• AUSTRALASIAN OVERALL CHAMPIONS

    • 2006: Campos
    • 2007: Nats Coffee
    • 2008: Coffee Snobs
    • 2009: Di Bella
    • 2010: Mahalia
    • 2011: Dimattina
    • 2012: Coffee Snobs
    • 2013: Proud Mary
    • 2014: Uncle Joe’s Coffee
    • 2015: Uncle Joe’s Coffee
    • 2016: Di Bella
    • 2017: ONA
    • 2018: Coffee Snobs
    • 2019: Glee Coffee
    • 2020: Blacklist
    • 2021: Coffee Snobs
    • 2022: Coffee Tech
  • AMERICAN OVERALL CHAMPIONS

    • 2015: Klatch Coffee
    • 2016: Oceana Coffee
    • 2017: Black Oak
    • 2018: Black Oak/Bonlife
    • 2019: Bonlife Coffee Roasters
    • 2020: N/A
    • 2021: N/A
    • 2022: Prairie Lily Coffee Roasters
    • 2023: Bonlife Coffee Roasters
  • Overall Small Chain / Franchise / Retail Champions - Australasia

    • 2012: Overall - Nashi roasted by Veneziano Coffee
    • 2013: Overall - Coffee Hit
    • 2014: Overall - Muffin Break
    • 2015: Overall (pre-small/large franchise)- ONA
    • 2016: Overall (pre-small/large franchise) - Tulip Shi
    • 2017: Small Chain - Espresso Room
    • 2018: Small Chain - ONA contracted by Espresso Room
    • 2019: Small Chain - ONA contracted by Espresso Room
    • 2020: Small Chain - Campos
    • 2021: Small Chain - Campos/Infinity
    • 2022: Small Chain - Coffee Tech/Mavis & Co
  • Overall Large Chain / Franchise / Retail Champions - Australasia

    • 2017: Jamaica Blue
    • 2018: Nine Bars
    • 2019: Aldi Australia/Black Bag Roasters
    • 2020: Black Bag Roasters
    • 2021: Aldi Australia/Black Bag Roasters
    • 2022: Aldi Australia/Black Bag Roasters
  • Overall Chain / Franchise / Retail Champions - The Americas

    • 2017: Klatch Coffee
    • 2018: Klatch Coffee (Small Franchise)
    • 2019: Crimson Cup (Small Franchise)
    • 2019: Canterbury Coffee (Large Franchise)
    • 2020: N/A
    • 2021: N/A
    • 2022: Big Shoulders Coffee (Small Franchise)
    • 2022: Canterbury Coffee (Large Franchise)
    • 2023: Theory Coffee Roasters (Small Franchise)
    • 2023: Canterbury Coffee (Large Franchise)

The World Series

Running since 2022, Golden Bean The World Series invites past gold and silver medalists from any Golden Bean competition to battle head-to-head to see who the best coffee roaster in the world is.

  • 2022 Results

    📍 Hawaii, USA

    • Overall Champion: The Coffee Commune AUSTRALIA
    • Franchise Champion: Black Bag Coffee Roasters AUSTRALIA
  • 2024 Results

    📍 Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

    • Overall Champion: Haven Coffee Roasters USA
    • Small Chain/Franchise: Espresso Room contracted by ONA AUSTRALIA and Big Shoulders USA
    • Large Chain/Retail: Black Bag Coffee Roasters AUSTRALIA

About Golden Bean

Golden Bean started in 2004 after its founder saw the global need to recognise the professional coffee roaster for their skills, dedication and passion toward coffee science.

The industry was very focused on making espresso coffee at the time and was only rewarding baristas. Coffee roasters are a vital link in the supply chain and are the flavour-makers for the coffee world. Many roasters also own their coffee businesses, and they are the decision makers controlling the direction of the market.

Sean and Kristine Edwards, owners of Café Culture Magazine attended a few small roasting competitions in New Zealand and North America, which was enlightening, however they felt they were not 100% inclusive as fair and equitable to the full range of coffee companies. So, they came back to the drawing board to see how they could design a competition where there were no barriers of entry for any size roastery.

The wine industry was a good benchmark for tasting competitions, they had been made very compliant through many years of trial and error, so deciding this was the best strategy the Golden Bean framework began to take place.

The Golden Bean has now rewarded thousands of coffee roasters since 2004 with a generous tiered award system and has connected everyone from the farmer to the consumer, in the process of the competition. Currently, the event is held on two continents - North America and Australia (encompassing The Americas and the Australasian territory), with Europe the next targeted area.

The event provides three levels of medal achievement for competitors – Bronze, 20% of entrants; Silver, 5% of entrants; and Gold, 1%. The overall winner is established by
combining the three highest scores from the Espresso, Milk and Filter categories.

The Golden Bean competition has judged over 30,000 individual coffees since 2004 and many of the overall champion roasters have used this award to grow their businesses into successful global organisations. The competition also has an education and networking component with the sponsors/suppliers provided with allocated speaking session times between judging time slots.

All the Golden Bean judges are mostly roasters or professionals from the coffee industry and must go through the Golden Bean Calibration process with the Head Judges before the event. The format of judging uses multiple tastings to break down the cuppings into a Final which is then judged by the Head Category Judges, whom have been involved in The Golden Bean over the last ten years. Every Golden Bean we can have over 100 judges and can judge about 1,500 coffees during the three days of the event.

Previous Naming Rights Sponsors

  • Equal
  • CSR
  • Nativa
  • Compak
  • Caffeto
  • Pentair

Previous Head Judges

  • Anne Cooper
  • Scott Angelo
  • Frankie Shi
  • Justin Metcalf
  • Stacey Lynden
  • Raihaan Esat