The people drinking the coffee deserve a vote. Introducing the People’s Choice Coffee Awards

Coffee people love awards. Competitions. Rankings. Recognition. Titles that sit proudly behind counters and on Instagram bios.

And to be fair, coffee’s better because of them.

The specialty coffee industry didn’t become more ambitious by accident. Competitions like the World Barista Championship and World Brewers Cup pushed standards higher. Coffee professionals started caring more about consistency, hospitality, sourcing, brewing, and training because somebody, somewhere, decided excellence was worth rewarding.

Even if you’ve never watched a coffee competition, you’ve benefited from the ripple effect. Better cafés, better coffee, better service. Undoubtedly.

Recognition has helped move coffee forward.

Still, there’s something about coffee awards that has always felt curious to me. The people actually drinking the coffee rarely get much of a say.

Why coffee drinkers rarely get a voice in coffee awards

Most coffee awards are decided by experts. Judges score technical performance. Industry insiders debate excellence. Panels decide who deserves recognition.

That makes sense.

The best barista in the world should absolutely be judged by people who understand espresso extraction, sensory skills, milk texture, workflow, and brewing science at the highest level. The same applies to roasting competitions and sourcing awards.

But customers experience coffee shops differently from coffee professionals.

Anybody who has worked behind a bar long enough knows most customers are not obsessing over extraction percentages. They’re paying attention to other things. Whether the coffee tastes consistently good. If somebody remembers their order. Whether staff are welcoming. Whether they feel judged for not knowing enough. If they actually want to come back.

Any coffee shop owner knows the regular who orders the same flat white every morning notices inconsistency faster than most judges ever will. Customers notice when service slips. They notice when the atmosphere changes, when staff stop caring or when a place no longer feels like itself.

And they notice the opposite too.

The café that somehow feels good after a terrible morning. The place where somebody remembers your name. The coffee shop where nobody makes you feel foolish for asking questions.

The cafés customers love don’t always win awards

The cafés coffee insiders admire are not always the cafés ordinary customers love most. Sometimes those worlds overlap. Sometimes they don’t.

Every city has cafés coffee professionals talk about constantly. Places admired for precision, technical quality, or coffee expertise. Some deserve every bit of praise they receive.

Then there are cafés packed every morning that rarely appear on industry lists.

Places where the staff know names. Where regulars barely need to order anymore. Where customers bring visiting family because they want to show people their favourite place. Places built on familiarity.

Those cafés deserve recognition too.

Not because technical quality doesn’t count. Of course it does. Nobody willingly drinks bad coffee. But customers judge cafés through a broader lens. Consistency. Hospitality. Atmosphere. Trust. Whether they actually enjoy being there.

That perspective deserves space in the conversation. Especially in an industry that talks so much about “community”.

What are the People’s Choice Coffee Awards?

The People’s Choice Coffee Awards are community driven coffee awards where customers vote for the coffee shops they genuinely love. Put simply, the people drinking the coffee decide.

No judging panel, insider voting, technical scorecards or closed room meetings where industry people decide which coffee shop deserves recognition.

The People’s Choice Coffee Awards exist because customer experience deserves recognition too. A café that’s become part of your routine. A staff remembering your order. Your visit always makes your mornings better. All those things count.

Most specialty coffee awards recognise technical excellence. The People’s Choice Coffee Awards ask a different question:

Which coffee shops do customers genuinely love?

How the People’s Choice Coffee Awards work

Here is how the People’s Choice Coffee Awards work:

• Customers decide the winners
• Coffee shops are the first category at launch
• Voting is open to the public
• More categories will follow, including roasters, baristas, and other parts of coffee culture

Simple.

The goal is to recognise coffee shops people genuinely care about.

How to vote for your favourite coffee shop

Getting involved in the People’s Choice Coffee Awards takes less than a minute. Right now, we are in the nomination phase.

That means we are asking coffee drinkers to tell us which cafés they genuinely love.

Go here to nominate the coffee shop you believe deserves recognition.

That’s it.

Once nominations close, we will create a shortlist based on the cafés that received the strongest support from the community. Then, we will open public voting for that shortlist.

Simple.

Nominate your favourite coffee shop here.

Support the cafés you genuinely care about. The places you recommend without hesitation. The ones that became part of your routine. The coffee shops you would genuinely miss if they disappeared.

A note to coffee shop owners

Coffee shop owners, this part is for you.

If you have built a community around your café, I hope you will encourage people to vote. Ask your regulars. Put up a sign. Share it on Instagram. Mention it during service. Send an email to your customers.

If people genuinely care about what you have built, there’s nothing cringeworthy about inviting them to support it.

I’ve created downloadable media assets to make participation easier.

You can find them here.

How the People’s Choice Coffee Awards are different

Traditional specialty coffee awards usually ask: Who is technically exceptional?

The People’s Choice Coffee Awards ask: Who do customers genuinely love?

Both questions deserve space. Coffee still needs technical competitions. The industry should continue recognising excellence.

But customer experience deserves recognition too.

Because coffee shops don’t survive on industry approval alone.

They survive because people come back.

Where I hope this goes

The goal is simple. To give customers a meaningful role in recognising the cafés they genuinely support.

Over time, the People’s Choice Coffee Awards will expand to include more parts of coffee culture. Roasters. Baristas. Coffee educators. Equipment brands.

But for now, I’m starting where most people experience coffee every day. Coffee shops.

Coffee has never been short of awards.

It’s time the people drinking the coffee have a meaningful role in one.

Frequently asked questions

What are the People’s Choice Coffee Awards?

The People’s Choice Coffee Awards are customer decided coffee awards where consumers vote for the coffee shops they genuinely love.

Who decides the winners?

Customers decide the winners. Unlike traditional specialty coffee awards judged by experts, the People’s Choice Coffee Awards are decided by the people drinking the coffee.

What can I vote for right now?

At launch, voting is open for coffee shops only. More categories will follow later.

How do I vote for a coffee shop?

Visit the voting page, choose the coffee shop you want to support, and submit your vote.

Can coffee shops ask customers to vote?

Yes. Coffee shops are encouraged to rally their communities and share official promotional materials.

Do coffee shops pay to participate?

No. The People’s Choice Coffee Awards are free to participate in.

Where can cafés get media assets?

Coffee shops can download promotional materials here.