And away we go! Entries have closed for 2021's A Shot in the Dark presented by Genio Roasters. We are so excited to reveal that we have 47 confirmed entries for this year's competition! Thank you to all the roasters who have put their names forward to compete despite the circumstances of the past year. We have will soon be able to reveal the INCREDIBLE Preliminary Round Coffee sponsored by Sevenoaks Trading and a full timeline of the events leading up to the First Round submission deadline.
It is the freshest possible crop and we are thrilled with the amazing work the Sevenoaks Team have done to secure this really exciting coffee that will both challenge and delight our competitors.
We're always so excited to scour this list and discover new coffee roasteries that we haven't tried yet, we encourage you to do the same!
Cuppa Coffee Roasters (Genio Wildcard entry!)
Jacques Strydom - Home Roaster
The Black Sheep Coffee Company
The Roastery
What a list! There are a few very stronger contenders from previous years - Father Coffee are back to defend their 2020 title, as are 1st and 2nd runners up Quaffee and Rosetta Roastery!
Other notable names include Bean There (previous winner in 2018!) Brothers and Routed Roasters (runners up 2019) and Top 10 finishers Highland Coffee Roasters, Gaansbaai, Scuro, Pause, Favour & Grace, Wings, Infood, Beethoven and Red Truck are all back in the hunt!
Then there are some very prestigious names in the coffee industry that are new to A Shot in the Dark, such as John Evans from Asmara Coffee, who has been a National Barista Competition finalist in recent years as well as Chang from Uncle Bear, who was Winston Thomas' sparring partner at WBC for two campaigns. Tribe are always a threat when they actually send their coffee in to be judged (lol!) , and of course a host of names that are always cropping up in coffee news such as Toro, Trinity, Black Sheep and the lifers, Stereo Cafe Coffee Roastery. Welcome back!
We are excited to get to know the newcomers - some roasteries like Roasters Mug are barely a year old, and hail from Dundee in Northern KZN (who knew Dundee would have a roastery!) and many more new names that we can't wait to get to know and interact with.
To all of you, good luck and let the games begin!
