Competitions

The little guys pictured about are Jizo, the Japanese patron saint of children and travelers, and as all the people who made the 2007 WBC such a success head home, we wish them all safe […]

James Hoffmann, the barista champion of the United Kingdom, is now the barista champion of the world. James is a terrific person, a great barista and will surely be a wonderful ambassador for specialty coffee […]

Well it’s no surprise by now, the day after the WBC came to a close, who won. But it may be a surprise for those of you who weren’t able to be here in Tokyo […]

Ken is getting his beauty sleep right now, after a late night partying with this guy: That’s the very handsome and amazing Luis from the Salvadoran coffee council, by the way. Luis is one of […]

James Hoffmann, the barista champion of the United Kingdom, claimed the World Barista Championship in Tokyo today! Congratulations, James! James edged out American barista champion Heather Perry for the title, while New Zealand’s Carl Sara […]

Wow! One way or another, the barista world will not be the same after tomorrow. This year’s finalists are Heather Perry from the United States, James Hoffmann of the United Kingdom, Silvia Magalhaes from Brazil, […]

German barista champion, Matthias Lincke, overcame technical difficulties (the water hose for the espresso machine became disconnected) and a restart of his routine to deliver a fine performance. He was the only competitor I noticed […]

Hungarian barista champion, Antal Kovacs, created his own competition espresso blend featuring 80% arabicas from Latin America, and 20% robutsa from Asia. He also used a sort of wooden stencil to create an interesting chocolate […]

James Hoffmann, barista champion of the United Kingdom, was the first competitor of the day. His microphone didn’t work. One of the burners on his table didn’t work. He noticed that at about the 12 […]