Preparing for the World Stage as a Coffee Operator and Competitor

When I first started working in coffee, I never imagined the journey would take me around the world.

What started as curiosity turned into an obsession with learning about the craft. That curiosity eventually led me to roasting coffee, opening a café, brewing for guests every day, and now preparing to compete on the world stage in Korea.

It’s a strange and humbling experience. On one hand, I’m stepping onto a competition stage. On the other, I’m still doing the same thing I’ve always done: brewing a cup of coffee for someone.

The only difference now is that the someone happens to be a panel of judges.

Winning the U.S. AeroPress Championship gave me the opportunity to represent not only Goldchild, but also the United States. That responsibility changes the way you approach the competition. You start thinking less about yourself and more about the craft, the people who helped you get there, and the coffee itself.

Preparing for competition taught me a few important things.

First, consistency matters more than complexity. A lot of new competitors think they need to invent something wild or push the limits with complicated techniques. In reality, the goal is simple: brew the best cup of coffee possible, over and over again.

Keep it simple. Let the coffee speak for itself.

Second, competition is really just an extension of hospitality.

In the cafe, we tailor a cup of coffee to the guest standing in front of us. On stage, the same mindset applies. The judges become the guest. The goal is still the same: brew a cup that communicates something clear, thoughtful, and intentional.

For me, coffee has always been about connection.

It’s that one thing that allows someone to slow down just long enough to feel human again. Brewing a cup of coffee with intention gives me the opportunity to take care of someone, even if it’s just for a moment.

That mindset doesn’t change whether I’m brewing behind the bar at Goldchild or standing on a competition stage.If anything, competition reinforces it.

When I think about preparing for Korea, the mindset stays the same: stay calm, keep the process simple, and trust the coffee. At the end of the day, competition isn’t about theatrics or trying to impress judges with something flashy.

The goal is simply to brew the best cup possible — the kind of cup that judges would choose again and again.

For anyone thinking about entering their first AeroPress competition, my advice is simple: don’t let the pressure get to you. Focus on consistency, understand your variables, and trust your process.

Grind size, water temperature, and brew ratio all matter. But what matters just as much is understanding what you want someone to taste in the cup and how you want the coffee to be represented.

That’s where the real craft lives. For me, competing has never been about the trophy. It’s about pushing myself and leading by example.

At Goldchild, we talk a lot about three core ideas: hospitality, education, and quality. Those values guide how we show up for our guests every day, and they also guide how I approach competition.

Stepping onto the competition stage pushes me to raise my own standards so I can ask the same from our team.

If I’m willing to challenge myself at that level, it sets the tone for how we show up behind the bar every day. Because in the end, competition and café service aren’t that different.

Both come down to the same thing: showing up with intention and brewing the best cup of coffee you can.

— Jeff