entrants may access, change and/or update their personal information in accordance with the Promoter’s privacy policy https://www.goldenbean.com

PART C – WHO CAN ENTER THE COMPETITION

• If the Schedule permits entrants to be under the age of 18 years, such entrants must seek permission from their parent or guardian to enter. If the winner of a prize is under 18 years of age, the prize will be awarded to the winner’s parent or legal guardian.
• Directors and employees (and their immediate families) of the Promoter or its related companies or agencies and Participating Retailers are not eligible to enter. Immediate families mean spouse, ex-spouse, child, step-child, parent, step-parent, legal guardian, sibling or step-sibling.

PART D – HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION

1. To enter, each entrant must comply with the ‘How to Enter’ section of the Schedule.
2. If the Schedule permits entrants to submit more than one entry, each entry must be unique and submitted separately.
3. Entries must not have been published previously or used to win prizes in other competitions.
4. An entry cannot be modified after it has been submitted.
5. The Promoter reserves the right, at any time, to request verification of the age, identity, residential address or any other information relevant to participation in the Competition of all entrants. The Promoter reserves the right to disqualify any entrant who provides false information or fails to provide information that is reasonably requested by the Promoter.
6. The Promoter reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to refuse to accept entries which are incomplete, indecipherable, offensive, do not comply with these terms and conditions or which contravene any applicable laws or regulations.
7. The Promoter reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant who has breached any of these terms and conditions, has engaged in unlawful or improper conduct or otherwise acts to cheat or undermine the fairness of the Competition by, for example, tampering with, or using or exploiting errors in, the entry process to obtain a competitive advantage over other entrants.
8. The eligibility of entries is solely within the discretion of the Promoter.
9. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost, misdirected or damaged entries or other communications.

PART E – PRIZES

1. Each prize is a product and will be mailed to winners.
2. If a prize is unavailable for reasons beyond the Promoter’s control, the Promoter reserves the right to substitute the prize with a prize of equal or greater monetary value. This right is subject to any applicable legislation, regulations or directions from a regulatory authority.
3. Once a prize has left the Promoter’s premises, the Promoter takes no responsibility for the prize being damaged, lost or stolen.
4. All taxes (local, state or federal) as a consequence of receiving a prize are the sole responsibility of each winner.
5. A winner’s use of the prize is entirely at their own risk. Before a prize is awarded, a winner may be required to sign an agreement to release the Promoter from and indemnifying the Promoter against any liability arising from the winner’s acceptance and use of the prize and the winner’s participation in the Competition.

PART F – HOW THE WINNER(S) ARE DETERMINED

• The Competition is a game of skill. Chance plays no part in determining the winner(s).
• At the time and date specified in the “Determining the winner(s)” section of the Schedule, each valid entry will be judged individually on its merits by the Judges based on the Content Criteria.
• The winning entry or entries will be the entry or entries that best satisfy the Content Criteria, as determined by the Judges.
• The number of winning entries to be selected will be the same as the total number of prizes specified in the Schedule.
• The Judges’ decision will be final and binding and no correspondence with entrants or any other person will be entered into.
• Each winner will receive a prize.

PART G – NOTIFICATION AND CLAIMING THE PRIZE(S)

• The Promoter will provide each winner with instructions on how to claim their Prize. It is the responsibility of each winner to comply with the Promoter’s instructions.
• The Promoter reserves the right to request each winner to provide proof of their identity and/or proof that they were responsible for the winning entry.
• Each winner agrees to participate and cooperate, as required, in all publicity activities relating to the Competition, including, without limitation, being interviewed, photographed, filmed and recorded. Each winner authorises the Promoter and sponsor to use such content for advertising and publicity purposes in any media in perpetuity worldwide.
• It is the responsibility of each entrant to notify the Promoter of any change to their contact details.

PART H – UNCLAIMED PRIZES

• The Promoter will take all reasonable steps to identify and notify each winner in an attempt to ensure that each winner receives their prize. However, if a winner cannot be identified or does not claim the prize within three months of the date on which the winners are determined, their prize is forfeited and will be awarded to the next best entry.

