Michael Phillips is a barista who won the United States Barista Championship in Portland, Oregon, in March 2009, while working at Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Chicago, IL.
[1] He also won the 2010 United States Barista Championship, becoming the second repeat U.S. champion.
[2] At the March 2011 TED conferences (standing for Technology, Entertainment, Design)[3] in California, Phillips was present at Coffee Common, a new organization with what was called "the unapologetically idealistic purpose to create a community with shared values.
"[4] In April 2011, Phillips resigned from his position as director of coffee education at Intelligentsia[5] to help found the Handsome Coffee Roasters[6] in Los Angeles, California, with Tyler Wells and Chris Owens.
[8] Philips was born in the United States and spent his early life in Royal Oak, Michigan.