Ready, Set, Press! - The 2015 Eastern Regional Aeropress Championship

Jan 25th 2015 Written by steve.rhinehart

If you're familiar with Louisville's local coffee scene, you know we love a good coffee competition. And this week, our local coffee pros and beanheads are bristling in anticipation, because the ERAC is coming to town! This Saturday, January 31st, we will be hosting the 2015 US Eastern Regional Aeropress Championship at Quills Coffee at 930 Baxter Ave. The competition starts at 7 PM, and we're positive it's going to be a grand old time.

Prima Coffee is proud to be sponsoring the event, along with a whole host of fine companies who have donated prizes and swag, and generally worked to throw together what's sure to be a heck of a fun night. The 18-competitor roster has been full for weeks now, but the event is still free and open to the public, with complimentary food and some sweet door prizes. We'll also be setting up a little Prima Pop-up, selling Aeropresses and brewing gear right at the event.

Never been to an Aeropress competition before? Here's the skinny: each competitor has access to kettles, an EK43 grinder, and some of Quills' delicious coffee (or they can supply their own beans of choice), and all they have to do is brew a tasty cup of coffee. The judges taste these brews blind, in groups of three, and select only one winner from each group. After three rounds, the best Aeropress brew will emerge victorious, with a seriously amazing prize pack -- including an uber cool Aeropress trophy created by Aerobie just for the event. The first place competitor also wins a plane ticket and a spot to compete in the 2015 US Aeropress Championship in Los Angeles, to vie for the esteemed title of Best Aeropresser in the US!

We'll be covering the event as it goes down, so check out our posts using the hashtag #ERAC2015, and look for another blog post next week featuring the winner's signature Aeropress recipe. If you're in the Louisville area, we hope to see you in person at the event!

Finally, we've got to give a huge shout-out to our fellow sponsors for being so generous. Without their help, this simply could not have happened: Quills Coffee, Sunergos Coffee, Baratza, Ancap USA, Able Brewing, Acaia, Mahlkonig USA, Barista Magazine, and Aerobie!