Exciting new changes in 2017
Café Culture International is proud to present the Pentair® Everpure® Golden Bean Coffee Roasters Competition & Conference. This annual international event will once again be held in the following locations:
Pentair Everpure
Golden Bean North America
DoubleTree by Hilton, Portland, Oregon
8.30am Wednesday 13th – Saturday 16th September 2017
Pentair Everpure Golden Bean Australia / New Zealand
Rydges Port Macquarie, NSW
8.30am Tuesday 21st – Saturday 25th November 2017
The Pentair Everpure Golden Bean is the world’s largest coffee roasters competition. Roasters enter their coffees in a number of award categories seeking recognition for excellence. Categories include espresso, milk based and filter beverages with both independent roasters and franchise / chain stores preparing and submitting their entries. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded in each category with the overall Pentair Everpure Golden Bean Champion awarded based on the best combined espresso, milk and (NEW in 2017) filter scores. This is an award that recognizes the work of the roaster in cultivating coffees across the brew types. In addition to coffee judging sessions during the conferences, we offer a number of workshops and seminars featuring key-note speakers and industry leaders.
The West Coast of the US is known for its coffee, and Portland is full of funky coffee enthusiasts and many highly rated cafés and roasters. DoubleTree by Hilton is conveniently located in the center of the Lloyd District, perfect for our third consecutive year.
Port Macquarie, NSW is also a great location to host the competition and associated conference activities. We know Australia is geographically huge, but now with direct flights from Melbourne, as well as Sydney and Brisbane, Port Macquarie’s reasonably central East Coast location is great for our Australia / New Zealand competition; generally offering stunning weather in November, and many accommodation choices to choose from near the conference venue and social functions.
Conference Overview – North America
Venue – DoubleTree by Hilton, Portland, OR
Dates – Wednesday 13th – Saturday 16th September 2017
Wednesday 13th September
Day – Conference and competition kicks off
Night – Sponsored evening function
Thursday 14th September
Day – Conference and competition continues
Night – Sponsored evening function
Friday 15th September
Day – Conference and competition continues + finals judging
Night – Evening Free
Super Saturday 16th September
Day – Green Bean Zone
Night – Golden Bean Awards Dinner (pirate theme)
For more information sign up for the North American newsletter.
Conference Overview – Australia / New Zealand
Venue – Rydges Port Macquarie, NSW
Dates – Tuesday 21st – 25th November Starting 9 am sharp
Tuesday 21st November
Day – Conference and coffee competition kicks off
Night – Evening Welcome Function with Just Coffee Insurance
Wednesday 22nd November
Day – Conference and competition continues
Night – Sponsored Evening Function
Thursday 23rd November
Day – Conference and competition continues
Night – Sponsored Evening Function
Friday 24th November
Day – Finals Judging, Workshop and Cold Brew OFF
Night – Zebu Bar with Silver Chef
Super Saturday 25th November
Day – Green Bean Zone
Night – Golden Bean Awards Dinner (Pirate Theme)
For more information about the Australia / NZ Golden Bean sign up for the AU / NZ newsletter.
A more comprehensive program will be available on the ABOUT page of the competition websites closer to the event. Limited spaces will be available for the conference and the evening functions, so be sure to get in quick! (Tickets are first come, first served). You can sign up for the conference on the ENTER / ATTEND page.
If you can’t make the entire event, be sure you make the activities on Super Saturday where we hold the Green Bean Zone, which features leading green bean suppliers, equipment suppliers and other specialty products. Come along for a free breakfast and get involved in the cupping to simplify your purchasing decisions with over 100 coffees on the table.
Following the Green Bean Zone is the Golden Bean Awards evening which we are excited to announce is pirate themed. A few years ago in Australia we had a crazy idea to have a back-to-school themed awards party. We had such a fantastic response that we’ve incorporated dress-up theme to every year’s celebrations! Get working on your outfit, walk the plank and collect your medals!
Each year we seek to make small changes to the competition and conference. This year we aim to improve the experience for participants and will be tweaking the competition format a little based on competitor feedback.
New in 2017
• There will be three Overall Champion award categories for both events:
– Commercial Coffee Roaster
– Small Franchise (3-20 stores)
– Large Franchise (20+ stores)
• A filter score will also be incorporated into the overall results
– Espresso + Milk + Filter
• New Zealand roasters are now invited to participate in all facets of the conference and competition of the Australian event. The event will now be called “Golden Bean AU / NZ Coffee Roasters Competition & Conference”.
• The AU/ NZ conference program has been adjusted to make this a five day event giving more time to further evaluate the coffee, enjoy the workshop sessions and scope for attendees to peruse Port Macquarie.
• The AU/NZ conference registration cost has been reduced to $550 per person.
• We will continue to use the new online Award Force system for coffee entries to provide feedback post event. We’ll be making a few tweaks to further enhance this system and improve usage and functionality.
What you need to do now:
- Secure your position at your preferred Pentair Everpure Golden Bean event by completing registration and book your accommodations.
- Start working on preparing your coffee entries… ENTRIES open soon!
We are keen to grow the number of roasters attending the competition. As the number of entries increase, the need for industry judges to complete the epic task of judging thousands of coffees at the Golden Bean competitions grows. With new countries coming on board, the Golden Bean is now the world’s largest coffee roasters competition.
We wish everyone the best of luck preparing for this year’s competition and conference. Should you have any questions, please contact the Café Culture International team by emailing info@cafeculture.com. Otherwise we look forward to seeing you at one, or both, of our events!
News
Café Culture International, Australian partner of the Pentair Everpure Golden Bean, have joined forces with leading trade publication Fresh Cup Magazine.
Bellisimo Coffee Advisors have refocused their energy into some other parts of their local Portland based businesses. The team at Bellisimo has done a great job establishing this great event in North America using their vast coffee networks, giving credibility to the competition at its early stages of promotion.
The future of Pentair Everpure Golden Bean North America is very bright with two long established media businesses using their national networks to help promote the growth of the coffee roasting industry nationally and globally.
Jan Weigel, President of Fresh Cup Magazine, and Sean Edwards, Managing Director of Café Culture International, have been close friends for years and when the opportunity came available to run the Pentair Everpure Golden Bean together the pair took on this exciting challenge and started brainstorming fresh ideas for the event. Jan Weigel has a passion for event management and has already come up with creative ideas for Golden Bean North America, helping to create even more amazing social and networking opportunities for coffee roasters.
