OUR STORY
OUR MISSION:
GETTING YOU GREAT COFFEE, CUP AFTER CUP
Following their success at the 2013 World Barista Championship, winner Pete Licata and coach Holly Bastin started talking more about Specialty Coffee and its place in the world. Both had spent years working for Specialty roasters in the USA, as well as getting to know many other coffee professionals around the globe in their travels. Over time, they began to notice a bit of a pattern developing. While they had experienced some jaw-dropping, life-altering, show-stopping coffees, there were far more people in the world that had no idea what the big deal was. It wasn’t as thought they didn’t care to have better coffee. It was that they didn’t know where to begin.
Roast Ratings was born out of that conversation. This site was created to make finding great and delicious coffee easy, offering informational articles to help minimize the mystery and confusion that often surrounds Specialty Coffee. Welcome!
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
That all depends on what brought you here. Here’s a good starter pack of options to get you going:
Just looking for great coffee?
Head straight to the Coffee Ratings, or hone in on coffees that fit your tastes with our Roast Finder.
Want to know more about our Ratings and how they work?
We’ve outlined Our Philosophy, digging a bit deeper into the “how” and “why” of what we do. For more information on how coffees are scored, check out this article on how we Score Coffee.
Interested in learning more about coffee and equipment?
We’ve written up a lot of pieces on topics from coffee farming to home brewing. Check out our Article section for more details!
THE PEOPLE
Pete Licata
Co-Owner, Senior Taster
2013 World Barista Champion
Two Time US Barista Champion
6 years Quality Assurance
Pete has spent the past 6 years focusing on coffee quality, most recently he has focused on coffee roasting techniques and how they affect the flavor of the cup. After winning the World Barista Champion title in 2013 he formed Licata Coffee Consultants, coaching and advising competitors, including Hidenori Izaki the 2014 World Barista Champion.
Holly Bastin
Co-Owner, Senior Taster
Certified Q-Grader
8 years Quality Assurance
Holly landed her first job as a barista in Kansas City in 1999. In 2006 she was asked to join the United States Barista Championship committee and in 2009-2010 she became a certified world barista competition technical judge as well. One of her first competitors as a coach was none other than Pete Licata. In his first competition in 2005 he came home with first place. He’s improved somewhat, since.
Bryan Miller
Taster
Cup of Excellence Juror
3 Years Tasting/Quality Control Experience
First drawn to coffee at the ripe age of 4, Bryan has been a life-long coffee devotee. Officially starting in coffee as a barista, Bryan was quickly drawn to the depths of flavors and knowledge in cupping and quality control. Since that time, he has spent three years in quality control and coffee evaluation with a stint as an international juror for the Cup of Excellence.
