The Recap
2020 Coffee in Good Spirits Competition Season
The 2020 U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits championship season was broken down into three parts: 2 qualifying events and nationals. The first Qualifier was in Nashville, TN the weekend of January 11&12, 2020. The second was in Costa Mesa on February 21-23, 2020. The top 12 Good Spiriters from each qualifier moved on to compete at Nationals. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic US-CIGS, US-Roasters, and US-Cup Tasters were initially postponed and ultimately canceled. Even though the 2021 competition season is effectively canceled, those who qualified for Nationals will have the opportunity to complete their season during SCA Expo 2021 in April in New Orleans.
Below is a recap of each of the Glitter Cat CIGS competitions and how they ranked. Competitors had ten minutes to create both a hot and cold cocktail using espresso and/or manually brewed coffee. It’s a lot to do in 10 minutes and even more difficult to be dialing in a cocktail at 8 am before go time! We could not be more proud of what each of these Good Spiriters showcased.
COFFEE IN GOOD SPIRITS GLITTER CATS
photos taken by Faema USA unless otherwise noted
MiMo
Glitter Cat CIGS 2020
Qualifier Ranking - 2
National Qualifier
MiMo’s strength is in their ability to be MiMo. One hundred percent Mimo. Whether you call it a Boilermaker or a City Wide, Mimo’s first drink was a shot judges poured into their drink, swirled, and enjoyed. Then came an Irish coffee taken on a Polynesian vacation. We tasted these as they blew us away! MiMo had hand-written zines for the judges and gave them a handcrafted drinking buddy for their final beverages. MiMo is the essence of Glitter Cat: we are quirky, funky, and make damn good coffee!
Meghan-Annette Reida
(they/she
)
Glitter Cat CIGS 2020
Qualifier Ranking - 2
National Qualifier
Meghan-Annette had to call a technical timeout that delayed their presentation by twenty minutes. But that did not phase them. They came swinging with an incredibly thoughtful routine that paid tribute at every possible juncture to her town, Milwaukee. The journey of an independent competitor is daunting, and Meghan-Annette now has a second-place ranking and incredible momentum going into nationals to show for hard work, perseverance, and natural talent.
Jalen Kelly
(he/him)
Glitter Cat CIGS 2020
Qualifier Ranking - 3
National Qualifier
You ever want a beer or wine and all you have on hand is an espresso machine, various spirits, and a Kalita? Give Jalen a call, because he recreated a beer for his cold drink and wine for his warm, and we could not believe it wasn’t butter… sorry, beer. Jalen got real about being dismissed because he did not look like the people serving coffee in St. Louis and beyond. Smooth and impactful, this podiumer could win it all. Thank you for keeping us jumping and energetic.
Cyrenthia Ngueya
(she/her)
Glitter Cat CIGS 2020
Qualifier Ranking - 6
National Qualifier
She started a discussion about her warm drink by describing it as a warm hug made with oat milk, rum, cardamom bitters, and homemade pumpkin syrup. The creativity and talents didn’t stop there; it continued with a peaches and cream egg white foam, which is a combination of an egg white, some booze, and a few other magical ingredients. Cyrenthia controlled that stage, spoke truths about the dangers of alcohol, and inspired us with dignity.
Christina Lee
(she/her)
Glitter Cat CIGS 2020
Qualifier Ranking - 8
National Qualifier
Christina crafted drinks with various sojus and infusions and we were impressed! Her final coffee cocktail was clear! How do you even do that?! She was energetic and recreated a latte using clarified milk punch and espresso foam. Insider scoop - we were drinking the milk punch sending all the good vibes and feeling good. It's incredible to see Christina, a fairly new coffee professional, excel.
Matt Kumar
(he/him)
Glitter Cat CIGS 2020
Qualifier Ranking - 9
National Qualifier
Matt left nothing he could imagine out of his jam-packed routine that showed his love and knowledge of coffee and cocktail preparations, marrying them in a dizzying and fascinating presentation. When he wasn’t putting forth an incredible amount of knowledge, he was explaining his use of New York tap water by throwing shade at other cities’ water and that’s the energy we live for.
Robert Rodriguez
(he/him)
Glitter Cat CIGS 2020
Qualifier Ranking - 10
National Qualifier
Rob is the comforting and joyful presence we look forward to at every event and to see him bring his incredible skill to the stage felt just right. With a presentation that paid tribute to his mother, sister, and Puerto Rican heritage, he had all of us rushing to share a drink and a hug with one the kindest and most fiercely talented people in the industry. A true blessing to watch.
Bex DeBoer
(they/them)
Glitter Cat Barista 2019
Qualifier Ranking - 12
National Qualifier
We couldn’t have been more excited when this 2019 cat told us they would be competing in CIGS this year and wow did they bring the creative spirit. With a visible boost of confidence from their first year competing, they shared themselves and their cleverly crafted tiki cocktails with professionalism and warmth we can’t wait to see on that nationals stage.
Joanna Lareau
(she/her)
Glitter Cat CIGS 2020
Qualifier Ranking - 13
National Qualifier
As a cafe manager, Joanna works to break down barriers of intimidation in determining flavor descriptors for guests. Her cold beverage used hibiscus syrup, tequila, egg whites, and cherry and it was BLOOD RED. We stan. We are so proud of the Glitter Cat that started the weekend off. She showed us her real passion is working with those around her to help make things accessible and delicious and if that’s not the heart of Glitter Cat, we don’t know what is!
Mo Koolphanich
(she/her)
Glitter Cat CIGS 2020
Qualifier Ranking - 14
Mo’s drinks were inspired by traditional cocktails but were anything but old fashioned. She used things like kirsch, chartreuse reductions, gin, and her signature citrus “M” garnish to create, what we’re calling, “Mo-tails”. She also showed us incredible skill when she built her final beverage in two tins, double shook them, and got the 10 am crowd screaming! By mixing them back together she assured the final beverages served would taste the same for the two judges. Wow, now that is a professional. Mo, we will come to all of your pop-ups!
Kelsey Maccombs
(she/her)
Glitter Cat Designer
Qualifier Ranking - 3
National Qualifier
Barely six months into her career as a full-time coffee professional, Glitter Cat’s designer, Kelsey, has taken CIGS by storm, crafting fun and clever presentations that have channeled her natural creative spirit into beverage craftsmanship with winning results. If sexy coffee cosmos don’t end up on a menu somewhere after this season, coffee cocktail enthusiasts are truly missing out.
photo taken by Paige Elizabeth Hicks