PART I – NO LIABILITY

35. If entry is via Facebook or if the competition is promoted on Facebook, the competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook and each entrant agrees to grant Facebook a complete release from any claims that they have or may have in the future which relate to or are incidental to the competition. Entrants acknowledge and agree that:

(a) any information they provide in connection with the competition is provided to the Promoter and not to Facebook or any other social network; and

(b) any questions, comments or complaints regarding the competition will be directed to the Promoter, not to Facebook or any other social network.

36. If entry is via Instagram or if the Competition is promoted on Instagram, the Competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Instagram and each entrant agrees to grant Instagram a complete release from any claims that they now have or may have in the future which relate to or are incidental to the Competition. Entrants acknowledge and agree that:

(a) any information they provide in connection with the Competition is provided to the Promoter and not to Instagram or any other social network; and

(b) any questions, comments or complaints regarding the Competition will be directed to the Promoter, not to Instagram or any other social network.

(c) moderator to reserve the right to change, adjust, amend any direct or secondary content that may be out of line with competition.

PART J – TERMINATION OF COMPETITION

• The Promoter reserves the right to vary the terms of, or cancel, the Competition at any time without liability to any entrant or other person, subject to applicable laws.

The Golden Bean North America 2019 in Nashville Tennessee was a huge success for event organiser Cafe Culture International. The world’s largest coffee roasting competition had a total of 1,300 entries from 450 roasters from all around North America.

The competition took place at the Cambria Hotel in Downtown Nashville. The hotel catered for 200 guests over the four days of the competition. The event saw some of North America best Coffee Roasters compete for the prestigious rights of being the Grand Champion Roaster of North America.

A major feature of the event was the access to high end equipment that was used during the judging phase of the competition. Equipment used was Rancilio RS1 espresso machines, Optipure filtration, Puqpress tampers, Mahlokoniq EK43’s Grinders. Behmor Brewers were used in our largest category filter which had over 450 coffees entered. The success of the event would have not been possible without the support of our machine sponsors and the high number of volunteers behind the scenes brewing the coffees.

The Golden Bean has been running for five years in North America and Portland Oregon was our home base. We decided this year to move the event to give new roasters access to the competition and it was a big decision for us to change the location and move across the country to Nashville Tennessee. 

It was a great decision as the support this year for the Golden Bean was incredible with big numbers of Roasters attending. The Nashville coffee scene opened their arm’s to us and fully supported the event by attending, hosting and entering their coffees. A big thank you goes out to Stay Golden Coffee Roasters for letting us use their space to receive and admin coffees. 

The event had over 200 coffee roasters from around North America attend over the four days. We see our event to be a very valuable educational opportunity for the North American roasting community having the conference format attached in between judging sessions. This year we invited expert industry speakers who discussed numerous topics that roasters had requested in last year industry survey. We see this format of conference speakers growing at future Golden Bean events.

We all judged 1300 coffees over three days with the largest category being filter coffee which ran for the full three days of the competition. There was a special finals round for the filter coffees that were tasted by all four head judges in a blind knock out round to find the winner.

More educational workshops were presented on the Saturday morning before the Green Bean Zone with Head Judge Scott Angelo and Amy Duell explaining the importance on frequent green bean cupping for roasters. This workshop was a huge success as it was aimed at improving the roasters cupping skills and speeding up this weekly task. 

This years Green Bean Zone excited ten green bean companies and suppliers showcasing their products from around the globe. We observed priceless business being conducted during these special cupping sessions between Roasters and Green Bean companies. This part of the Conference is very important to connected roasters to new supply chains.

At the end of the Green Bean Zone we had a fun hour of Barista team competition, with the Cafe Creations Global Barista Challenge between Australia and North America. This competition was previously ran in Australia at the Melbourne Grand Prix in March. Unfortunately the North American team was defeated by the strong attending Aussie team. This fun competition showcased the new dairy and plant milk range from Cafe Creations.

