World Barista Championship

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The World Barista Championship (WBC) is an annual barista competition operated by World Coffee Events for the title of World Barista Champion. The competition is composed of the winners of the national barista championships, which are operated by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) chapters, or an approved, independent, non-profit national body. First held in 2000, the event is hosted in a different city every year. [1] The most recent edition in 2023 was in Athens, with the 2024 edition scheduled to take place in Busan, South Korea. [2]

Contents

History

The first competition was in Monte Carlo in 2000. The WBC was dominated in its early years by Scandinavian baristas [3] and was held in Europe or the United States from its inception until 2007 when it was hosted in Tokyo, Japan.[ citation needed ]

In 2016, significant changes were made to the competition format: Grinders were now provided by the competition's partner (Mahlkönig), new models of espresso machines were introduced, and the cappuccino was replaced by a "milk drink" component. [4]

In 2018, Agnieszka Rojewska became the first woman to win the World Barista Championship. [5]

The 2020 championship was due to take place in Melbourne but was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. [6]

Competition format

Barista Jong Hoon Lee preparing coffee at the 2015 World Barista Championships while several judges are taking notes Wider side view Jong Hoon Lee competing WBC.jpg
Barista Jong Hoon Lee preparing coffee at the 2015 World Barista Championships while several judges are taking notes

There are three rounds of judging over two days. The first round included 55 national barista champions in 2018. The top 15 competitors advance to a second (semi-finals) round, plus the addition of a wildcard placing. The final round comprises the top scoring six baristas from the semi-finals round and takes place on the last day of the competition. In each round competitors present a 15-minute routine in which they must prepare and serve a total of 12 drinks: (4) espresso, (4) milk beverages, and (4) 'signature beverages' (a non-alcoholic espresso-based cocktail) to each of four sensory judges. [7] Baristas commonly perform the same routine in each of the rounds that they compete.[ citation needed ]

The four judges award points on a variety of factors including the taste and balance of the barista's beverages as well as their presentation. A technical judge grades their technique and cleanliness in the national championships and preliminary rounds. The judges' points are totalled to produce a final score for each barista in each round. The baristas with the highest scores advance from the first and second rounds, and the barista with the greatest score in the final round wins the title.

Organization

The WBC is operated by World Coffee Events (WCE), which was established by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) to run a portfolio of international coffee events. Since the SCAA and SCAE have unified in 2017, WCE is a part of this global organization called the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA).[ citation needed ]

The national barista competitions are each organized by their respective national coffee organizations.

Past winners

WBC-pouring split.jpg
Gwilym Davies.jpg
James Hoffmann (left) and Gwilym Davies (right) preparing drinks at the World Barista Championships in 2006 and 2009 respectively.
YearLocationWinner and NationalityRef(s)
2000 Monte Carlo, Monaco Robert ThoresenFlag of Norway.svg  Norway [8]
2001 Miami, USA Martin HildebrandtFlag of Denmark.svg  Denmark [9]
2002 Oslo, Norway Fritz StormFlag of Denmark.svg  Denmark [10]
2003 Boston, USA Paul Bassett Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia [11]
2004 Trieste, Italy Tim WendelboeFlag of Norway.svg  Norway [12]
2005 Seattle, USA Trouls Overdahl PoulsenFlag of Denmark.svg  Denmark [13]
2006 Bern, Switzerland Klaus ThomsenFlag of Denmark.svg  Denmark [14]
2007 Tokyo, Japan James Hoffmann Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom [15]
2008 Copenhagen, Denmark Stephen MorrisseyFlag of Ireland.svg  Ireland [16]
2009 Atlanta, USA Gwilym DaviesFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom [17]
2010 London, England Michael Phillips Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States [18]
2011 Bogota, Colombia Alejandro MendezFlag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador [19]
2012 Vienna, Austria Raúl RodasFlag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala [20] [21]
2013 Melbourne, Australia Pete LicataFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States [22] [23]
2014 Rimini, Italy Hidenori IzakiFlag of Japan.svg  Japan [24]
2015 Seattle, USA Sasa Sestic Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia [25] [26]
2016 Dublin, Ireland Berg WuFlag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan [27]
2017 Seoul, South Korea Dale HarrisFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom [28] [29]
2018 Amsterdam, the Netherlands Agnieszka RojewskaFlag of Poland.svg  Poland [30] [5]
2019 Boston, USA Jooyeon JeonFlag of South Korea.svg  South Korea [31] [32]
2021 Milan, Italy Diego CamposFlag of Colombia.svg  Colombia [33]
2022 Melbourne, Australia Anthony Douglas Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia [34]
2023 Athens, Greece Boram Julio UmFlag of Brazil.svg  Brazil [35]
2024 Busan, South Korea Mikael JasinFlag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia [36]

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References

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