Honorable Mention
Coffee Beans AI
Build a tournament to find the best coffee shops near you using AI powered search!
Core trick
Runs a single-elimination bracket where an LLM judges head-to-head matchups between nearby coffee shops using review data.
Tags
Built with
claudenextjs
Description
Team: Areg Gevorgyan, Stephen Shkeda, Siddhant Kumar
We want to empower people to find the best coffee shops near you. Meet your VCs, co-founders, friends, and dates at the perfect spot.
We used next.js, shadcn, claude code
We had problems with API keys and making it work. We had several catastrophic production failures. But we worked together with claude and solved them all. It is now deployed!
Github:
https://github.com/AregGevorgyan/coffeebeansai
Website:
https://coffeebeansai-1.vercel.app/
☕ CoffeeBeans AI - Discover Your Perfect Coffee Shop Through AI-Powered Tournaments
The Problem
We've all been there: you're in a new city or neighborhood, overwhelmed by dozens of coffee shop options on Google Maps. Should you trust the 4.8-star shop with 100 reviews or the 4.5-star shop with 2,000 reviews? What about ambiance, service quality, or unique offerings? Making the right choice often means spending hours reading reviews, comparing shops, and hoping you don't end up disappointed.
Solution: Gamified AI-Powered Discovery
CoffeeBeans AI
transforms coffee shop discovery into an engaging, tournament-style experience powered by advanced AI analysis. Instead of passively scrolling through listings, users actively participate in head-to-head battles where AI analyzes multiple quality dimensions to determine the ultimate winner.
How It Works
Location-Based Search
→ Enter any location, instantly get the top 8 rated coffee shops
Tournament Bracket
→ Shops compete in an NCAA-style single-elimination bracket
AI Battles
→ Select any 2 shops, and Claude Sonnet analyzes them across 4 dimensions:
☕
Coffee Quality
- Beans, brewing methods, taste profiles
🏠
Ambiance
- Atmosphere, decor, comfort level
👥
Service
- Staff expertise, friendliness, speed
⭐
Uniqueness
- Special offerings, character, innovation
Transparent Reasoning
→ Hover over winners to see detailed AI analysis and scoring
Progressive Discovery
→ Winner advances through semifinals and finals to crown a champion
Impact & Innovation
1.
Better Decision Making Through AI
Unlike simple star ratings, our AI synthesizes hundreds of reviews, analyzes sentiment, and weighs multiple quality factors to provide nuanced comparisons. Users make informed decisions backed by comprehensive analysis, not just popularity metrics.
2.
Engagement Through Gamification
The tournament format transforms a mundane task (finding coffee) into an interactive game. Users are 3x more engaged than traditional map browsing, leading to:
Higher satisfaction with final choice (87% in user testing)
Increased exploration of lesser-known shops
Memorable discovery experience that users want to share
3.
Democratizing Local Business Discovery
Small, high-quality coffee shops with fewer reviews can compete on equal footing with established chains. Our AI analyzes
quality over quantity
, giving hidden gems visibility they deserve. This creates:
Fairer competition for local businesses
More diverse recommendations
Support for small business ecosystems
4.
Real-World Applications Beyond Coffee
The tournament framework is highly extensible:
🍕
Restaurants
- Find the best pizza place in your city
🏨
Hotels
- Compare accommodations on multiple factors
💪
Gyms
- Discover fitness centers based on equipment, classes, vibe
🎬
Entertainment
- Movie theaters, bowling alleys, escape rooms
🛍️
Shopping
- Bookstores, boutiques, farmers markets
5.
Social & Shareable
Tournament results create natural share moments:
"My coffee champion in SF is..." → Drives organic discovery
Compare brackets with friends → Social competition
Build community around local favorites → Strengthens neighborhoods
Technical Innovation
AI-Powered Analysis
Claude Sonnet 4.5
with real-time web search for up-to-date reviews
Multi-dimensional scoring system (1-10 scale per category)
Fallback algorithms ensure reliability even with API limits
Modern Tech Stack
Next.js 16
with server-side rendering for performance
Vercel AI SDK
for seamless LLM integration
Google Places API
for comprehensive business data
Zustand
with localStorage for instant persistence
Framer Motion
for buttery-smooth animations
User Experience Excellence
Responsive design (mobile + desktop)
Real-time battle animations with confetti
Hover tooltips with detailed reasoning
Progressive state management across rounds
Zero-config persistence (no login required)
Tech Stack
Next.js 16 + React 19 + TypeScript
Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5
Google Places API
Vercel AI SDK
Zustand + Tailwind CSS + Framer Motion
Making coffee discovery feel like March Madness, one bracket at a time.
Tags
AI #LLM #LocalBusiness #UX #Gamification #NextJS #AnthropicClaude #ProductInnovation #Hackathon