High- energy barista, Stephanos Domatiotis, the barista champion of Greece, created a signature drink inspired his own cafe’s customers. His customers don’t all like the same things, so why think the judges here would either? Instead he offers two versions of his sig drink made with syphons. One features Sidamo and one a Sumatra. The judges choose which they would prefer, and Stephanos tailors the drink to their preference.
Korean barista champion, HyunSun Choi, was well supported by his Korean barista team, and Korean flags waved wildly in the crowd as he gave his performance. The Korean coffee scene is really growing he says, and he’s happy to be a part of the effort of bringing specialty coffee to his native land.
Not just a barista but also an agronomist, the champion of Costa Rica, Ricardo Azofeifa Mora, brought two different soil samples from two different regions of his country to demonstrate the difference they make on the flavor profiles of the coffees grown in them. One was rich, dark and black the other thinner and with red hues. Each impacts the coffee.
The barista champion of Guatemala, Jose de la Pena, was the twelfth competitor of the day. A barista from Guatemala City, Jose was the fourth Semifinalist to hail from a coffee producing country, meaning a full third of today’s competitors represented producing countries. That is a fitting stat for the first ever WBC held in a producing country.
The finalists announcement will begin at 3:30pm local time. Then we’ll find out who will be competing for the title tomorrow.
