Over the weekend, 72 espresso professionals from across the nation descended upon Raleigh, North Carolina to participate within the two newest US Espresso Championship occasions. Between March twenty sixth and twenty ninth, 24 Brewers Cup opponents and a whopping 48 Cup Tasters opponents made their solution to the Black & White Espresso Roasters HQ to battle it out for the highest spot of their respective occasions.
The roster for the weekend’s festivities included former USCC champions like Mehmet Sogan, Steve Cuevas, and Samuel Demisse in Cup Tasters; Sogan is the sitting champion whereas Demisse has received it 3 times. In the meantime within the Brewers Cup there was house staff competitor and 2017 USBC Champion Kyle Ramage, 2023 USBC Champion Isaiah Sheese, and 2026 Espresso in Good Spirits Champion Hugo Cano. They have been joined by former USCC Finalists Helen Choi and David Buehrer, each Houstonians who’ve beforehand made it to the final day in Cup Tasters and the Barista Championship, respectively.
However now the mud is settled and two new US Espresso Champions have been introduced. They be a part of already topped champions for 2026 Wenbo Yang (Roasters), Marco Monzon (Latte Artwork), and the beforehand talked about Cano. All that’s left to be determined is the Barista Championship, which can happen this June in Denver. However for now, listed below are the brand new champions for the 2026 US Brewers Cup and US Cup Tasters.
Brewers Cup
Champion: Esther Kim – Kumquat Espresso – Los Angeles, CA
Runner-Up: Ashlynne Wike – Hydrangea Espresso Roasters – Berkeley, CA
Third: Peace Sakulclanuwat – Espresso Venture NY – New York, NY
4th: Pack Katisomsakul – Newbery Avenue Espresso Roasters – Boston, MA
fifth: Justin Lee – The Espresso Motion – San Francisco, CA
sixth: Danny Munoz – Commonplace Espresso – Pittsburgh, PA
Cup Tasters
Champion: Mehmet Sogan – Memli Espresso Lab – San Diego, CA
Runner-Up: Brittney Gross – Sweetspire Espresso – Williamsport, PA
Third: Sum Ngai – Espresso Venture NY – New York, NY
4th: Ryan Sullivan – Mostra Espresso – San Diego, CA
fifth: Steve Cuevas – Freelance Espresso Venture
sixth: Tom Bomford – Black Fox Espresso – New York, NY
Congratulations to the brand new Champions and all of the Finalists!
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Community and a employees author based mostly in Dallas. Learn extra Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
All media by way of US Espresso Champs on Instagram