To wrap up this years Golden Bean Awards night the theme was Country and Western at the Cambria Hotel Ballroom where we showcased the winning roasters of North America with a medal presentation. The attendees cheered on their fellow roasters and were entertained by duelling MC’s Steve Foye and Jen Hurd who also did a fabulous duet “Island in the Stream” at the opening of the awards.

Winning trophies were presented for the Small Franchise category which was awarded to Ohio based Roaster Crimson Cup, then followed by Large Franchise Category award which went to Canadian roaster Canterbury Coffee for the 2nd year running. 

The overall winner was Bonlife Coffee Roasters from Tennessee awarded to Jeremy and Erica Moore who were both there to accept the Reg Barber designed Trophy. 

Second Overall went to Terry Masikewich of Prairie Lily Roasters in Canada.

Reg Barber also was in attendance and he received this years prestigious Hall of Fame Award. It was a proud industry moment seeing Reg receive this award for outstanding achievement in his Global Tamper Business.

A big congratulations to all our North American Roasters who participated this year and helped us create such a successful competition with an avenue for coffee roasters to showcase their unique skills. If you did not place well in this years competition please keep trying because as this event grows so does the challenge to perform better. The feedback you get should be a good education on where your coffee sits in the national marketplace. Golden Bean Judges are your peers and all the feedback is honest and accurate. We have watched the growth of many roasters since we started the Golden Bean in North America and competition is a great way to improve your skills and your business knowledge.

We will be returning to Nashville next year so we are very excited to welcome more new roasters into our Golden Bean Family and show you the process of the world’s largest coffee roasters competition.

I big Thanks goes out to my USA Business partner from Fresh Cup Magazine Jan Weigel who plays a big part in the organising of this event. I would also like to thank all the Cafe Culture team who came across from Australia to help out with the operations of the competition.

Thank You
Head Bean
Sean Edwards

Quick Facts

1300 coffees entered

450 North American Roasters entered

Filter – 435

Milk – 272

Espresso – 254

Single Origin – 85

Medals for each Category (including tied points receiving medals) 1 Gold – 5 Silver – 15 Bronze

Overall winner – Bonlife Tennessee.

Franchise winner small – Crimson Cup Ohio

Franchise winner Large – Canterbury Coffee Vancouver CA

All your individual results can be viewed on your individual portal along with certificates

Medals will be sent out in the next 3 weeks (back order)

Stickers for medal winners are on sale!
https://golden-bean.myshopify.com

Media Pictures of event contact tilly@cafeculture.com

Low res art work for social media on Golden Bean website https://www.goldenbean.com

Australian – New Zealand Golden Bean dates
19th to 23rd November 2019

Sponsorship opportunities contact sean@cafeculture.com

Any information or questions about The Golden Bean contact info@goldenbean.com

Congratulations to all 2019 Winners 

Congratulations on your win at 2019 Golden Bean North America Coffee Roasters Competition! We know you will be excited to let the world know how fantastic your coffee is so we have the LOW RESOLUTION (200pixel) Champion sticker and Golden Bean Logo artwork available for you to download and use on your electronic marketing.

Click your appropriate medal artwork below to download
(Mac or PC right click “save image as”)

Congratulations to all 2019 winners

Click here for full list of 2017 Winners

Congratulations to all 2018 Winners 

Click for full list of winners for 2018

Congratulations on your win at 2018 Puqpress Golden Bean North America Coffee Roasters Competition! We know you will be excited to let the world know how fantastic your coffee is so we have the LOW RESOLUTION (300pixel D) Champion sticker and  Golden Bean  Logo artwork available for you to download and use on your electronic marketing.

Click your appropriate medal artwork below to download
(Mac or PC right click “save image as”)

Congratulations to all 2018 winners

Promote your win, download the merchandise order form

Steeped, Inc, is operating in the high-growth specially coffee and single-serve coffee spaces using innovation to bring these two markets together for the first time. The company is located in Scotts Valley, CA (In the Santa Cruz area) and has developed a proprietary single-serve coffee method that is brewed in bags, like tea, that are made from renewable and compostable materials.

