It’s 2023, which means we’ve got a new season of events from The Barista League. “After a wildly successful year of sell-out events in 2022,” a press release states, “The Barista League will continue to grow to meet the demand for their special brand of accessible and diverse coffee competitions.” The Barista League plans to host 12 coffee events in cities across four continents.
Why It Matters: The Barista League is known for hosting fun, irreverent, and free coffee events. The crux of their events is a lighthearted coffee competition, where twelve teams of two compete across three different coffee skills competitions “designed to test the real-world skills of a barista.” Unlike many coffee competitions, baristas don’t need to prepare beforehand, and the competition is free for all.
“The Barista League was founded on the idea that the event should be accessible for working baristas and should be welcoming to all,” says founder Steven Moloney. “As we grow, we are so excited to be able to take the event to new cities and countries that often get overlooked in favour of bigger, global, centralized events.”
The Full Extraction: 2023 promises to be the Barista League’s biggest year yet. Here’s a list of the cities they’ll be hitting in 2023 (and a sneak peek at 2024):
Oslo, Norway: February 18 at Fuglen Coffee Roasters
Bogota, Colombia: February 24 at Varietale Café
Mexico City, Mexico: March 4, with the location to be announced
Hamburg, Germany: March 25 at Drilling Distilling Co.
Brno, Czech Republic: May 26 at Industra Coffee
Toronto, Canada: June 17 at Redwood Theater
Los Angeles, USA: August 5 at Black Rabbit Service Co.
Bristol, United Kingdom: September 9 at Extract Coffee Roasters
Melbourne, Australia: September 22 at Proud Mary Coffee
Madrid, Spain: October, with the location and exact date to be announced
Milwaukee, USA: October 21 at Colectivo Coffee
Atlanta, USA: December 2, with the location to be announced
Dubai, UAE: January (2024)
What’s More: Barista League events aren’t just free for competitors but free for attendees—a hallmark of The Barista League is that their events are just as fun to attend as they are to compete in. Along with the slate of global competitions, The Barista League plans to host after-parties at both the Specialty Coffee Expo in Portland in April and the World of Coffee in Athens in June.
Click here to learn more about The Barista League and their upcoming 2023 season!
