ROGERS, Ark., USA – Onyx Coffee Lab took second place in two categories of the 2022 World Coffee Championships (WCC) on Friday, Sept. 30, in Melbourne, Australia. Four days of intense competition and months of training secured awards for content marketing specialist Morgan Eckroth in the World Barista Championship and director of coffee education Elika Liftee in the World Brewers Cup.
Eckroth and Liftee won U.S. titles in April and competed against nearly 100 other national champions at the WCC, which kicked off Sept. 27 at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.
In the barista championship, espresso drinks are prepared to exacting standards in a 15-minute performance set to music.
“It’s been a long and difficult journey, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” said Eckroth, a social influencer based in Portland, Ore. “I wouldn’t have wanted to do this with any other team. It has been an honor, and this is just the beginning.”
They joined the Onyx team in May. Liftee joined in 2015. He also earned the U.S. Brewers Cup title in 2020 and placed third at world in 2021.
“I love how coffee can be such a comforting experience or an elevated experience. I enjoy competing because it’s an opportunity to take complex techniques or ideas and distill it down to serving someone their favorite cup of coffee,” Liftee said.
Onyx staff have placed top-five in the U.S. Barista Championship the past eight years and five out of the past seven years for Brewers Cup. Co-founder Andrea Allen won first place in the barista competition in 2020 and went on to become runner-up for the 2021 world barista championship.
Onyx Coffee Lab is an independent specialty coffee brand founded in 2012. Frequently named among the best roasters in the country, the mantra “Never Settle for Good Enough” is behind each part of the business, from its sustainable production and sourcing, to its leadership development, designs and service.
