GreatEast™ Coffee Awards
The festival’s finest coffees. Under the judges’ eyes. And yours.
GreatEast Coffee Awards is a coffee-first competition built around one simple thing: what’s in the cup.
Coffees from COFFeEAST roasters are evaluated blind by an international jury of sourcing experts, roasters and green coffee professionals.
The top coffees then make their way to the stage, where they are tasted again – this time, live and open to the festival community.
Three categories. Three days. Three jury-selected winners:
GreatEast Washed Coffee, GreatEast Natural/Honey Coffee, GreatEast Fermented Coffee.
And then, you get a say: People’s Choice.
How it works
3 days. 3 categories.
Each festival day focuses on a different processing style: washed, natural/honey, fermented coffees. For each category, the process follows the same path.
01 | Jury blind tasting
Each day, the jury tastes all participating coffees within a category, without knowing their identity.
02 | Live tasting
The three highest-rated coffees move forward.
The finalists return on stage and are tasted again, this time in front of the festival audience. The jury selects one GreatEast Coffee winner for each category. And then comes your turn.
03 | Your choice
On the final day, the three category winners are brought together for one last tasting. Three coffees. Side by side. Your palate in charge.
You choose the GreatEast Coffee of the Festival – People’s Choice.
The 2026 winners
The first edition of GreatEast Coffee Awards brought three categories, an international jury and a very curious crowd to the COFFeEAST stage.
GreatEast Washed Coffee 2026
1st: Origo Coffee | Kenya AA Tekangu Ngunguru #101
2nd: Kintsu | Peru Eli Espinoza Gesha
3rd: Olivo Coffee Culture | Ethiopia Shakisso
GreatEast Natural / Honey Coffee 2026
1st: Radical Coffee | Colombia Finca Patio Bonito
2nd: Trevo| Congo
3rd: Origo Coffee | Ethiopia Supernatural
GreatEast Fermented Coffee 2026
1st: Nostos | Colombia White Honey Geisha
2nd: Nomonym| Colombia Guava Banana El Vergel
3rd: MABÓ | Colombia Wilder Lazo
GreatEast Coffee of the Festival 2026:
Nostos | Colombia White Honey Geisha!
1st edition, 2026
The stellar line-up of judges
Anete Dinne
EU Sales Lead, Covoya
With over a decade in specialty coffee and a background in Gastronomic Sciences, Anete has dedicated her career to connecting people, places, and purpose through coffee.
Daniel Sánchez
Co-founder, MAE Coffee Liaison | Q Instructor
With more than 23 years in coffee, Daniel brings deep experience in education, quality and competition judging. Trained through the Ernesto Illy Foundation, he has spent his career helping people understand what makes a great cup work.
Diego Martínez
Relationship Manager Europe, Forest Coffee | Coffee & Fermentation Specialist
Diego works closely with Colombian coffees and fermentation processes, connecting the realities of origin with what eventually lands in the cup. His focus sits firmly where coffee gets interesting: quality, relationships and processing.
Stijn Braas
Customer Relations Manager Europe, Primavera Green Coffee | Arabica Q Grader
Active in coffee sourcing and trade since 2007, Stijn brings years of experience working with green coffee and the people behind it. As an Arabica Q Grader, he knows how much can be said by a cup – especially when nobody tells you what you’re tasting first.
Sasha Stepchuk
Trader, Sucafina | Coffee Grading, Quality Control & Logistics
Sasha’s background covers grading, quality control and logistics, with a particular focus on the Eastern European coffee market. She brings a sharp understanding of how coffee moves from green to great.
Raf Mlodzianowski
Q Grader | Consultant | Founder, Raf & Co Coffee
Raf works across roasting, cafés and coffee business strategy, bringing a perspective shaped by both the cup and everything that needs to happen around it. A Q Grader with plenty of hands-on experience, he knows good coffee from several angles.
Per Nordby
Roaster & Educator | Founder, Kafferäven
Focused on sourcing, roasting and sustainability, Per has spent years working with coffee from green bean to finished cup. His approach brings together technical knowledge, craftsmanship and a long-term view of the coffee industry.
1st edition, 2026
The crew
Liviu Frățilă
MC | Founder of Espressoman.ro | Espresso Enthusiast & Coffee Community Builder
Liviu has been talking about espresso for more than a decade – and luckily for all of us, he decided to put it on the internet. Through Espressoman.ro, he built one of Romania’s longest-running communities dedicated to espresso, coffee equipment and the people passionate enough to discuss extraction parameters at length. He’s been with COFFeEAST since day one, so by now, being on our stage is practically part of the job description.
Adelina Elena Stan
Stage Manager | Company Trainer & Quality Control, Crosby Coffee Roasters | Q Arabica Grader
Seven years in specialty coffee, a journey from Romania to Central America and now Liverpool, with plenty of barista work, training, consulting and coffee farm experience along the way. Adelina brings a sharp eye for quality and a very practical understanding of what happens behind the bar.