In the final part of our chat, we talk to the veteran of multiple U.S. CoffeeChamps events about approaching competition and his unceasing passion for coffee.
BY CHRIS RYAN
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Featured photo courtesy of World Coffee Events
In the first part of our conversation with Wenbo “Joe” Yang yesterday, we learned how he discovered specialty coffee and pursued his passion to various coffee jobs in Portland, Ore. Today, we finish our chat by learning about his path through myriad coffee competitions.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Barista Magazine: Let’s talk about coffee competitions! How did you get interested in competing?
Joe Yang: In 2016, after moving to the U.S., I went to Atlanta for the Specialty Coffee Expo. I felt I needed to discover more coffee skills, because in China I had been more focused on marketing stuff. So Atlanta was my first time seeing the U.S. Coffee Championships; I sat there for three days and watched the whole thing. And in that moment, I felt like I had to try it. I also felt the competition could push me to learn more English, because you need it to do the presentations, and also that this was a chance to increase my social skills.
And you’ve done almost every competition, right?
Yeah. First I did the AeroPress competition in 2016 or 2017—that one was more fun, but just to feel what a coffee competition was like. Then I did Brewers Cup in 2017; since then I’ve done every U.S. CoffeeChamps competition except Coffee in Good Spirits. I don’t drink alcohol, so that’s why I’m not jumping into that one.
Let’s talk about the two U.S. competitions you’ve won, starting with Brewers Cup in 2023. What was the experience like to win, and then to just miss the semifinals at the World Brewers Cup in Athens, Greece?
I never expected that I could win last year because it was only my second time competing in the Brewers Cup. But I also think my attitude helped me win this competition—because I didn’t think I could win, I didn’t really feel stressed. I just enjoyed the competition, and I feel that helped my presentation go really well.
But when I went to the world competition in Greece, I felt really stressed because I was representing the U.S. and I really wanted to go to the finals. Because I was stressed, I messed up a lot of stuff. Even the music—they didn’t play my music, but I didn’t notice until I had said “time” (to start the presentation). I watched my video afterward and could see the pace was not good.
But I felt OK because I did my best and I learned a lot from the competition. If I have the chance to compete again at worlds, I definitely can do better.
Speaking of that, you won the 2024 U.S. Latte Art Championship and deferred to worlds until 2025, correct? How are you feeling about competing in latte art?
Yes. I have some visa issues so I cannot travel internationally. But next year I can definitely go. So I will compete at the World Latte Art Championship in 2025 with next year’s U.S. champion.
Right now I feel a lot of Asian countries are really, really great on the latte art competition—Thailand, China, Korea, Japan. So that’s really challenging to me. But I feel I can try my best. For the latte art competition, you need to not just think about the difficulty of your design; you also need to think about the rules and maximizing your points.
I have a lot of daily jobs so I can’t start practicing now, but I will give myself two months for the preparation. I probably will start next April to do the full two months and practice really well.
You’ve won two U.S. competitions. Do you have plans to take part in any others?
I think I will more focus on Roasters, because I did win the qualifying competitions twice, in 2020 and 2024. But for nationals I always had some drama come up so I didn’t (place well). I still want to compete in Roasters to try to get better results on the national level—also because my daily job is more about roasting.
I also want to do the Barista competition again. That’s the hardest one. I did it once, in 2019, but I want to give myself more time for it. I will do that after the latte art competition next year. Because for the Barista competition you definitely need more time to practice your routine. So that’s my big project for the future.
I’m also encouraging others to compete. Before I competed, I didn’t see a lot of Asian people in the U.S. competitions. I always tell a lot of friends who work at coffee shops, if you really love coffee, you can try to do the competitions. Don’t be afraid of it. Just do it. I think we’ll see more competitors from this community.
I saw in one of your posts about competition that you said “my life is coffee.” You also have a young family, but why does coffee play such a big role in your life?
Coffee really helps me to get my emotional balance. Sometimes when I’m really (worn down), I just go to my little bar to pour latte art or some really good coffee to calm myself down. So coffee is kind of like my medicine, and it’s also like my game. I don’t like playing video games, but I will play with coffee. If I feel bored, I’ll come up with some project trying different recipes or coming up with different experiments. That is life for me.
Also, I really enjoy all kinds of coffee-related work. I love to be the green buyer, I love to train people, train the robots, the roasters. I like to be involved in all sorts of coffee work—I really love it. I’ve told my wife, “If I don’t have a coffee job, I will die of boredom.”
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