The World Barista Championship, SCAA Day One in Seattle

The WBC Seattle branding, smartly displayed on a Nuova Simonelli Black Eagle espresso machine.

The 16th annual World Barista Championship heats up in Seattle

And we’re off ”and sprinting! The 16th annual World Barista Championship kicked off in high style with a packed day of outstanding competitors from all corners of the world yesterday, as round one of the most prestigious coffee contest on the planet began. This first round will continue all day today (Friday), concluding at 5 p.m. with the announcement of the 12 baristas who have qualified for the semifinal round tomorrow.

While it was all professionalism, enormous talent, and a pretty impressively big crowd in the WBC area of the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle yesterday, outside was another story. Two giant halls were under construction as hundreds of coffee industry exhibitors built their booths in preparation of the Specialty Coffee Association of America show opening today.

The terrific Elizabeth Chai is working for us during this year’s big event, photographing competitors and all the action. Here are some of the wonderful moments she captured at the WBC in Seattle yesterday.

Irish Barista Champion, Natalia Piotrowska of 3fe shares about her coffee ” a washed Typica from Bolivia.

Alexander Hansen of Norway preparing his cappuccino service for judges, during his Round 1 performance.

Chan Kwun Ho of Hong Kong competed in this fabulous silk vest displaying pink florals and golden fish and deer.

Later on yesterday, the World Aeropress Championship was held across town. Here, Canadian Aeropress Champ, Nick Hatch, gets the crowd going during his Quarterfinal round at the 2015 World Aeropress Championship. He went on to earn a 2nd place silver trophy in the competition.

PiÃ¨ce de résistance: Designer and Illustrator, David Salinas (Department of Brewology) worked his way through a hand-numbing 170 hours (and multiple Micron pens), hand-illustrating the 2015 World Aeropress Championship poster.

Stay tuned right here for many more photos from the action today, as well as photos and details from the semifinalist announcement at the WBC this afternoon!