International Coffee Tasting 2026 opens registration, awards gold medals for quality

International Coffee Tasting 2026 opened registration in Brescia with a pitch that goes well beyond trophies. The competition’s Gold Medals are meant to function as commercial proof, giving roasters, importers, and brand teams an independent result they can take to buyers, distributors, and markets that care about quality signals.

The 18th edition comes from IIAC, the International Institute of Coffee Tasters, a non-profit founded in 1993 to develop and spread a scientific method for coffee tasting. IIAC says it has trained more than 13,000 professionals from more than 40 countries, and it has positioned International Coffee Tasting as an international reference point for quality coffees since the contest began in 2006. The institute describes the competition as inclusive and open to all producers who want to put their coffees in front of an expert sensory panel.

That commercial angle is the real story for the industry. IIAC says the contest is above all a form of business support because awarded coffees gain prestige and greater market relevance. For companies deciding where to spend their sampling budgets, that matters. A medal from a panel built around a scientific method is more than a line for a packaging sticker; it is a tool for sales conversations, product launches, and category positioning.

The 2026 edition again covers a wide range of formats, including espresso blends, single-origin coffees, bar and home coffee, capsules and pods, soluble coffee, ready-to-drink beverages, and concentrated coffee. IIAC’s own category list shows how far the competition has moved beyond the old roasted-bean versus espresso divide. Participants also receive sensory profiles and access to ICT Benchmarks, a comparison tool designed to show where a product sits against Gold Medal standards. That makes the contest relevant not just to quality teams, but also to R&D, marketing, and sales departments trying to sharpen a product’s place in a crowded market.

IIAC says its official tasting sheet and sensory map are the foundation of its evaluation method, built to capture complete sensory information with minimal effort from tasters. Carlo Odello is listed by IIAC as president and CEO. The message is clear: this is a competition built to reduce noise and translate cup quality into usable data.

The 2025 edition showed how that model is expanding. IIAC added instant coffee, concentrated coffee, and ready-to-drink beverages to registration, then handed out 21 Gold Medals after three days of sensory evaluation at Autogrill’s Factory Food Designer in Rozzano, near Milan. IIAC also named Beanpulse Coffee Roasters and May House as 2026 Platinum Medal winners in separate categories, a sign that the competition is already carrying weight well beyond Italy and deeper into the global coffee trade.