Head Roaster, Eric Stone, places second at the United States Roasters Championship
Written by Amy Wolf
My Journey at the 2024 United States Roasters Championship
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to compete in the final stage of the United States Roasters Championship (USRC). The event took place amidst the bustling atmosphere of the annual Specialty Coffee Association US Expo in Chicago. As a coffee professional and dedicated roaster, this experience was both nerve-wracking and immensely rewarding.
The Road to the Finals
Before making it to the big stage, I had to compete in the qualifying round held earlier this year in Houston. There, I secured the 9th position, earning my ticket to the finals. My journey in the Roaster Championships dates back to 2016, where I clinched the 3rd overall spot. The competition was much different back then where I only had to submit a coffee of my choosing roasted on my own roasting machine and walk away. Since then the competition has changed significantly and involves roasting provided coffees on site at the competition.
The Challenge: Crafting the Perfect Blend
This year we faced an intriguing new challenge: blend three distinct coffees to create the best tasting blend. Our canvas comprised:
A washed Nicaraguan, with nice notes of cherry, however was showing signs of aging.
A washed Papua New Guinean, deep with stone fruits, a well rounded body and pleasing acidity.
A honey-processed Costa Rican, super sweet with notes of candied orange and light ferment. The green wasn’t the prettiest having some slight insect damage, uniformity issues, and some off colored beans.
All blends had to incorporate at least 10% of each coffee.
Eric sample cupping
The Five Stages
The competition was broken down into 5 stages:
Green Grading:
Armed with information about the beans’ origins, I assessed their moisture levels and density using the provided green grading tools, taking stock of the quality, size, and shape of the coffee as well.
Sample Roasting:
With just over an hour on the clock, I sample roasted each of the coffees separately. As all coffees were relatively dense coffees I chose to go with a quick roast and utilize a lot of convection to thoroughly develop the coffees.
Cupping with a Coach:
Every competitor was given an hour to taste their sample roasts with one team member. My guide through this sensory journey was none other than John Lawrence, co-founder of Mudhouse. His expert palate and advice was critical in achieving my final blend. This was our one shot at tasting any potential blend combinations and having just an hour to do so made this one of the more challenging stages of the competition.
Roast Planning:
Before the final roast all competitors needed to complete a roast plan sheet. The sheet included technical details of the roast such as intended start and end temperatures and weights, and color of roast degree. We were also tasked with providing a flavor profile of our intended blend that would be scored for accuracy by the judges.
The Grand Finale: Final Roasting:
With an hour and 15 minutes on the clock each competitor roasted their coffees and constructed their blends under the watchful eye of judges who checked roast temperatures and batch weights.
Eric sample roasting
The Blend
For my blend I chose to lean into the fruitier and sweeter aspects of each component. I ended up with a blend comprised of:
40% honey processed Costa Rica to bring out sweetness and bright fruits
40% washed Papua New Guinea to round out the cup and bring some deeper fruits to the blend
20% washed Nicaragua for the notes of cherry a milk chocolate, but not enough to taste the unpleasant drying and hay like notes
The final blend was persistently sweet with notes of candied orange, plum, and cherry.
The Blind Cupping
The moment of truth arrived as a panel of judges blind-cupped our creations. They scored the coffees assessing the blends for fragrance, aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, and sweetness. When the dust settled, I emerged in 2nd place—a blend of pride, relief, and gratitude. This is my best finish yet and I am super grateful for all of the support I received from the team at Mudhouse as well as my wife Ashley and daughter Alpha.
