There’s a flat white category. We entered. We placed.
Most coffee competitions judge black coffee.
This one had a flat white category. That’s the small, silky one — espresso and steamed milk mixed together, not a tall latte with foam parked on top. It’s the drink we moved countries to pour properly.
So Clayton and I put the Ethiopian Guji in the car and drove it to Houston ourselves.
This was our first roasting competition. The roastery building isn’t even up yet. We’ve only been roasting a few months, on a small air roaster in Farmers Branch, learning the thing properly before we build the room around it.
Judges tasted cups from roasteries across the US and Canada without knowing who made them. No logo. No story. No “trust us, we’re Australian.” Just the drink.
The Aussie Grind Roastery came back a Finalist at the 2026 Global Coffee Awards. Flat white. That Guji.
I couldn’t be prouder. Not because it was gold — it wasn’t, and we’re not going to write it like it was — but because it was the first time we put a coffee in front of people who had no idea whose cup they were holding, and it held.
It tastes like strawberry and cocoa. In milk it doesn’t disappear. That’s the whole trick.
If this is what a few months looks like, I’m pretty curious about the next few years.
We’ve just entered Golden Bean in Denver as well. Different competition, same idea: put the coffee on the table and see. We’ll tell you how that one goes when we know.
Bags of the Guji are at Frisco and Provisions if you want to take some home.
Order Bean Online From FRISCO or FARMERS BRANCH
