UK & Ireland Filter Championships 2026

Official Competition Ruleset

1. Official Rules

Competition Format

Practice Slot Rules

Provided Equipment

Allowed Equipment

Disallowed Equipment

Lead Technical

2. Judging

Judging Criteria

3. Competition Protocol

Round One Format

Round Two Format

Round Three Format

4. Schedule

Timings

Competitor Briefing

Practice Times

Competition Times

5. FAQs

FAQs

UKIFC Spectator Tickets

1. OFFICIAL RULES: 2026 UK & IRELAND FILTER CHAMPIONSHIP HEATS

Format & Rules

The rules are simple.

Every competitor will be brewing the same coffee in a head-to-head knockout-format competition

Competitors will all be brewing with the same coffee, roasted by Plot.

Filtered water will be provided by competition sponsor IX Water.

Competitors will be assigned a 20 minute slot to access the practice area on the first day of the festival, where they can work on their recipe prior to the commencement of the heats. Each competitor will be presented with one 250g bag of coffee at the start of their practice. The coffee will then be returned to the Lead Technical after each practice session. These will be returned to the competitor prior to their stage time. Practice slots will be communicated to competitors prior to the festival weekend. During their backstage practice slot competitors are allowed to brew their coffee as many times as they would like. However competitors are not allowed to:

● Have help brewing

● Give coffee to others to taste

● Use equipment not supplied by the UKIFC, aside from their own brewer and filter papers (for Round Three)

During Rounds One and Two, competitors may only use the provided equipment. 

Provided equipment (All Rounds)

  • v60

  • Origami

  • Aeropress

  • Clever Dripper

  • Hoop Brewer

  • French Press

  • Chemex

  • Temperature Controlled Kettle (Brand to be announced)

  • Filtered Water from IX Water

  • Barista Cloth

  • Filter-capable grinder (Brand to be announced)

  • Barista-grade Scale

  • Aeropress Filters

  • Origami Filters

  • V60 O2 Filter Pack

  • Glass Carafes

  • Fellow Stagg Double Wall Carafe

  • Loveramics 200ml Cup

  • Loveramics 300ml Cup

  • WDT tool

  • Cupping spoon

  • Tea spoon

During Round Three competitors are permitted to use their own equipment, with the following lists provided as an outline of what is allowed/disallowed. If you wish to bring equipment not listed, please contact the Lead Technical to confirm its eligibility.

Lead Technical Contact - curt@huskyevents.com

Allowed equipment (Round 3) 

  • Cone drippers (eg v60)

  • Flat bottom drippers (eg Kalita Wave, Orea)

  • Immersion brewers (eg Aeropress)

  • Zero bypass brewers (eg Orea Z1, NextLevel Pulsar)

  • Drip assist devices (eg Melodrip)

  • Filter papers

Disallowed equipment (All Rounds)

  • Moka pot / Stovetop

  • Ibrik

  • Siphon

  • Blind shakers / Sieves

  • Ice

  • Paragon ball

  • Mineral water drops

  • Espresso machines (manual or automatic)

  • Automatic filter brewers (eg Aromaboy)

If at any point during the preparation and/or stage time, a competitor believes there is a technical problem with any of the provided equipment they can raise their hand and declare a technical issue. The Lead Technical will be on hand to address any issues raised, simple issues will be resolved and the round will continue. Any issues that cannot be solved in a timely manner will cause the round to end for all active competitors, and start again once it has been resolved.

2. JUDGING

Competitors will be expected to answer questions from the hosts while brewing, before being interviewed after their round while the judges deliberate. Competitors should also be aware the judges may move around them and watch them brew. The judges will be scoring each filter coffee on the following criteria:

1. Does it clearly represent the coffee and have clarity/separation of flavours

2. Is it free of obvious brewing defects

3. The judge's personal preference/which tastes the best

Once the judges have deliberated, a winner will be chosen immediately and will proceed to the next round. 

No competitors will be allowed to compete that work with, or are affiliated to, the judges or sponsors of the UKIFCs.

3. COMPETITION PROTOCOL

ROUND ONE

Date specific to each heat

The first round will consist of two minutes of preparation time on-stage. During this time the

competitors will be able to pre-heat their water, weigh their coffee, grind their coffee, prepare and

wet their filter paper, WDT their coffee and prepare their coffee server, but not begin the brewing

process. Each competitor will then have a five minute time limit to brew and present their coffee.

Once competitors have brewed their coffee, they will then have to pour it into a cupping bowl for

the judges to taste from. Competitors that don’t present their coffee within the five minutes will have to stop the brewing process immediately.

ROUND TWO

Date specific to each heat

The second round will consist of two minutes of preparation time on-stage. During this time the  competitors will be able to pre-heat their water, weigh their coffee, grind their coffee, prepare and wet their filter paper, WDT their coffee and prepare their coffee server, but not begin the brewing process. Each competitor will then have a five minute time limit to brew and present their coffee. Once competitors have brewed their coffee, they will then have to pour it into a cupping bowl for the judges to taste from. However, during this round, a brewer supplied by the UKFC will be drawn at random prior to the commencement of each 1v1. Once this brewer has been chosen, the two competitors will both have to craft their individual coffees on the chosen brewer. Competitors that don’t present their coffee within the five minutes will have to stop the brewing process immediately.

ROUND THREE

Date specific to each heat

In the final round of this heat, the competitors will once again go head-to-head, with each competitor brewing on their chosen coffee brewer from the provided equipment or their own. However, this time competitors will have ten minutes on-stage to prep and brew their coffee as well as presenting it to the judges. Once competitors have brewed their coffee, they will then have to pour it into a cupping bowl for the judges to taste from. Competitors that don’t present their coffee within the ten minutes will have to stop the brewing process immediately.

The final two competitors that advance from Round Three will then move onto the UK Filter Championships Final, which takes place at the Manchester Coffee Festival in November.

5. FAQs

Find answers to the most commonly asked questions below.

Can competitors use their own grinder during the UKIFC?
No, this is not allowed. All competitors will have access to a filter capable Grinder (brand to be released in due course) during their practice session and on-stage. No other grinders are permitted.

Are competitors allowed to bring their own water or use water droplets?
UKIFC competitors will have access to water from iX Water, but no other water or droplets are allowed to be used during this competition.

Can I use my own kettle in practice or during the competition?

No, this is not permitted. All competitors have access to a Temperature Controlled Fellow Stagg EKG Kettle during their practice session and during their time on stage, and this is the only permitted kettle during the UKIFC this year.

Can my friends/family purchase a ticket to watch the UKIFC?
Yes this is possible. They can purchase tickets for the Friday Industry session or for the Full Weekend show. This will be specific to each heat, with more information shared with competitors.