We had such a fantastic time at Golden Bean! If you keep up with us on socials or have stopped by the cafe lately, you’ve probably heard about our Golden Bean North America entries. We’ve been perfecting our roasts and serving our coffees in the cafe, so you’ve seen our anticipation. We got the results, and Blind Coffee Roasters won 10 medals!
What is GBNA?
Golden Bean is a worldwide coffee roasting competition. It’s divided into regions, so we participate in Golden Bean North America. GBNA is a yearly competition, and about 1,500 roasters with 6,000 total entries participate each year. In previous years, BCR has won a total of 24 awards. Last year we were the most decorated roaster in Oregon.
What coffees did BCR enter?
We entered 5 different coffees this year.
- Pineapple CoFerment–a natural anaerobic yeast assisted fermentation with added pineapple (what a mouthful!) This coffee boasts a sweet chocolate start, bready quality, and pineapple finish. Tim was elated to find and roast such an interesting coffee.
- Golden Bean Sumatra–this is a washed process from the Mandheling region of Sumatra. This is Sharayah’s entry. Notes of tobacco leaf, pine, persistent sweetness, with heavy body. We think it’s the best Sumatra we’ve ever had, and our market customers agree!
- Call Your Mother–another washed process, this time from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bowie crafted this roast. Notes of currant, plum, and cocoa with heavy body and medium bright acidity. Makes a phenomenal espresso!
- Zambian Fruit Cup–this natural anaerobic process is another of Tim’s zany coffee finds. It’s a 9 day ferment anaerobic natural, with notes of pineapple, canned peaches, and sweet cocoa powder.
- BCR Decaf–our decaf is a sugar cane process to preserve the coffee’s flavor because we believe decaf should still taste good. Our decaf is one of our best sellers for a reason. In fact, several of our staff drink it on a regular basis.
What were the results?!
And now, the moment we’ve all waited for: here are the results for Golden Bean North America 2024!
- Pineapple CoFerment won bronze in milk based (latte) and alternative milk
- Golden Bean Sumatra won bronze in espresso and milk based
- Call Your Mother won bronze in espresso and milk based
- Zambia Fruit Cup won bronze in milk based and pour over and (drum roll please!) GOLD in alternative milk
- BCR Decaf won bronze in decaf
We’re so proud, and we want to share these amazing coffees with you. Get a half pound of all four coffees (sorry, not the decaf) in a nice gift box with home cupping suggestions. This is a great way to try each of our new award winners. We worked hard to get each roast just right, and we think you’ll love them!
Our gold medal earned us an invitation to the Golden Bean World Cup in February 2025. The World Cup is open to all gold medal winners in each regional category. Stay tuned to hear how it goes!
Thank you so much for following our journey and cheering us on! We hope you’ll try these amazing coffees!
Tim and the BCR Crew