Nine baristas advance to 2027 US Barista Championship in Houston

Houston qualifying results

Nine baristas from a field of 24 advanced to the 2027 US Barista Championship after the first qualifying event held just outside Houston, Texas. The competition at Roastronix HQ read more like a USBC Semi-Finals than a regional event. The field contained former champions Isaiah Sheese, Elika Liftee, and Sam Schroeder, alongside finalists David Buehrer, Anthony Ragler, Ziah Bloom, and Rafael Levy, and semi-finalist staples Jake McFarland and Olivia Morris, which meant the competition was extremely dense for the 24 participating baristas. Isaiah Sheese won the 2023 USBC, Elika Liftee won the 2020 and 2022 USBrC, and Sam Schroeder won the 2023 USCiGS. These nine winners will travel to Franklin, Tennessee, 20 miles south of Nashville, for the championship at the end of January. The qualifying event produced only nine winners to move on from the 24 participants. These Houston winners join nine other winners from the second qualifying event in San Diego later this month. The qualifying round occurred over the weekend just outside Houston, Texas.

Advancing baristas

The competition in Houston produced nine winners. These nine baristas beat the rest of the 24-person field to advance.

The eighteen total qualifiers will compete for the championship in Tennessee. Within the group of nine winners, two baristas represent Black & White Roasters, namely Jake McFarland and Anthony Ragler, and two others represent Onyx Coffee Lab, specifically Dakota Graff and Rafael Levy. These eighteen total qualifiers will meet in Franklin, which sits 20 miles south of Nashville, at the end of January. The remaining nine winners emerge from the second qualifying event in San Diego later this month. The group of winners from Houston, such as Sam Barkley and Maya Nguyen, will join the winners from San Diego in Franklin. The eighteen finalists will meet in Tennessee to decide the champion.