What gives a beverage that “wow” factor? Today, we interview some of the industry’s top competitors to find out.
BY TAYLOR MURPHY-DYER
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Featured photo: Jerry Truong’s winning drink at the 2025 U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits Championship. Photo courtesy of Jerry Truong.
“What goes into creating a magic moment?” This is the question that Jak Michael Ryan, Global Coffee Lead of Proud Mary Coffee, posed to himself this competition season.
“Usually it’s the combination of senses,” he says. “To truly create magic, you have to create something that doesn’t just look good, but sounds good and tastes good and feels good—and ticks all of those boxes.”
So… how do you do that? This is the question I want answered. How do the top competitors in the nation create beverages that excite, push boundaries, and create magic? In this article, I’ll be talking with some of the industry’s top coffee competitors to explore each of their processes in drink development.
My hope is that through these conversations, we can answer this question—not just for me, but for any future competitors who may be questioning whether they should compete or where to begin.
Finding the Perfect Pairing
For Alex Bertrand of Goshen Coffee Roasters, who placed 6th in the 2025 United States Coffee in Good Spirits (CIGS) competition, it all began with flavor pairing. To prepare for the competition, Alex conducted a spirit cupping alongside special lots of coffee to see what would pair best. Any pairings that they found exciting prompted the question: “Is there anything here we can expand upon?”
Alex ultimately landed on a Java variety from producer Nestor Lasso in Colombia. From there, they looked at what flavors were in season and what story they could tell—just as they typically do when making drink recipes for their café.
Telling a Story Through Flavor
Jak Michael Ryan, who placed 6th in this year’s U.S. Barista Championship, began with the only part of signature beverages he truly enjoys: the coffee. Jak jokingly describes his disdain of the signature beverage part of competition. “I don’t personally enjoy mixing other flavors with coffee. It is actually like my 11th circle of hell that Dante didn’t write about,” he told Barista Magazine. “It’s not only something I don’t enjoy but it’s something I don’t have much exposure to.”
Coming from Melbourne, Australia, Jak is more accustomed to coffee menus focused purely on coffee and milk. This caused him to be stuck for a long time. It wasn’t until members of the Proud Mary team returned from Mama Cata, the farm in Panama from where his coffee comes, that he realized what connected this coffee and Proud Mary: Both owners built their places by hand, with wood.
From there, Jak was able to bring each element of his signature drink together: cedar wood infused milk, steam distilled blueberries, Mama Cata Geisha espresso, cedar, and hydrozole blueberry aroma.
Alex, meanwhile, leaned further into ingredient pairing when they realized their fruity, blueberry-forward coffee was perfect for a Tiki-style beverage. “(During development, I tried) to take these tropical items—these fruit-forward and spiced items—and bring them together to synthesize something that doesn’t exactly taste like the individual parts, but tastes like something entirely new,” Alex says.
Inspiration for Future Competitors
For readers who hope to one day compete but aren’t sure where to start, my hope is that tomorrow brings something more powerful—an inexplicable drive that compels you to know more. May that initial curiosity transform into an insatiable quest to understand why we compete, how we compete, and to appreciate how the world of competition, with all its different ingredients, creates something that is, as Alex describes it, greater than the sum of its parts—something entirely new.
Until next time, I’ll leave you with Alex’s straightforward advice for those considering competition: “Honestly, just do it.”
Stay Tuned
In the coming weeks, we’ll talk to more coffee competitors and learn about their processes this competition season—keep an eye out.
Taylor Murphy-Dyer is a seasoned coffee professional, currently focused in education and competitions as a Wholesale Education Manager and Head Judge for the U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits competition. Outside of work, Taylor prioritizes time with her incredible family. Her creative passion extends to the kitchen, where she enjoys cooking, baking, and developing original recipes.
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