Carrboro Coffee Roasters is excited to be sponsoring the annual Big Eastern Regional Coffee Competition, the final regional showdown of this year’s U.S. Coffee Championships.

78 top regional baristas and coffee professionals from up and down the entire Eastern Seaboard will face off at the Durham Convention Center Nov. 21-23 for three days of competitions that test technical skill as well as knowledge and passion for coffee. The stakes are high, with prestigious regional titles in play as well as a chance to advance to the National Championships in California.

The event is free and open to the public, and spectators will have the chance to learn about specialty coffee as well as taste amazing drinks made by skilled baristas similar to the ones prepared on stage. Throughout the three days, the Barista Guild will serve coffee at a pop-up cafe that will feature coffees from top local roasters including Carrboro Coffee Roasters.

The competition, presented by the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the Barista Guild of America, will feature two main events — the Barista Competition and the Brewers Cup. In the Barista Competition, competitors will have 15 minutes to prepare and serve three courses of espresso-based beverages to a panel of four sensory judges, two technical judges and one head judge. The Brewers Cup competition will highlight the art of manual brewing, and will involve a blind tasting where competitors brew the same coffee on a manual device of their choice, as well as an Open Round where they present a coffee of their choice.

In addition to supporting the event as a Silver Sponsor and sponsoring the BGA Cafe, Carrboro Coffee Roasters employees and baristas from its flagships Open Eye Cafe & Caffe Driade will take part in The Big Eastern in a variety of capacities.

Open Eye Cafe barista Josh Kimbrough will be competing in the Brewer’s Cup and will also be making coffee for attendees during the event. Open Eye Cafe has been involved in the Barista Competitions since 2003, and has had many employees earn top titles both regionally and nationally.

Scott Conary, President of Carrboro Coffee Roasters, will be a head judge at The Big Eastern this year. Conary is known as a consummate competition judge, serving as Head Judge and Current Past Chair of the SCAA Competitions Committee. He also serves on the World Coffee Events Instructional Design Committee and as a WCE Representative, where he certifies judges and acts as Head Judge at competitions around the world. Conary has been the only Head Judge from the USA at the World Barista Championships for the past 9 years.

“Carrboro Coffee is proud to support the event as a Silver Sponsor and sponsor of the BGA Cafe, as well as all the baristas who, like our own competitors, have shown an amazing dedication to the craft of coffee preparation and the coffee industry. Our dedication to the origin of coffee and the relationships we cultivate with the coffee farmers will allow them to shine at this event.”

The event will take place Friday, November 21 through Sunday, November 23.  More information, tickets, and schedule of events available here.