2025 marks the end of an era.
First of all, from the new coordinators to the old, we’d like to give Ashton and Stephen a big thank you for all the hard work they have done for MCL and for the coffee community as a whole. Through their selfless effort throughout the years, these legends built MCL to the thriving community of coffee nerds we are all a part of. Without them, how else would we ever know we actually know nothing about coffee?
Jokes aside, although they may be taking a more backseat role, we hope they will continue to watch our backs as we attempt to grow the US MCL to new heights.
And the start of something new?
A new year brings new US coordinators. Who are they actually? Good question. Here is a short message from each of your new coordinators.
Hi friends! I joined MCL on the more recent side, but I’ve found a lot of connection in our supportive community. I come from a coffee drinking household, so I started very young. But I found the joy of specialty coffee when I started brewing coffee for myself. We’re excited to continue to highlight new roasters with MCL and continue some of our standing partnerships. I’ve taken over Instagram and I will continue to support some of our outstanding community driven initiatives! When I’m not drinking coffee or reading you can find me hiking, running, or wandering in the woods and cuddling with my dogs.
- Rebecca Burwell, US MCL Coordinator
Hi, Folks! I’ve been involved with MCL for almost 2 years now, meaning I’ve almost gotten up the courage to guess something other than a Washed Colombian. About a decade back I began drinking coffee & immediately fell in deep, joining a local coffee shop’s weekly cuppings. I was immediately hooked! The variety of different flavors that people found in the cup astounded & intrigued me. I still find so much joy tasting the incredible variety that can be found in a cup of coffee, and I’m thrilled to have such a cool community of folks to do it alongside. To another year of discovering lovely cups of coffee.
- Wes MacDonald, US MCL Coordinator
Hello coffee lovers! I am so so excited to be given a chance to guide the future direction of US MCL and give back to a community I absolutely adore. I have so many fun ideas I am looking forward to for all you folks to experience and so many roasters I want to bring to the MCL spotlight. You may know me for my work with loffeelabs.com, but here in MCL I am primarily focused on maintaining and building the MCL website, including this blog post you are reading. Please look forward to 2026 because it’s going to be a fun one!!!
- Keith Migita, US MCL Coordinator
What have we been doing so far?
Collectively, we have all been hard at work bringing US MCL up to standards to ensure a successful 2026 and beyond. Primarily, we wanted to ensure we match the level of excellence that our European brethren enjoy on the EU side of MCL. This included an overhaul of the US MCL website content to match our US roots and a schedule that is already completely booked with roasters till September.
And finally, we have prizes. That’s right! US MCL is now SPONSORED! We have Wes to thank for this one. He has been working behind the scenes with numerous prospective sponsors and found three companies to sponsor prizes for the past season and the next! So without further ado, we are proud to announce the following US Mystery Coffee League Sponsors for 2025.
US Mystery Coffee League Sponsors
1️⃣ Acaia for their contribution with a Umbra scale and merch - IG/acaiacoffee
2️⃣ Sibarist for their contribution with FAST CONE filters, B3 CONE Filters, and merch - IG/sibaristcoffee
3️⃣ Roast Magazine for their contribution with four 1-year subscriptions and a calendar - IG/roastmagazine
A big thank you to all our 2025 season sponsors. Please give them a follow on their social media channels!
How will these prizes be distributed?
We have decided to provide our TOP 3 from the 2025 Final Season Standings with a well deserved prize, as well as a separate drawing for all our 2025 participants! We hope these and future prizes will bring new coffee lovers to the US MCL and encourage us all to continue participating well into the future.
So if you're still thinking about joining the league, there's never been a better time!
The Best of US Mystery Coffee 2025
You voted and the results are in! It’s time to announce the best of US Mystery Coffee 2025!
1. But first, how do US MCL members prefer their brew?
Filter - An overwhelming (but not surprising) 90% of you love brewing filter coffee.
Espresso - Meanwhile, 25% of you dabble in some espresso shot pulling.
Soup - And finally 30% of you enjoy some good ol’ soup.
2. Favorite CotM of 2025
1st Place with 62.5% of voters, Hydrangea - El Burro - Washed Gesha Lot 17!
2nd Place with 31.3% of voters, H&S - Ecuador La Reserva Washed Sidra!
3rd Place with 25% of voters, Shoebox - Ethiopia Layo Teraga Washed!
3. Roaster with most unique Mystery Coffee selection of 2025
1st Place with 55.6% of voters, Hydrangea Coffee Roasters!
2nd Place with 50% of voters, H&S Coffee Roasters!
3rd Place with 38.9% of voters, is a tie between CETO Coffee and Hex Coffee!
4. Roaster with best Mystery Coffee packaging of 2025
1st Place with 55.6% of voters, Hex Coffee!
2nd Place with 50% of voters, Hydrangea Coffee Roasters!
3rd Place with 33.3% of voters, Mirra Coffee!
5. Favorite overall Mystery Coffee of 2025
And finally…
1st Place with 36.6% of voters, is a tie between H&S - Colombia Edwin Noreña Castillo/Caturra/PB & Shoebox - Kenya Kirinyaga Field Blend!
2nd Place with 31.6% of voters, Hydrangea - China Yi Nian Yi Su DR132!
3rd Place with 26.3% of voters, Ilse - Colombia Pastor Ordonez SL-28!
Thank you to all who voted and to all our partnered roasters! Mystery Coffee League would literally be impossible without your passionate work.
2025 US Mystery Coffee League Champs
And finally, let us announce our 2025 Season US MCL Champs.
In 1st Place with 140 points, de’on!
Prize: Acaia Umbra scale, Sibarist Filters (FAST CONE M - 100 Pack & B3 CONE M - 100 Pack), Sibarist T-Shirt, and a 1-year subscription to Roast Magazine.
In 2nd Place with 131 points, ThePuffin!
Prize: Acaia merch, Sibarist Filters (FAST CONE M - 25 Pack), and a 1-year subscription to Roast Magazine.
In 3rd Place with 127 points, Scott Michael!
Prize: Acaia merch, Sibarist Filters (B3 CONE- 25 Pack), and a 1-year subscription to Roast Magazine.
See the 2025 Final Standings here: https://us.mystery.coffee/standings/2025-season
Annnnnd that's a wrap! Congratulations to our 2025 winners and thank you everyone who participated this season! We look forward to seeing you all participate again in 2026. Remember, we still have a drawing for all the remaining prizes, including a 1-year subscription to Roast Magazine and a Roast Magazine Calendar for anyone who participated in 2025. Make sure to enter the drawing on the discord by reacting to the 2025 blog post in #usa-announcements before February 14th, 2026!
