• The Global Coffee Awards honour the world’s best roasteries and the producers who supply their coffees.
• The Origin edition, recognising roasting excellence in coffee-producing countries, was held on 1 October 2025 in Houston, Texas.
• The overall winner is Colombia’s Casa Landino, named the best roaster in an origin country.
• US & Canada, Origin, and Europe Gold winners will compete at the global finals. These will be held at Producer & Roaster Forum El Salvador on 26 & 27 March 2026, where the world champion will be announced.

The Origin edition of the Global Coffee Awards, a competition that rewards roasting excellence on an international scale, took place on 1 October 2025 in Houston, Texas. 

As part of the GCA, expert judges blind-tasted bags of roasted coffee submitted across multiple categories, including filter, espresso, and milk-based drinks. Using an objective and transparent scoring system, the judges provided actionable feedback to all entrants, ensuring they can get the best results from their coffees and generate new revenue streams.

Read on to find out who the winners are, how you can take part in the upcoming Europe edition, and when the global finals will be held.

Learn more about the GCA here.

The GCA recognises roasting excellence at origin

The Global Coffee Awards invited roasters in producing countries around the world to submit bags of their most exceptional coffees across various defined categories. Roasters of any size could take part, resulting in a unique competition that recognised the skills and expertise of a diverse range of coffee businesses.

“The competition is very relevant because, collectively, we now think more about how end consumers experience coffee,” says Jayson Galvis, a two-time CoE international lead judge, as well as the Lead Judge for the US & Canada and Origin GCA competitions. “As an industry, we rarely recognise roasters in producing countries, and that is the most valuable aspect of the GCA.”

In addition to the US & Canada and European editions, the Origin category helps level the playing field in international coffee competitions. Through its regional format, the GCA is designed to find not only the best roasters in the US & Canada, Europe, and coffee-producing countries, but also to place the winners to compete against each other – culminating in a global champion.

There are a number of reasons for this. Much of the value in the coffee industry is generated by roasting, after which coffee is marketed and sold. Although there are many roasters in origin countries, most are based in majority-consuming countries, where much of the marketing takes place.

This means that most of the value in the supply chain is traditionally added once coffee has left a producing country. Roasting coffee at origin is one of the many ways to attain more value in these countries, thereby helping industry professionals in these regions receive higher prices.

“A key part of the GCA is ensuring roasters at origin receive more of the global spotlight, highlighting and rewarding their commitment to excellence, consistency, and quality,” says Henry Wilson, the founder of GCA and PRF. 

“We’re also acknowledging the growth of the specialty coffee roasters at origin, including those who have wholesale accounts in the US, which demonstrates a significant shift in trade dynamics and a huge increase in quality.”

All editions of the competition also reward the producers who grew the winning coffees. This is especially important for the Origin event, as it supports the expertise and dedication of all coffee professionals in producing countries.

The European edition will be held on 29 & 30 October 2025 in Bordeaux, France. You can submit coffees here and contact Emi Rueda, the GCA Associate Project Manager, via WhatsApp here for more information.

The GCA judging process

The panel consisted of one lead judge, four certified Q-grader sensory judges, several shadow judges, and coordinator judges. The day before the event, all judges calibrated their palates and agreed on the best brew ratios and standardised brewing processes. 

An objective and transparent scoring system was used for every entrant across all categories. These include Filter Coffee, Espresso, Flat White with Dairy, and Flat White with Alternative Milk. Each category contains several subcategories, with up to three points available for each coffee.

The coffees in each category were prepared as a consumer would experience them in a café, using specific brew ratios and brewing protocols:

• Filter: prepared using Bentwood H75 grinders, Tone 03 brewers, and Hario V60s provided by Equipment Suppliers GH Grinding + Brewing Solutions and Geva Coffee
• Espresso: prepared using Pinecone Siberian grinders, Sanremo espresso machines, and a PuqPress, also provided by GH Grinding + Brewing Solutions and Geva Coffee, as well as Espresso Sponsor Moplaco Trading
• Flat White with Dairy and Flat White with Alternative Milk: prepared using the automated MilkPal, provided by Equipment Supplier Marco Beverage Systems

The scoring system for each category included:

• Judging form – provided a numerical score across multiple criteria and a sensory snapshot (tasting notes and key descriptors)
• A coordinator form – provided a sensory snapshot, guidance on how to improve roast profile development, and food pairing suggestions from the judges

As part of a two-stage blind-tasting process, the judges first completed a two-minute sensory evaluation. For the Filter and Espresso categories, the judges assigned numerical scores between 5 and 10 for nine criteria, including aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, sweetness, and balance. For both Flat White categories, numerical scores were given for five criteria, including sweetness, balance, and mouthfeel.