We are a company dedicated to grow and commercialize specialty and certified coffee. PERUNOR was established in July 1998 with the objective of meeting the demand for high quality and certified coffees (Organic, Fair Trade, among other certifications) from buyers in the United States, Europe and Canada, for which the founders decided to start a program of cultivation of specialty coffee and established commercial alliances with various cooperatives and associations of coffee farmers. PERUNOR has a coffee farm located in district Lonya Grande in Amazonas at the north of Peru. Some of the cooperatives and associations of coffee farmers we work with are located in Amazonas, San Martin, Cajamarca, Junin, Pasco and Cuzco

Abira is a proud Colombian coffee producer based in Salgar, Antioquia.  Our mission is simple:  to create a supply chain that directly links the coffee farmer to the coffee roaster.  We call this The Abira Way.  Our passion for coffee drives us to meticulously control each level of production, which allows us do produce exceptional quality with remarkable consistency.  This attention to detail and our ability to source throughout Colombia ensures that we deliver a broad portfolio of exceptional Colombian coffee directly to roasters around the world.

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*Official Golden Bean North America water sponsor

OptiPure^® is a leading provider of water treatment solutions for the specialty coffee and foodservice industries. It manufactures a complete line of commercial water filtration systems, membrane separation (reverse osmosis) systems, and water softeners for applications including espresso, coffee and tea brewers, ice makers, fountain beverages, combi ovens and warewashing.

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*Official equipment for the Golden Bean engine room 

Ditting USA, Inc. is the U.S. distribution center for the Ditting factory in Switzerland.
Ditting is the manufacturer of Swiss-precision commercial and industrial coffee grinders for in-store use to grind coffee to uniform particle sizes from pulverized Turkish powder to a coarse grind coarse enough for Cold Brew!

Since more than 80 years MAHLKÖNIG has been the leading brand for high quality professional grinders. The MAHLKÖNIG logo stands for quality leadership and innovation. As part of our philosophy our products are developed by MAHLKÖNIG engineers and manufactured by hand in order to fulfill individual customers needs and requirements.

*Official equipment for the Golden Bean engine room 

Innovation is the technological core of the Rancilio Group. Creativity is stimulated in each and every function within our Rancilio LAB. The Rancilio LAB consists of a close-knit team who, between them, have all the necessary technical skills to cover the engineering aspects of the professional coffee machine industry. Read More

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*Official equipment for the Golden Bean engine room 

What began in 1997 as a visit to a local roaster/co-op in the cloud forests of Monte Verde, Costa Rica, morphed into personal quest to create an affordable, yet user friendly, home coffee roaster that would enable anyone the means to roast their own coffee and enjoy the true meaning of fresh roasted coffee.
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Café Culture is dedicated to the networking and marketing needs of the entire Café Industry. We specialise in tailored marketing campaigns to develop solutions based upon your business objectives. To increase brand awareness, launch a new product and to help your bottom line we offer a range of public relations, media and marketing communication services. Read More

“Enhance the lives of women and families in the coffee-producing communities throughout the world.”
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Coffee Holding Co., Inc. (CHC) is a family operated business for over 40 years. The management and operating team at CHC represents three generations of committed, knowledgeable professionals.
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Descamex is a proud producer of a great-tasting decaffeinated coffee with our Mountain Water Process, certified organic by the OCIA (NOP, COR, EU, MEX & JAS).  Our process is also certified to maintain the Kosher, Halal, Rainforest Alliance, Bird Friendly, Utz and/or fair-trade-certified status of the coffees processed. Read More

At Fresh Cup, we’ve spent more than two decades covering the stories of specialty coffee and tea, showcasing tea-growing regions and cutting-edge coffee towns, giving voice to stalwart veterans and visionary newcomers, digging into issues important to owners and those vital to employees. Read More

*Official Golden Bean sponsor 

Golden Turmeric Elixir + Puqpress sold here – www.gsdglobaltrading.com

Congratulations to all 2017 winners

Promote your win, download the merchandise order form

Click here for full list of 2017 Winners