Roaster of the Year Judges Seven Things, and Only One of Them Is the Coffee

Facts

1. 1

   Cup quality is one blind criterion — Cup quality is one of seven criteria, and the only one judged blind. Roast also scores mission, sustainability, employee and education practice, diversity, inclusion and equity, industry involvement, and innovation, then cups three one-pound samples blind on aroma, colour, bean size and clean cup (Roast).

2. 2

   Shortlist spans 21× volume — The 2027 shortlist spreads twenty-one-fold. Micro is under 100,000 pounds a year: Chocolate Fish at 93,665, Idle Hands at 85,000, Dessert Oasis at 68,000, Indie at 47,386; macro runs from Corvus at 254,200 to Utopian at 987,946 (DCN).

3. 3

   Education is scored, not decorative — Chocolate Fish pays for structured barista training, runs an in-house education lab and public classes, and has donated more than 200,000 pounds of compostable material to food-rescue and composting partners since 2014, while Dessert Oasis keeps a dedicated education department (DCN).

4. 4

   Worker-owned since 2023 — Dean's Beans, roasting in Orange, Massachusetts since 1993, became a 100% worker-owned cooperative in 2023, with 13 of its 15 employees holding ownership and shared governance, on two 70-kilogram Loring Smart Roasters in a solar-powered facility (DCN).

5. 5

   Sourcing and pricing published — Idle Hands publishes sourcing and pricing plus an annual Responsibility Report; Corvus prices on cup quality and relationship history and tracks over 15 roasting variables; Utopian has bought more than a million pounds of Regenerative Organic Certified coffee (DCN).