Co-founded in California, USA, in 2013, Acaia now has four offices worldwide. The Portland office is our largest branch, established in 2017. Our small but growing team here focuses on providing exceptional customer support and repairs. They also organize events, including Acaia's annual exhibition at the SCA Expo tradeshow and other local events. Additionally, the team works with and provides training to over 200 authorized resellers across North America.
In this blog, we chat with Dean from our Portland office, who is a familiar face on the US Brewers' Cup judging stage.
Can you introduce yourself and what you do at Acaia?
Hello! My name is Dean Falletti-Velasco. I work on the Customer Support, Repair, and Sales teams. I am also the office supervisor for our Portland Repair Center.
How did you become a certified judge? How did Acaia help you achieve it?
My first time judging for the US Brewers Cup (USBrC) was in 2017 when Preliminaries took place at Portland’s Buckman Coffee Factory. It was here that I had the chance to judge the routine of future USBrC champion, Joe Yang along with many other talented brewers. I witnessed the support and passion of the Brewers Cup community reflected in the judges, volunteers, host, and each competitor. At this point, I had been working in coffee for over a decade, but this was the first time I truly felt a connection to the broader coffee community. It extended beyond training and brewing coffee at the cafe level. Unfortunately, because I couldn't afford to travel to judge in subsequent years, I waited for qualifying or preliminary events to return to Portland to be a judge again.
In 2024, when I joined the Acaia team, I had a wonderful conversation with my then-supervisor, Tony LeSeure. Tony posed an unexpected question: How can Acaia support you beyond your current role? Was there anything I was interested in pursuing that Acaia could help me with? Judging was, of course, the first thing that came to mind! I was thrilled to learn that Acaia would support my travel to judging events across the country. With Acaia’s support, I could judge not only two Qualifying events but also Regionals and Nationals during the USBrC 2024 season. I was excited to discover that the Brewer’s Cup community remained very supportive and welcoming. Just like when I first slurped back at Buckman in 2017.
Tell us about your experience as a judge at the regional Brewers Cup
For the 2025 season, the United States Coffee Championships (USCC) will organize all US competitions for the first time. USCC is an entirely volunteer-run and sponsor-supported organization. It has been impressive to see how quickly the community came together to keep things running smoothly during this transition.
My first event back this season was the West Coast Regional event which took place last January in Las Vegas. Our hosts in Las Vegas, Luminous Coffee, were incredibly kind in sharing their beautiful space and some extra tasty coffees for the competition. This year, Regionals featured a “Compulsory” format. All competitors brewed from one of three coffees available for the event, in this case, all provided by Luminous. They had limited time to select, taste, and adjust their recipes to deliver the best experience in the cup before presenting a routine to the judges. Our responsibility as judges was, as always, to provide a fair and supportive environment and drink delicious coffee!
What were your key takeaways from the event?
My key takeaway is that I love this community! I’m constantly inspired by head judges Kendra Sledzinski, Masha Zanozina, Sarah Rice Scott, and Matt Ferraro. They always keep things light but professional, fun, and supportive regardless of the long hours through three or four days. Because USCC is entirely volunteer-run, these same people may end up wearing three or four different hats throughout the weekend to keep things running. At the end of the weekend, after all is said and done, these same judges go right back to their 9-5 jobs on Monday morning.
Will you be judging at competitions again in the future?
Absolutely! I just got done judging the Nationals event in Durham, NC in February. This is the end of this competition season for me, but I intend to judge again next season and for as long as they’ll have me!
Do you have any advice for competitors?
Come judge! Judging can make all the difference between advancing and getting cut. You'll gain a better understanding of the rules laid out by USCC and SCA. Which helps to score every point possible with your routine.
These rules are there to present a fair-minded competition that emphasizes the coffee in the cup above all. Just behind that, the rules also emphasize the hospitality inherent in a great coffee service. Also, whether you advance or not, don’t hesitate to approach the judges at the debrief! At the end of each round, we make ourselves available to help clarify any points given or lost and provide you with the tools to do even better the next time.
Can you share with our customers a scale tip?
I’m a little biased, but reach out to our friendly support team! We’re a bunch of coffee nerds based in Portland, Oregon. We want to help you to get the most from your scales, grinders, and dosers now and for a long time to come. We’re always happy to chat and support the community!