The Barista League Is Coming Back to Atlanta—Here’s Everything You Need to Know

Six teams, five judges, seven roasters: The Barista League’s North America 2026 event arrives at The Loft in Atlanta on September 3.

BY VASILEIA FANARIOTI
SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT

Photos courtesy of The Barista League

What to know:

• Coffee competition The Barista League is coming to North America on September 3, revisiting Atlanta, Georgia, for the first time since 2023
• Six teams will take the stage, representing Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, and Canada
• The event will consist of many special guests, including reigning U.S. Barista Champion Jak Ryan, Marissa Childers of Tanbrown Coffee, Anthony Ragler of Black and White Coffee Roasters, and more
• Seven roasters will set up in the Roasters Village, including Little Waves Coffee Roasters and Panther Coffee
• Tickets and more information are available at thebaristaleague.com

The Barista League (TBL) has had a busy year so far. Since launching its redesigned competition format in Prague in the spring, the team has continued its 2026 global season through Mexico City and Tokyo.

On September 3, the season comes to North America, and specifically to Atlanta, Georgia—a city TBL first visited in 2023 and is now returning to with its most polished event format yet. 

The competition

The Barista League’s format rewards the full coffee experience—concept, service, and product—over technical demonstration alone. Teams are judged by five industry professionals acting as café customers, engaging in live conversation throughout each ten-minute performance. Every performance will be live-streamed (for the first time at a North American TBL event), so the rest of the world can follow along in real time.

Six teams will take the stage, representing Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, and Canada. The lineup spans the full breadth of what specialty coffee looks like in North America right now: corporate coffee activation specialists, Atlanta locals competing on home turf, a Canadian direct buyer working with over 150 Colombian producers, multi-discipline competition veterans with USBC and World Aeropress Championship experience, and baristas stepping onto a national stage for the first time. 

The judging panel is drawn from across the industry. Anthony Ragler, Director of Sales and Technology at Black and White Coffee Roasters, brings a career spanning Counter Culture, Vigilante Coffee, and the Re:Co Symposium Fellowship. Jenna Gotthelf, Head of Events and Partnerships at Counter Culture Coffee, has spent years building community around the craft. 

Juan Diaz of Know Where Coffee is a CQI Q Arabica Grader and SCA Sensory Professional. Aaron Fender, co-founder and CEO of Portrait Coffee in Atlanta’s West End—and the subject of Barista Magazine‘s February + March 2026 cover feature—is one of the most recognized figures in the city’s growing specialty scene and brings a home-court perspective to the panel. And Rachel Apple—Cup of Excellence Head Judge, U.S. Barista Championship Head Judge, and co-founder of the education nonprofit Raise the Bar—rounds out a panel that covers competition, community, and craft in equal measure.

Jak Ryan, Global Coffee Lead at Proud Mary Coffee and reigning U.S. Barista Champion, and Marissa Childers, founder of Tanbrown Coffee and winner of TBL Atlanta 2023, will MC the evening.

Beyond the stage

Around the competition, The Loft becomes something TBL does well—a high-energy space that sits somewhere between coffee event and industry night out. Seven roasters will be set up in the Roasters Village, each brewing coffee you’d normally have to travel for: 

Partners including Toddy, Rancilio, Mazzer, 1883, Dona, and Pacific Foods will be on the floor with challenges, demos, and giveaways. Food and drinks will also be available throughout the evening.

About the city + more information

Atlanta’s specialty-coffee scene has been building quietly for years and is now, by most accounts, one of the most interesting in the South. Portrait Coffee in the West End, Chrome Yellow on Edgewood, Notable at Wild Heaven, East Pole in Poncey-Highland—the city has a growing roster of serious, community-driven coffee businesses that give TBL’s return visit a natural context. For those travelling in, it’s worth arriving with time to explore before the doors open at 5pm.

Tickets and further information are available at thebaristaleague.com. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vasileia Fanarioti (she/her) is a senior online correspondent for Barista Magazine and a freelance copywriter and editor with a primary focus on the coffee niche. She has also been a volunteer copywriter for the I’M NOT A BARISTA NPO, providing content to help educate people about baristas and their work.

Subscribe and More!

As always, you can enjoy your own copy of Barista Magazine by subscribing or ordering an issue. Long live physical media!

Support Barista Magazine and show your love with a Membership.

Signup for our weekly newsletter.

Join us at Camp Coffee Shop Aug. 10-13 in Napa, California.