US Coffee in Good Spirits Skills Workshop

Join past US Coffee in Good Spirits Champions and current Head Judges for a hands-on workshop hosted by Olympia Coffee at the Cedar Hall event space in downtown Seattle. Together, we’ll explore the craft at the intersection of specialty coffee and mixology.

The Coffee in Good Spirits discipline highlights the creativity, technical skills, and hospitality behind combining coffee and spirits to create exciting cocktails, while also building the foundations to participate in the USCC National Competition in 2026.

This session will cover:

• Fundamentals of working with coffee and alcohol
• Techniques for balance, flavor development, and presentation
• Classic and modern coffee cocktail builds
• Insights into the USCC Coffee in Good Spirits competition and skill development for competitors and judges.

Whether you’re a barista, bartender, competitor, or coffee enthusiast, you’ll leave with new techniques, inspiration, and confidence to craft elevated coffee cocktails.

Competitors/Coaches/Cocktail Enthusiasts: Join us for us for any or all of these modules throughout the day:

9a-10a: Welcome, Competition Overview, Mock Open Service Presenetation

10a-11a Espresso & Brewing for Cocktails

11a-1230p Foundations of Coffee & Spirits Pairing

1230-130 Break

130-300p Mixology Techniques for Baristas

3-5p Mystery Box "Chopped" Style Drink Creation with Judge Panel

Judges:

Join us for an all day calibration and judge skills develeopment:

9a-10a: Welcome, Competition Overview, Mock Open Service Presenetation

10-11:15a Rules, judge criteria, unconscious bias and ethics

11:15a-12:30p Visual + Technical Scoring Criteria

1230-130p Break

130-3p - Sensory scoring and spirit knowledge basics

3-5p Judge Practice Panels for Mystery Box "Chopped" Style Drink Creation

Also check out other Contests in Seattle, Workshops in Seattle.