WBC Rimini Round 1, Day 1: All the Action in Photos

Article and photos by Kate Beard

The SCAE World of Coffee kicked off on Monday in gloriously sunny Rimini, Italy. Baristas and spectators alike crowded into the Rimini Fiera convention centre beginning at 8 a.m. to watch the competition unfold. Twenty-eight baristas representing countries from Argentina to Zambia gave their performances over the course of a long, nine-hour competition day.

Barista Magazine was there to cover it all! Here are some of the highlights from round 1 of the World Barista Championship 2014 preliminaries:

Yoshua Tanu, Barista Champion of Indonesia.

Nicolas Rico, Barista Champion of Colombia

Competitors from origin countries ”such as Yoshua Tanu (Indonesia), Leo Moco (Brazil), and Nicolas Rico (Columbia) ”had the unique opportunity to use coffee sourced from their own country.

Vinicio Bastidas became Ecuador's first ever barista champion this year. — Vinicio Bastidas became Ecuador’s first ever barista champion this year.

William Hernandez from El Salvador painted a Chemex filter with kiwi puree, espresso, and blackberry puree to depict a coffee plant; he then used the filter to make part of his signature drink, talking about the combination of art and science in coffee.

Zambian barista champion Dailess Nalwamba made a macadamia nut milk on stage, adding it to Zambian coffee for her signature drink.

Kapo Chiu, representing Hong Kong, used a sieve to filter his coffee grinds and ensure conformity in the size of the particles.

Italian barista champion Giacomo Vanelli likened his coffee to sound and played a xylophone during his performance. A vocal entourage filled the stage with thunderous applause and yells, Italian flags waving, as he finished his presentation just under the line at 14:59.

In this year’s first round, some theme are already emerging: foams and aerated ingredients in signature drinks seem to be popular choices, as well as decanting espressos into other glasses (like wine glasses) to enhance the aromas or flavours.

Round two of the preliminaries is about to get underway here in Rimini. The sounds of grinders whirring and tampers being knocked are already echoing across the hall as baristas prepare for their first performances. It’s sure to be another exciting, jam-packed day. Be sure to check back here for more coverage later in the day!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Beard is a freelance writer and photographer who is currently based in London. She is also finishing a degree in English & English Language Teaching at University of Greenwich. She loves all things coffee and would love to travel the world looking for the best coffee stories to tell. See more of her work on her personal blog, www.asouthernbellein.com

baristamagazine says:

June 10, 2014 at 6:41 am

First round scores won’t be released until after the announcement of the semifinalists.
Raymond says:

June 10, 2014 at 4:37 am

I support Craig Simon from Australia.
I am confident he will win.
Can you tell me what his first round score was?

Comments are closed.

2 Comments