South Africa 2022
A COFFEE ROASTING COMPETITION TO CHALLENGE YOUR SKILLS in roasting and blending
The 2022 Competition begins
A Shot in the Dark is a coffee roasting competition that has been running for the past 4 years in Southern Africa. Enter now to compete for the highest honours and join the ranks of some of the greats of SA Roasting.
Get started with
THE BEANS
Receive the your specialty coffee beans in your competition pack via courier. We can’t wait to taste your roasts of these beans!
Test your
ROASTING Skills
Roasters are able to experiment with beans in the comfort of their own roastery to achieve the best flavour results.
Earn the title of
2022 CHAMPION
This year we hope to have the biggest field yet competing for the title of A Shot in the Dark South Africa Champion 2022.
OUR Partners
Genio Roasters – Presenting Global Partner of A Shot in the Dark
Sevenoaks Trading – Official Green Competition Coffee Sponsor
BWT Water + more Africa – Official Water Filtration partner
La Marzocco South Africa – Official Espresso Machine Partner
The Coffee Bag Company – Official Packaging Partner
Lizzard – Official Apparel Partner
Fastway – Official Courier Partner
The Coffee Magazine – Official Hosts and Media Partner
WHAT'S INCLUDED?
What's included in your entry fee?
-
Competition speciality (80+) green coffee (Amount according to tier of entry you choose)
Tier 1: R3500 - 10kg comp coffee
Tier 2: R5500 - 20kg comp coffee
Tier 3: R10000 - 40kg comp coffee - The competition entry coffee bags
- A Shot in the Dark stickers for retail resale
- T-shirt for each team member (up to 3)
- Competition water provided by BWT Water
- All the important information on judging
- Feedback on your roasting skills from industry professional judges
- You are invited to join in at Creative Coffee Week where the Prizegiving will also be hosted and the CHAMPION revealed!
HOW IT WORKS
There are two Rounds in this competition
Round One: Cupping
Entries open Feb 25th 2022 and close beginning of May 2022.
Coffee to be sent in May, Judging for Top 10 will happen in June.
All Competitors receive the exact same green coffee to roast.
Competitors may roast their competition coffee in their own roaster and on their own coffee roasting equipment. This Green Coffee will be sent out to all competitors at the same time.
All coffee will be blind judged by a team of Q-graders using the specially formulated A Shot in the Dark scoresheets on the assigned date.
Round Two for the Top 10: Cupping + Blending Challenge
Winners announcement end of July at Creative Coffee Week
There are 3 coffees in each competition pack – One extremely high quality specialty coffee exclusively for the cupping challenge as well as two additional coffees for the blending challenge.
challenge one
CUPPING
Competitors will submit 500g of the high quality specialty coffee used for the cupping challenge, roasted to its best potential and then submitted to the judges via courier with their roasting notes.
challenge two
BLENDING
Competitors will also have to roast and blend the additional two supplied coffees in addition to their original competition coffee. This will be roasted and blended for their best espresso recipe.
THE JUDGING
The entire competition is blind judged by a panel of Coffee Professionals (Q-graders + Roasters) in a cupping laboratory using the specially formulated A Shot in the Dark judging scoresheets and feedback forms. Each competitor will receive feedback regardless of their final placement.
ENTER NOW
Ready to test your roasting skills and compete for the title of A Shot in the Dark South African Champion 2022?
Every Roaster that wishes to enter A Shot in the Dark, needs to fill out the online Entry Form below and pay the Entry Fee.