WHAT IS BEST ROASTER?

Best Roaster is a peer-assessed, uncompromising challenge, focused on the real-world skills and expertise of the world’s best coffee roasters.  More than that, it is a celebration of the hard work and dedication that goes into being one of the world’s best coffee roasters.

COMPETITION FORMAT

Roasters must first pass the selection round, where they submit a coffee to a jury of expert cuppers who blind cup the coffees twice to select a final 10 competitors.

From there, each finalist roasts two coffees; a mandatory coffee provided to them as well as a sourced coffee they they select themselves.

The final round is judged by the roasters themselves along with a small panel of VIP judges to determine the Nordics Best Roaster.

RULES AND COFFEE CRITERIA FOR 2026

In 2026, the sourcing criteria is the same for both the application round and the final round:

Region: Any

Varietal: Any

Maximum price: 45 USD/kg (all in cost paid to get the coffee to your door).

Process: Any processing and fermentation protocol is allowed, but no co-fermentation. No additives, except water, may be added to coffee after harvest. This includes exposure to other fruit, substances, foreign yeasts& bacteria, spices, liquids, powders, etc.

FAQ

  • Competing in Nordics Best Roaster is not just a chance to win and promote your company in media, amongst your peers and with a growing coffee drinking market, but a unique opportunity to actively compare, analyze and discuss their roasted coffee with their peers in a open and encouraging space.

  • Any commercial coffee roastery selling at least 1 ton of coffee per year, and is located in one of the following countries: Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Åland or Svalbard.

  • The selection round couldn’t be easier: just select 1 bag of roasted coffee that meets the criteria and ship it to the organizer on time for the selection cupping.

     If you make it to the final round, you will need to roast two different coffees and bring 10kg of each to the final round in the end of February 2026. The Sourced coffee (that you will need to source) must meet the criteria, while 50kg of the mandatory coffee will be shipped to you for roasting. 

    Two members of the roasting team must be present for the final round to participate in the final round and be present for the prize ceremony – this will all take place during Nordic Coffee Fest 2026 (Gothenburg, 28 Feb-1 Mar). 

    That’s it.

  • We share all scores from the Selection Cupping. However, due to the high volume of applicants and coffees in this round, judges may not be able to provide detailed notes on every sample—though they do their best to offer feedback where possible.

  • You can check it out above, or in the rules. But we will put it here again for you:

    Region: Any
    Varietal: Any
    Maximum price: 45 USD/kg (all in cost paid to get the coffee to your door).
    Process: Any processing and fermentation protocol is allowed, but no co-fermentation. No additives, except water, of any kind may be added to coffee after harvest. This includes exposure to other fruit, substances, foreign yeasts & bacteria, spices, liquids, powders, etc.

  • Yes, all coffee used in the competition (excluding the 10kg required for the competition) is the property of the competing roaster and may be sold for commercial purposes before, during or after the competition. You can even bring it with you to sell during Nordic Coffee Fest if you want to.

  • 200 EUR to enter selection round

    600 EUR if selected into the finals

    Travel and accommodation to Gothenburg for two of your roasting team if selected into the finals

  • We thought you might ask, so we did some calculation for you:

    Average cost of competing as a finalist

    if you spend the maximum amount on your sourced coffee

    Competition Fee: 800 EUR
    Travel + Accom (2 people): 1100 EUR

    Food: 300 EUR

    Green Coffee for sourced Round: 1200 EUR

    Shipping: 100 EUR

    Total Cost: 3500 EUR

    Income from Competition:

    Sales of Sourced Competition Coffee (Assuming 15kg of 130eur/kg): 1950 EUR

    Sales of Mandatory Competition Coffee (Assuming 40kg of 80eur/kg): 2800 EUR

    Brand Exposure: Free

    Professional Development + Team Building: Free

    Networking: Free

    Total Income: 4750 EUR

    This would leave you walking away from the competition with 1350EUR in your hands even if you don’t hold the trophy.

  • The title of Nordics Best Roaster 2026, a beautiful trophy to display in your café or roastery and bragging rights for a full year?

  • This is one of our favourite parts of the competition.  During Nordic Coffee Fest, we brew all of the competition coffees for the attendees of the festival to taste and vote for their favourite.  We tally up all of the votes and the winner receives the Nordics Best Roaster’s Public Choice Award along with a beautiful trophy.

  • We consult with all of the finalists on the timing of the final round and prize ceremony, but in the past the cupping for the finals takes place on a Friday Morning with workshops and analysis during that day, and then the prize ceremony is on the Sunday afternoon of the Festival.

  • Our wonderful staff and volunteers take care of this for you so you don’t have to think about it.  When possible, we want the roasters to dial in their coffee so it tastes the way you want it to. This information will be conveyed to the finalists in good time before the festival.

  • All of the nitty gritty details are in the rules – we made the shorter and easier to read, so please go check them out. 

  • We like to keep things simple. The final round is judged by a simple ranking of the 10 coffees. Judges select their first favourite (which receives 10 points), down to their least favourite on the table (Which receives 1 point).  We tally up the scores and calculate a winner.

  • Our cupping panel ranks their top 10 coffees from the total number of cups on the table.  For example, with 30 entrants, they will cup all 30 and rank their top 10 from 10 points down to 1 point – just like the final round.  The 10 coffees with the highest points go through to the final round

  • The selection round will take place in September.

  • If you make it to the final round, all roasters will reiceve the mandatory coffee at the same time. This is typically between October-December and will be communicated to you in good time.

  • Any time you want, just make sure it is ready to ship to Gothenburg so it arrives by the 20th Feb 2026.  You will be asked to fill out information about the coffee in the weeks prior, so it helps if you know what you have sourced a bit earlier than the 20th.

CURIOUS ABOUT THE PARTICIPATING COFFEES in 2025?

Check out the winners and competition coffees for Nordics Best Roaster 2025.