The judges also noted down any qualitative points. The coordinator then led a three-minute discussion with the judges to discuss their feedback in detail, ensuring that all judges were aligned.

“It’s a practical, simple evaluation system explicitly designed for evaluating roasted coffee that offers constructive feedback,” Jayson says. “All points are positive and focus on improvements, supporting roasters and the overall industry.”

Who won at the GCA Origin competition?

The winners of the GCA Origin Roasted competition are:

Overall winner: Casa Landino in Bogotá, Colombia

Category winners:

For subcategories, entrants who received identical numerical scores both placed first to ensure fairness and parity.

Gold winners of each sub-category (roaster and producer):

Filter

• Blend – Maestro Jose Alejandro Gutierrez (Gesha and Wush Wush), Casa Landino & Jose Alejandro Gutierrez in Tolima, Colombia
• Single origin traditional – Maestro Juan Maria Caez (Caturra), Casa Landino & Juan Maria Caez in Nariño, Colombia
• Single origin experimental – 4 Elementos, Linea Gran Reserva-Esencia Frutal (blend of Java, Gesha, and Tabi varieties), Café La Vereda in Calarca, Colombia & Deisy Ardila in Colombia
• Washed
  • Gesha, Amor Perfecto in Bogotá, Colombia & Astrid Medina in Colombia
  • Geishaverse Diamante, Café Cultor in Bogotá, Colombia (producer undisclosed)
• Natural
  • Esperanza (hybrid cross of Ethiopian and Sarchimor varieties), Cafetalera Aquiares in Turrialba, Costa Rica (both roaster and producer)
  • Mundo Maya, Zozoaga in León, Mexico & Carlos Cadena in Mexico
• Honey – Aponte Honey (Caturra and Colombia varieties), Pergamino in Medellín, Colombia & Resguardo Indígena de Aponte in Colombia
• Experimental – Washed anaerobic fermentation Caturra, Café Cultor (producer undisclosed)
• Robusta – Fine Robusta Cư M’Gar, Every Half in Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam & Every Half X Vietnam Coffee Cooperative
• Decaf – Lomaverde Descafeinado, Pergamino & Familia Echavarría in Colombia

Espresso

• Blend – Washed Caturra Sunrise, Café Cultor (producer undisclosed)
• Single origin traditional – washed Guji (heirloom variety), Galani Coffee & Guji Dry Station Kercha Hambela in Ethiopia
• Single origin experimental – Sheka honey (heirloom variety), Galani Coffee & Sheka Kawo Kamina Farm in Ethiopia
• Decaf – Blend 0 (mix of Caturra, Colombia, and Castillo varieties), Casa Landino & Comunidad La Serrania in Colombia

Flat White Dairy

• Blend – Pasionaria (Pink Bourbon natural anaerobic fermentation), Café Cultor (producer undisclosed)
• Single origin traditional
  • Café Volcan (blend of Caturra, Red Patch, Typica, Mundo Novo, Marsellesa, and Anacafe 14 varieties), Finca Peniel in Guatemala City, Guatemala (both roaster and producer)
  • Balmaadi natural arabica, Marc’s Coffees in Tamil Nadu, India & Unna Thiagarajan from Balmaadi Plantation, India
• Single origin experimental – Caturra Viñedo, DeLa Finca Specialty Coffee & Heberto Rivas in Nicaragua

Flat White Alternative

• Blend – Café de las Nubes (producer undisclosed)
• Single origin traditional – Meridiano (Typica Mejorado variety), Cabra Negra in Quito, Ecuador & M. Hervas in Ecuador

Participating roasters will also receive digital and physical Certificates of Achievement and Gold, Silver, and Bronze Global Coffee Awards seals. These are distinctive marks of excellence that they can display on their packaging, marketing materials, websites, social media channels, and menus.

