Press Kit
Everything journalists need to cover the competition. Assets, quotes, methodology, and contact info.
What Is This?
Canadian Coffee of the Year (CCOTY) is a consumer-judged specialty coffee competition that crowns the coffees Canadians love most when they brew them at home. Over 200 specialty coffee drinkers across Canada serve as judges. Coffees are tasted fully blind. Winners announced Friday, September 18, 2026.
Organized by Stillwater Coffee Club.
Quick Facts
Judging format: fully blind — judges see only a numbered label and generic brew parameters. No roaster, origin, varietal, or processing info is shared.
Scoring: judges rank their Top 3. Highest average score per category wins. Full methodology published with results.
Categories: Fruity & Adventurous · Balanced & Sweet · Classic & Chocolatey
Key Dates
11 Ways to Win
Ways to Cover This
1. The "Giller Prize of Canadian Coffee"
A prestige competition focused on cultural authority, not technical scoring.
2. Blind-Testing as Democratization
Consumer-judged methodology challenges traditional Q-grader gatekeeping. What happens when you remove the clipboards?
3. Canadian Specialty Coffee Has Matured
The scene is now competitive enough to sustain its own national awards.
4. Roaster Profiles
Each participating roaster has a story — especially winners in categories like Best New Roaster or regional awards.
5. The Methodology Story
How do you run a fair blind-tasting competition with 200+ home judges across the second-largest country on earth?
6. Winner Features
The announced winners make for compelling seasonal food/beverage coverage.
Pull Quotes from Dean Pitton
"We wanted to answer a question the coffee industry doesn't typically ask: what coffee do regular specialty coffee drinkers actually love most when they brew it at home?"
"This competition asks 200 Canadians to decide what wins — not a panel of five. The coffees that win should be the coffees real people actually reach for."
The People Behind It
Dean Pitton
Director of Coffee at Stillwater Coffee Club. Founder and organizer of Canadian Coffee of the Year.
For interviews: press@stillwatercoffee.ca
Stillwater Coffee Club
A Canadian specialty coffee subscription service delivering coffee from Canada's best roasters to drinkers across the country. Founded in 2025, it uses a quiz-based matching system to personalize every shipment.
Website: stillwatercoffee.ca
Assets
Logo files
- CCOTY logo — dark background (PNG)
- CCOTY logo — transparent background (PNG)
- CCOTY logo — for light backgrounds (PNG)
Hero imagery
Headshot
Press release
Available on request — email press@stillwatercoffee.ca
Winner Results Under Embargo Until September 18
Journalists seeking advance access to winner details under embargo may contact us starting September 15. Winners are notified under NDA on September 15 and available for interviews during the embargo window (September 15–17).