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 2024 was in Busan, South Korea.^[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.^{[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

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 on a range of technical and sensory attributes.^[8] 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.

In 2023, the SCA updated the rules and regulations and now allow the use of infused and co-fermented coffees in baristas' routines.^[9]

Organization

The WBC is operated by World Coffee Events (WCE), and is one of seven World Coffee Championships 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.^[8] 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

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	[10]
2001	Miami, USA	Martin Hildebrandt	Denmark	[11]
2002	Oslo, Norway	Fritz Storm	Denmark	[12]
2003	Boston, USA	Paul Bassett	Australia	[13]
2004	Trieste, Italy	Tim Wendelboe	Norway	[14]
2005	Seattle, USA	Trouls Overdahl Poulsen	Denmark	[15]
2006	Bern, Switzerland	Klaus Thomsen	Denmark	[16]
2007	Tokyo, Japan	James Hoffmann	United Kingdom	[17]
2008	Copenhagen, Denmark	Stephen Morrissey	Ireland	[18]
2009	Atlanta, USA	Gwilym Davies	United Kingdom	[19]
2010	London, England	Michael Phillips	United States	[20]
2011	Bogota, Colombia	Alejandro Mendez	El Salvador	[21]
2012	Vienna, Austria	Raúl Rodas	Guatemala	[22][23]
2013	Melbourne, Australia	Pete Licata	United States	[24][25]
2014	Rimini, Italy	Hidenori Izaki	Japan	[26]
2015	Seattle, USA	Sasa Sestic	Australia	[27][28]
2016	Dublin, Ireland	Berg Wu	Taiwan	[29]
2017	Seoul, South Korea	Dale Harris	United Kingdom	[30][31]
2018	Amsterdam, the Netherlands	Agnieszka Rojewska	Poland	[32][5]
2019	Boston, USA	Jooyeon Jeon	South Korea	[33][34]
2021	Milan, Italy	Diego Campos	Colombia	[35]
2022	Melbourne, Australia	Anthony Douglas	Australia	[36]
2023	Athens, Greece	Boram Julio Um	Brazil	[37]
2024	Busan, South Korea	Mikael Jasin	Indonesia	[38]
2025	Milan, Italy
2026	Panama City, Panama