Competitors
Nineteen rules in two parts. Search it, or open the one you came for.
Nineteen rules, two parts. Tap any line to open it.
How you get through it.
The competition starts with 36 competitors. Each heat consists of 3 to 4 brewers, competing side by side under the same conditions.
The result of a heat does not decide who advances. After all heats in a round are complete, every competitor is placed into one overall ranking based on total score.
There is no automatic heat winner.
Preparation. Equipment and the brewing station may be prepared.
Competition. Coffee must be brewed and served within the competition time.
Cleaning. The station must be completely cleared for the next heat.
Once competition time ends, brewing and serving must stop.
Each heat is evaluated by 3 judges. Judges taste the coffees side by side and score independently without discussing the cups with competitors.
There is no presentation component and no score for communication, storytelling or performance. Judges submit their results digitally through the official SOLO BATTLE scoring system.
Each competitor receives a unique competition identity and QR code for the scoring system. Judges submit scores against that identity so results can be calculated automatically.
After judging, the live screen reveals the competitor, the individual judge scores and the total result.
Competitors are ranked from the highest total score to the lowest. Advancement is based only on the overall ranking.
If several of the highest scoring cups come from the same heat, all of those competitors may advance.
Heat position itself has no value. Only the score matters.
36 Round 1
18 Round 2
9 Round 3
4 The Final
After every heat in the round is complete, the field is cut. Rounds 1 and 2 take half. Round 3 takes the field to exactly four.
The number that advances is fixed and announced before the round opens, and it does not move afterwards: if somebody withdraws, the next competitor moves up rather than the line shifting.
SOLO BATTLE does not use an additional brew off to resolve ranking ties.
Any tie affecting advancement or final placement is resolved through the predefined mathematical tie breaking system using the judges' submitted scores, and is determined entirely from the existing judging data.
No extra judge vote or subjective decision is added afterward.
Results are shown live throughout the competition. After each heat, individual scores and total scores are revealed.
Once the final heat of the round is judged, the complete ranking becomes official and the advancement line is confirmed.
Above the line, another round. Below it, the Battle ends here.
The Final consists of 4 competitors brewing a Geisha, under the official conditions of the Final round. After judging, the scores are ranked from highest to lowest.
The highest scoring competitor becomes the SOLO BATTLE CHAMPION.
What you are allowed to do.
The official coffee for each round is set by the organizer and is the same for every competitor in that round, and the coffee provided for the round must be used. The rounds are not alike:
The round three blend must include both of the coffees you have already brewed, and you choose how much of each and whether the third coffee joins them.
Coffee samples are collected before the competition. The pickup address and date are emailed to every registered competitor. It is the only thing that has to be done before the day. The samples are for practice; the coffee competed with is issued again at the venue, per round.
Every registered competitor receives:
Daily and HiFlux flow differently, so the choice of paper is part of the recipe. Either official SOLO paper may be used, and there is no required brewing recipe. Everything else needed to brew is issued at the station on the day.
The competition station is provided and standardized. Every competitor brews on the same official sponsored equipment. Issued at the station:
Competitors do not bring their own brewing equipment. No personal grinder, kettle, scale, server or accessories, with two exceptions: your own cup and spoon for tasting your brew, and the second SOLO setup in rule 13.
Brewing with anything that was not issued or allowed here is a disqualification.
A competitor who already owns another SOLO Dripper or SOLO SPIN may bring it, and use a maximum of two SOLO brewers at once, so two brews can run at the same time if the recipe calls for it.
A competitor who brings a second brewer may also bring one extra scale and one extra vessel or server for it. Using a second brewer is optional, and both brewers must follow all official rules.
The allowance is for the second setup only. Nothing else comes with it.
Grinding is standardized. The official sponsored grinder and the grinding conditions specified by the organizer must be followed, and personal grinders may not be used.
Grind adjustment must follow the conditions announced for that round. This keeps the grinding conditions equal for the entire field.
Only the official competition water may be used for brewing. Personal brewing water, added minerals or alternative water compositions are not allowed.
Water temperature may be selected as part of the brewing recipe unless otherwise specified for the round.
Within the standardized conditions, brewing strategy remains open. Competitors decide their own:
There is no advantage for complexity. Only the final cup is judged.
One cup is served, and all three judges taste from that same cup. There is no cup per judge, which is what the minimum volume is for: the cup has to carry three tastings. The cup served to the judges is one of the cups issued at the station, not your own.
The cup that is judged must reach the judging table within competition time, and the minimum is 150 ml. A cup below the minimum cannot be judged.
A cup that is late, under the minimum, brewed with the wrong coffee, or served in a dirty or damaged vessel is not scored for that round. Not scored zero, but not scored at all, and a competitor cannot advance on it. That costs the round; what ends the day is in rule 18.
Delivering no cup at all is a disqualification, not a missed round.
All competitors must follow the official timing, coffee, water, grinding and equipment rules. Disqualification ends a competitor's day and is recorded with a reason and the name of the official who made the call. There are two ways to earn it:
Interfering with another competitor, deliberately ignoring standardized conditions or gaining an unfair advantage may also result in a penalty or disqualification.
If something in the issued kit fails, tell an official before brewing rather than after. A replacement issued by an official is not a problem. A substitution made by the competitor is.
The organizer has final responsibility for enforcing the competition rules.
If something goes wrong during the heat, raise your hand. An official will call a timeout for that competitor and stop the clock while it is dealt with. It is the way to get an official to the station without leaving the brewer.
A timeout is for a failure of the station or the issued equipment: a grinder that jams, a kettle that dies, a scale that will not read.
Running out is not a failure of the station. Anything missing has to be raised in the five minutes of preparation, not after competition time has started. Once brewing begins, the competition water, the coffee and everything else issued is the competitor's to manage for the rest of the heat.
A timeout is for a breakdown, not for a shortage. The clock does not stop for what you used up.