La Paz will host its first regional AeroPress qualifying competition on July 4, drawing baristas from across Baja California Sur and beyond to compete for a spot at Mexico’s national championship. The event at Cosmos Tostadores de Café 2 in downtown La Paz marks a milestone for the peninsula’s growing specialty coffee scene, and it doubles as a free public tasting event for anyone curious about what a $15 cup of coffee is supposed to taste like.
AeroPress Invented in 2005, Now Draws Competitors From 60 Countries
The AeroPress is a manual coffee brewer invented in 2005 by Alan Adler, a Stanford engineering lecturer best known for creating the Aerobie flying ring. The device uses air pressure and a paper microfilter to produce a single cup of coffee in about one to two minutes. It costs roughly $40, fits in a backpack, and has developed a cult following among specialty coffee professionals who prize it for the control it offers over brewing variables like water temperature, steep time, and pressure.
The AeroPress Championship started in 2008 as a small event in Oslo, Norway, organized by a coffee blogger. By 2024, the competition had expanded to more than 60 countries, each running regional and national qualifiers that feed into a single world championship. Mexico will host that global final in late 2026, according to organizers of the La Paz event. Before that, the Mexican national championship takes place November 7 in Mexico City.
The format is simple but intense. In each elimination round, competitors receive the same coffee beans and the same water. They have five minutes to prepare a cup using whatever recipe and technique they choose. Judges taste the results blind, with no knowledge of who brewed which cup. “The judges select the cup they like best. What is evaluated is the flavor and balance of the drink,” said Jocelyn Sánchez, co-founder of Cosmos Coffee Roasters in La Paz. The winner of each round advances until one champion remains.
La Paz Coffee Scene Has Grown Alongside BCS Tourism Boom
Baja California Sur is not a coffee-growing state. The arid peninsula lacks the altitude, rainfall, and tropical canopy that define Mexico’s major coffee-producing regions in Chiapas, Veracruz, and Oaxaca. But a wave of specialty roasters and cafés has taken root in BCS over the past decade, fueled by the same population growth and tourism expansion that has reshaped the region’s restaurant scene.
Cosmos Tostadores de Café, which Sánchez co-founded, now operates two locations in La Paz. The roastery sources beans from Mexican farms and roasts them locally. It is one of several specialty coffee businesses that have opened in the city, joining a café culture that was once limited to traditional Mexican coffee or instant Nescafé.
“It has been a culture that has grown little by little. The state has a coffee tradition, and more projects focused on specialty coffee continue to emerge,” Sánchez said. The July 4 competition itself reflects that growth: registered competitors so far include baristas from La Paz, Los Cabos, Santa Rosalía, and Tijuana. Organizers expect between 15 and 20 total participants.
The trend extends beyond La Paz. In Los Cabos, specialty coffee shops have multiplied in the San José del Cabo art district and along the Corridor. Santa Rosalía, the old French mining town on the Sea of Cortez, will send at least one coffee project to the La Paz event as a guest bar. The competition will feature several of these guest coffee bars offering public tastings alongside the main contest.
Free Admission, 950 Pesos to Compete, Scholarships Available
The competition runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Cosmos Tostadores de Café 2 in downtown La Paz. Admission is free and open to the public. Attendees can watch the elimination rounds, sample coffee from guest bars, and participate in tasting activities organized by visiting roasters from across BCS and mainland Mexico.
Registration to compete costs 950 pesos (about $48 USD). Organizers announced that Fuego y Leña, a La Paz restaurant, will provide three partial scholarships covering 60 percent of the registration fee. Applicants must submit an email to the organizers explaining why they want to participate. Scholarship recipients were expected to be selected this week.
Those interested in competing can find registration details through Cosmos Tostadores de Café’s social media channels. Ten participants had registered as of early June.
The July 4 event feeds directly into the November 7 national championship in Mexico City. The La Paz winner will represent the region at nationals, competing against qualifiers from across the country for a chance to advance to the AeroPress World Championship, which Mexico hosts later in 2026. The event was first reported by a regional English-language outlet covering Baja California Sur.