Fat Seed Wins Champion at the 2026 International Coffee Roasting Challenge
Fat Seed Cafe + Roastery is proud to share that Bryant Dee, together with Kevin Lee, Fat Seed’s Head Roaster and his partner throughout the competition, was named Champion at the International Coffee Roasting Challenge during the Philippine International Coffee Competition, held at WOFEX Drinks + Bakes from February 25 to 27, 2026, at the World Trade Center, Metro Manila.
The competition was hosted by the Philippine International Coffee Competition, organized by WOFEX, in partnership with the Filipino Coffee Institute.
For Fat Seed, this win is more than a trophy. It is a milestone for our roasting team, our café community, and everyone who has helped shape the way we approach coffee: with discipline, curiosity, personality, and a little bit of beautiful chaos.
The competition was hosted by the Philippine International Coffee Competition, organized by WOFEX, in partnership with the Filipino Coffee Institute.
For Fat Seed, this win is more than a trophy. It is a milestone for our roasting team, our café community, and everyone who has helped shape the way we approach coffee: with discipline, curiosity, personality, and a little bit of beautiful chaos.
Three Days of Roasting, Pressure, and Problem-Solving
The International Coffee Roasting Challenge tested competitors across three intense days of roasting, evaluation, brewing, and sensory decision-making.
Bryant and Kevin roasted on an O Tesla Coffee Roaster, with coffees prepared using Dalla Corte machines. In a live competition setting, every variable matters. Equipment, timing, heat, airflow, development, extraction, and pressure all become part of the puzzle.
And like any real competition, not everything went perfectly.
There were unexpected technical hurdles, unpredictable moments, and the kind of pressure that forces competitors to stay sharp. But roasting has never been about waiting for perfect conditions. It is about understanding the coffee, trusting the plan, adapting quickly, and staying calm when the room gets loud.
Throughout the competition, Bryant and Kevin leaned on one guiding reminder from their mentor, Raoul de Peralta:
“Plan your roast, roast your plan.”
The Work Behind the Win
The photos from the competition tell the story clearly: Bryant and Kevin bent over roast sheets, checking notes, comparing data, monitoring machines, tasting, recalibrating, and thinking through every decision.
There are no shortcuts in roasting. Every batch carries a record of choices: when to charge, how to manage heat, when to develop, when to drop, and how to preserve the best expression of the coffee.
For Kevin, the championship was the result of persistence through difficult moments.
“This journey wasn’t easy,” he shared after the competition. “There were failed roasts. Long nights. Doubts. But passion kept me in front of the roaster. Discipline kept me consistent, and vision kept me moving.”
That spirit reflects the roasting culture Fat Seed continues to build: serious about quality, grounded in discipline, and always pushing toward a higher standard.
A Win Built by People
For Bryant, the championship was never just about the final score or the moment on stage.
“A win is only the last one to two hours and the last one to two people on the pedestal,” Bryant shared. “But winning is not about that. Winning was about everyone who stood by us. Everyone who pushed us to where we are. Winning is about the team. Winning is about family.”
He thanked fellow competitors, mentors, family, partners, and the full Fat Seed crew who kept everything running while he and Kevin were locked into the competition.
Special thanks were given to Raoul de Peralta for his competition guidance and to Lyndon Realubit, whom Bryant described as a father figure to him and Kevin in Fat Seed. Kevin also credited both mentors, along with Bryant and his own support system, for helping him reach this milestone.
Behind every championship roast is a much larger ecosystem: the people who train, encourage, taste, troubleshoot, cheer, and keep the ship sailing while the roasters go full goblin-mode over roast curves and flavor notes.
Serious Coffee, Unserious Victory Dance
When the results were announced, Bryant and Kevin brought home the championship for Fat Seed.
And then Bryant danced on stage.
Which, honestly, feels correct.
After three days of pressure, technical challenges, planning, roasting, tasting, and competing, the win deserved more than a polite handshake. It deserved a little victory chaos.
In Bryant’s words:
“To those who thought we were a buncha clowns… well think again, because the BAAAAD KIDS OF FAT SEED HAVE COME TO WIN!”
That line captures something essential about Fat Seed. We take coffee seriously, but we have never believed serious coffee needs to be stiff, cold, or joyless. Coffee is craft, but it is also culture. It is people, energy, music, food, stories, mistakes, recovery, laughter, and the occasional stage dance with a championship trophy in hand.
What This Means for Fat Seed
Winning the 2026 International Coffee Roasting Challenge marks an important milestone for Fat Seed Cafe + Roastery.
It recognizes the work happening behind the scenes in our roasting program, from sourcing and profiling to cupping, brewing, training, and service. It also reflects the growth of Philippine specialty coffee and the community of roasters, baristas, mentors, competitors, farmers, and coffee professionals pushing the industry forward.
For us, this championship is not the end of the story. It is a reminder to keep raising the standard.
Every roast carries a lesson. Every cup carries the work of many hands.
Congratulations to Bryant Dee, Kevin Lee, and the entire Fat Seed team for winning Champion at the 2026 International Coffee Roasting Challenge during the Philippine International Coffee Competition at WOFEX Drinks + Bakes.
The bad kids came to win.
And they did.