The Compak Golden Bean North America:
Castaway, 1900 NW 18th Avenue, Portland, Oregon USA
14- 17 September 2016
The Compak Golden Bean Australia:
Ridges, Port Macquarie
16-19 November 2016

The Compak Golden Bean has become an annual highlight in Australia for more than a decade, and expanded to North America in 2015 with Portland hosting its first event. The competition is the largest of its type, last year getting more than two thousand entries across both events.
Having watched The Compak Golden Bean grow with many well-deserved winners, Sean’s got some tips to share of how roasters can reach the peak of their craft.

Tip 1: 

Choose high quality green beans for your entry. Ask your green bean supplier to help you pick that special bean.

Tip 2: 
Practice roasting your beans with different roast profiles. Cup the coffee for that category’s brew method. Record each cupping and get as many palates as possible involved in helping with this process.

Tip 3: 
When practicing, cup the coffees to the aging process then test and taste each day for 14 days to see when the coffee is at its optimum taste levels (aged coffees have historically performed better in this competition)

Tip 4: 
Check what is current nationally in roast profile (colour).  If the trends are for lighter roasted coffees, this is where the judge’s palate will be (all coffees are blind cupped so judges do not see beans).

Tip 5: 
For single origin categories, pick a bean origin that is on trend, as the competition has noticed that there will be a preferred flavor profile for that year. E.g. In 2014 it was Panama Beans, while in 2015 Ethiopian Yirgacheffe was preferred.

Tip 6: 
The rules allow you to enter as many coffees in each category as you want – the more entries, the more chances of winning.  Make sure you enter Category 1 (Espresso) and Category 2 (Milk Based) as these combined scores can win you the overall Golden Bean.

Tip 7
People love winners. Make sure you enter a coffee that you can access for the next 12 months and is the perfect vehicle to market yourself. It’s definitely worth

Tip 8
Try and make a big effort to participate as a delegate at a Golden Bean event. You will reap the benefits of learning new skills, networking with fellow roasters and have better insights into industry trends. You will also improve your tasting skills by learning to judge competition coffees.

Tip 9
Open your mind to global coffee trends. The Compak Golden Bean is a global competition that automatically sifts through high quality entries in its unique judging process to find the best of the best. What is on trend in our current marketplace is quality of the complete bean to cup process, so if you cut corners you will not win awards.

Tip 10
Read the rules and please do not be shy to ask questions of the organizers.  Think outside the square, be creative, well organized and treat this competition competitively if you want to be a winner.