Gearing Up for the SCAE & WBC!

I was talking to Jo from Beyond the Bean the other day, and I said, “I’m so looking forward to seeing you in London at the Caffe Culture/SCAE show and the World Barista Championship ”in just a little more than a month!” And she had a little panic attack. While we’re all excited for the upcoming show in lovely London, there is a lot to do beforehand!

First things first: the details. The Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) annual Conference and Exhibition, CAFFE CULTURE, will take place at the Olympia event space in London, June 23 “25. During the Conference and Exhibition, the world’s most elite coffee competitions will take place, including the World Coffee In Good Spirits Championship; the World Cup Tasting Championship; the World Latte Art Championship; the Ibrik Competition; and of course, the World Barista Championship, which was won by this dude in 2009:

2009 UK Barista Champ and World Barista Champ, Gwilym Davies, at his coffee cart at Whitecross Street market.

If you’re planning on attending the SCAE Conference, and you happen to be an SCAE or SCAA member, be sure to take advantage of the discounted participation rates! The impressive roster of speakers scheduled for the SCAE Conference Programme include Doug Zell of Intelligentsia; Paul Ettinger of Cafe Nero; James Hoffmann of Square Mile Coffee; Buck Hendrix of Starbucks; Richard Barclay of SSP Group; David Anderson of CADA; Jeff Grout of JG Consulting; and a super special and exciting speaker: David Schomer of Vivace in Seattle!

David Schomer is the Grand Poobah of Latte Art, as evidenced by the reverence that baristas around the world view his DVD, Caffe Latte Art, with.

The Conference is designed to be as intimate and informative as possible for attendees, and is therefore limited to 300 participants, so sign up now! And for more details about the schedule, go HERE.

At the same time that the Conference is taking place, be sure to walk around the show floor and the competition areas to see the amazing talent on display from people like this guy…

Chris Deferio of Muncie, Indiana, and the Coffee Institute, will represent the United States in the World Latta Art Championship.

And this guy, too.

Tumi Ferrer, who works at Kaffitar in Iceland, will go for the World Cup Tasting Championship title. Interestingly: his sister will compete for Iceland in the WBC; and his dad will represent Iceland in the Coffee In Good Spirits Championship!

And don’t forget this guy!

Søren Stiller Markussen is the 2010 Barista Champion of Denmark, and will be a force to be reckoned with: Søren placed 6th at the WBC in Copenhagen in 2008.

Speaking of the World Barista Championship: Barista Magazine is once again putting together the official WBC program, and as more information on the competitors is sent our way, I’ve been amazed by how many baristas are repeat national champions! I know I did a post on this before, but I’ve just been amazed at how many names I recognize as we assemble this program. Here is a list of the repeat champs so far:

Australia, Scottie Callaghan

Costa Rica, Auren Chacon

Denmark, Søren Stiller Markussen

Guatemala, Raul Rodas

Honduras, Ana Lucia Lardizábal de Hawit

Hungary, Atilla Molnar

Ireland, Colin Harmon

The Netherlands, Sander Schat

New Zealand, Luciano Marcolino

Norway, Oda Haug

Poland, Izabela Popiolek

South Africa, Ishan Natalie

Thailand, Benyapa Naowan

Uganda, Roberts Mbabazi

USA, Mike Phillips

This WBC is looking to be something pretty amazing… we can’t wait!!

About Sarah 929 Articles
Sarah Allen (she/her) is co-founder and editor of Barista Magazine, the international trade magazine for coffee professionals. A passionate advocate for baristas, quality, and the coffee community, Sarah has traveled widely to research stories, interact with readers, and present on a variety of topics affecting specialty coffee. She also loves animals, swimming, ice cream, and living in Portland, Oregon.