The Colombian barista Diego Campos wins the World Barista Championship at HostMilano

MILAN – In a particularly heartfelt edition, after a periodo of forced closure due to Covid-19, contenders from all over the world competed on the stage of The Milan World Coffee Championship (WCC 2021). The competitions took place at HostMilano. The Italian national champions Fabio Dotti (cup tasters), Elisa Urdich (brewers) and Daniele Ricci (bartender) did not manage to qualify for the finals. In fact, only six finalists were selected for the final test and four in cup tasters.

For the cup tasters category: Dènes Rajmond from Germany, José María Gòmez Mora from Costa Rica, Kyoungha (Charlie) Chu from Australia and Sang Min Ju from South Korea. In that barista: Diego Campos from Colombia, Wojciech from Ireland Tysler. for Australia Hugh Kelly; from Switzerland, Emi Fukahori, for the United States, Andrea Allen and finally from Kenya, Martin Shabaya. And finally, the six finalists for the brewers category: for Japan, Daiki Hatakeyama, Tomas Taussig from the Czech Republic, Matt Winton from Switzerland; for the United States Elika Liftee, from Australia Carlos Escobar and finally from Canada, Ply Pasarj.

WCC 2021: who got on the podium

For World Barista Championship:

1. Diego Campos, Colombia
2. Andrea Allen, United States
3. Hugh Kelly, Australia
4. Emi Fukahori, Switzerland
5. Martin Shabaya, Kenya
6. Wojciech Tysler, Ireland

The World Barista Championship focuses on promoting excellence in coffee, advancing the
barista profession, and engaging a worldwide audience with an annual championship event that serves as the culmination of local and regional events around the globe. Each year, competitors from around the globe each prepare 4 espressos, 4 milk drinks, and 4 original signature drinks to exacting standards in a 15-minute performance set to music. WCE Certified Judges from around the world evaluate each performance on the taste of beverages served, cleanliness, creativity, technical skill, and overall presentation. The ever-popular signature beverage allows baristas to stretch their imagination and the judges’ palates to incorporate a wealth of coffee knowledge into an expression of their individual tastes and experiences. The top 15 highest-scoring competitors from the first round, plus wild-card winner from the Team Competition, advance to a semi-final round. The top 6 competitors in the semi-final round advance to the finals round, from which one winner is named World Barista Champion.

For World Cup Tasters:

1. Kyoungha (Charlie) Chu – Australia
2. Dénes Rajmond – Germany
3. Sang Min Ju – South Korea
4. José María Gómez Mora – Costa Rica

Coffees of the world have many distinct taste characteristics and in this competition format, the objective is for the cupper to discriminate between the different coffees. Three cups are placed in a triangle, with 2 cups being identical coffees and one cup being a different coffee. Using skills of smell, taste, attention, and experience, the cupper will identify the odd cup in the triangle as quickly as they can. A total of 8 triangles are placed in each round. The top 8 competitors with the most correct answers and the fastest time proceed to the next Semi-Finals round. Then the top 4 will compete again in the Finals round to determine the next World Cup Tasters Champion.

For World Brewers Cup:

1. Matt Winton, Switzerland
2. Daiki Hatakeyama, Japan
3. Elika Liftee, United States
4. Carlos Escobar, Australia
5. Ply Pasarj, Canada
6. Tomas Taussig, Czech Republic

The World Brewers Cup competition highlights the craft of filter coffee brewing by hand,
promoting manual coffee brewing and service excellence. In this Championship, competitors prepare and serve three individual beverages for a panel of judges. During the first round competitors complete two coffee services – a compulsory service and an open service. For the compulsory service, competitors prepare three beverages utilizing whole bean coffee provided to them by the competition. For the open service, competitors may utilize any whole bean coffee of their choosing and must also accompany their beverage preparation with a presentation. The six competitors with the highest score from the first round will go on to compete in the finals round consisting exclusively of an open service. One competitor from the final round will be named the World Brewers Cup Champion.

Full competition routines are being uploaded to the World Coffee Championship YouTube
channel, with full rankings available soon. Download a selection of official stage photography at the link in the notes section.