All winning roasters will also be included in an internationally distributed digital catalogue, offering global brand exposure.

You can find all the Origin category and subcategory winners here.

Highlighting the specialty coffee market in producing countries

The GCA provided insight into a broad range of specialty coffee markets in producing countries, and offered unique comparisons to the results of the US & Canada competition, which was held on 29 & 30 September.

Roasters across Latin America (including Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Ecuador, and El Salvador) took part, as well as brands from Kenya, Ethiopia, Vietnam, India, and the Philippines.

The majority of winning coffees encompassed more traditional washed, natural, and honey lots, but there were also more experimental techniques such as natural and washed anaerobic fermentation. 

Moreover, the event, hosted in Houston, Texas, at green coffee importer Copan Trade, featured more unique and exclusive varieties than the US & Canada edition, such as Papayo and Typica Mejorado. These are often seen at other high-end competitions like the World Barista Championships.

There was also a diverse range of flavour notes – from toasted oats to white pepper, burnt grapefruit, sugarcane, sage, clove, and panela. The results reflected local and regional cuisines and flavour preferences often underrepresented in the global coffee industry.

“We also had robusta submissions in the Filter category at the Origin event, reflecting the ever-improving quality of an historically undervalued coffee species,” Henry says. 

In the 1950s, robusta accounted for only 13% of the global coffee market. Fast forward to 2021, and it comprised 40%, indicating huge market growth and rapidly rising interest from both roasters and consumers. 

Supporting market growth in coffee-producing countries

A key part of the GCA is providing all entrants with actionable feedback that enables them to enhance their roasting skills and refine their menu offerings. All participating roasters receive a Competitor Feedback Report, which outlines the evaluation process, feedback philosophy, coordinator tasting notes and key descriptors, and suggested food pairings.

In rapidly-growing specialty coffee markets like Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, and East Africa, this is especially critical. By 2030, India’s coffee market, for instance, is forecast to double in value, with specialty coffee accounting for nearly 18% of this growth.

“We understand that every roaster invests time and effort towards their coffees,” Jayson explains. “Market prices have remained high over the last couple of years, so roasters are taking extra care to maintain and improve quality.”

“We also want to advise them on how the coffee can be used, what it can be paired with, and how they can continuously improve it,” Jayson adds. “Through the subcategories, we can suggest food pairings, which helps bring consumers closer to roasted coffee and allows roasters to generate more value in the future.”

The GCA global finals

All category Gold winners of the US & Canada, Origin, and Europe events will advance to the global finals, which will be held at PRF El Salvador on 26 & 27 March 2026, where they will compete for international recognition. There will also be an awards ceremony for the sub-category and category winners, which will take place on the evening of the first day of PRF.

The GCA team reverse-engineered the winning coffees to establish the producers responsible for growing them. This means that when a roaster submits a bag of coffee, they automatically enter the producer who grew the coffee into the competition.

The team will send complimentary invitations to the winning producers to attend the global finals and awards ceremony. This gives roasters a unique opportunity to meet the producer behind their coffee, thereby strengthening long-term commercial relationships and ensuring that producers share in the recognition for coffee excellence.

Winning producers also receive a GCA seal and Certificate of Excellence, acknowledging their crucial role in the industry.

The European competition will take place on 29 & 30 October 2025 in Bordeaux, France, hosted at Belco. The entry kit is available here.

Participating in shadow judging at the GCA offers coffee professionals the opportunity to learn firsthand about cupping and coffee tasting protocols and engage with some of the most experienced cuppers in the industry. To be considered for this judging position, fill out this form, or this form for a sensory judge position.

The Global Coffee Awards is pushing the boundaries of excellence and prestige in the coffee industry, giving roasters around the world a valuable opportunity to elevate their branding and achieve international recognition.

Contact info@globalcoffeeawards.com and the GCA project manager, Emi Rueda, via WhatsApp here for more information.

Apply to compete in the European GCA competition here.

Photo credits: Marett Media

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