World Barista Championship

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 2022 was in Melbourne, with the 2023 edition scheduled to be in Athens, Greece.[2]

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.

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

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.

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).

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

Past winners
James Hoffmann (left) and Gwilym Davies (right) preparing drinks at the World Barista Championships in 2006 and 2009 respectively.
Year Location Winner and Nationality Ref(s)
2000 Monte Carlo, Monaco Robert Thoresen  Norway [8]
2001 Miami, USA Martin Hildebrandt  Denmark [9]
2002 Oslo, Norway Fritz Storm  Denmark [10]
2003 Boston, USA Paul Bassett  Australia [11]
2004 Trieste, Italy Tim Wendelboe  Norway [12]
2005 Seattle, USA Trouls Overdahl Poulsen  Denmark [13]
2006 Bern, Switzerland Klaus Thomsen  Denmark [14]
2007 Tokyo, Japan James Hoffmann  United Kingdom [15]
2008 Copenhagen, Denmark Stephen Morrissey  Ireland [16]
2009 Atlanta, USA Gwilym Davies  United Kingdom [17]
2010 London, England Michael Phillips  United States [18]
2011 Bogota, Colombia Alejandro Mendez  El Salvador [19]
2012 Vienna, Austria Raúl Rodas  Guatemala [20][21]
2013 Melbourne, Australia Pete Licata  United States [22][23]
2014 Rimini, Italy Hidenori Izaki  Japan [24]
2015 Seattle, USA Sasa Sestic  Australia [25][26]
2016 Dublin, Ireland Berg Wu  Taiwan [27]
2017 Seoul, South Korea Dale Harris  United Kingdom [28][29]
2018 Amsterdam, the Netherlands Agnieszka Rojewska  Poland [30][5]
2019 Boston, USA Jooyeon Jeon  South Korea [31][32]
2021 Milan, Italy Diego Campos  Colombia [33]
2022 Melbourne, Australia Anthony Douglas  Australia [34]
2023 Athens, Greece Boram Julio Um  Brazil [35]

References
  1. KUDAK, KELSEY. "Calling the Shots: 20 Years of the World Barista Championship | Specialty Coffee Association News". Specialty Coffee Association News. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  2. Barrett, Peter (30 September 2022). "Melburnian crowned World Barista Champion at 2022 World Coffee Championships". Good Food. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  3. WBC WBC History: Previous Years. Retrieved on 2006-oct-25
  4. Nick Brown (27 March 2015). "Major Changes Coming to the 2016 World Barista Championship". Dailycoffeenews.com. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  5. "Agnieszka Rojewska becomes first female to win the World Barista Championship". Beanscenemag.com. 24 June 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  6. "2020 World Coffee Championships Canceled Due to COVID-19 Travel Restrictions". 28 July 2020.
  7. "Rules & Regulations". World Barista Championship. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  8. "1st ANNUAL WORLD BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP Monte Carlo 2000" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  9. "7th Annual World Barista Championship Miami 2001" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  10. "3RD ANNUAL WORLD BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP Oslo 2002" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  11. "4th Annual World Barista Championship Boston 2003" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  12. "5th Annual World Barista Championship Trieste 2004" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  13. "6TH ANNUAL WORLD BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP Seattle 2005" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  14. "7th Annual World Barista Championship Berne 2006" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  15. "8TH ANNUAL WORLD BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP RANKING ORDER" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  16. "9TH ANNUAL WORLD BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP RANKING ORDER" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  17. "2009 World Barista Championship" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  18. "2010 World Barista Championship RANKING ORDER" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  19. "2011 WORLD BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP RANKING ORDER" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  20. "Guatemalan winner of the World Barista Championship". Guatemalaontheweb.com. 18 June 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  21. "2012 WORLD BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITOR RANKINGS" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  22. "World Barista Championship Finals In Words and Pictures". Sprudge.com. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  23. "2013 WORLD BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP Competitor Rank and Scores" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  24. "2014 World Barista Championship" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  25. "2015 World Barista Championship Official Rankings" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  26. Gyan Yankovich (13 April 2015). "This Canberra Coffee Guy Just Won The World Barista Championship". Buzzfeed.com. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  27. "2016 World Barista Championship" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  28. "2017 World Barista Championship" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  29. Karolina Kumstova (14 November 2017). "Dale Harris is the World Barista Champion 2017". Europeancoffeetrip.com. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  30. "2018 World Barista Championship" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  31. "2019 World Barista Championship" (PDF). worldbaristachampionship.org. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  32. Zac Cadwalader (15 April 2019). "Jooyeon Jeon Of South Korea Is The 2019 World Barista Champion". Sprudge.com. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  33. "World Coffee Championships on Instagram: "Congratulations to the 2021 World Barista Champion, Diego Campos representing Colombia! Final Ranking: 1. Diego Campos, Colombia 2. Andrea…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  34. Cadwalader, Zac (30 September 2022). "Here Are The Winners Of The 2022 World Barista Championship & World Brewers Cup". Sprudge.com. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  35. Cadwalader, Zac (30 June 2023). "Here Are The Winners From The 2023 World Coffee Championships In Athens". https://sprudge.com. Retrieved 3 July 2023. {{cite news}}: External link in |work= (help)
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