The dust has settled, and we have some brand new World Champions to introduce to you! Um Paul of South Korea (PHOTO) and Michalis Dimitrakopoulos of Greece fought off stiff competition battling through the final round to become the 2016 World Latte Art Champion and World Coffee in Good Spirits Champions!
The World Cup Tasters Championship final was a tight competition as always, with Gabriel Céspedes of Costa Rica triumphing for a record second year in a row! Fun fact: he scored a seven out of eight cups in the final round—which was only his second time ever missing a cup in competition.
In the World Coffee Roasting Championship, brought to you by Proaster, Alexandru Niculae of Romania triumphed through incredibly tight competition. Check out his winning roast profile here.
These events happen thanks to the support of our sponsors, and especially our Qualified Equipment Sponsors: CMA Astoria, Anfim, Cafetto, Pentair, and Technivorm. With their help, World Coffee Events (WCE) put on three simultaneous stages of world-class coffee competition for the more than 150,000 people who came through the HOTELEX Shanghai show. We couldn’t have done it without an army of tireless volunteers, the incredible support of our host UBM Sinoexpo and our production crew LSFX, and an amazing crew of dedicated Judges.
The Chinese and international crowd at this year’s competitions was incredible, bringing enthusiasm and support at every stage. Hearing the call, Chinese competitors placed very strongly this year, with Qi Li taking 2nd place in the World Latte Art Championship and Hu Ying taking 5th in the World Coffee In Good Spirits Championship.
This year’s events also featured multiple interactive audience elements, including the Marco Beverage Systems Brew Bar where guests could sample a wide variety of local and international coffees, as well as do their own triangulations of the Cup Tasters competition coffees. Over at the Proaster Coffee Roasting stage, competitors’ production coffee roasts, coming off the Giesen roasters, were on offer.
At the Latte Art and Coffee In Good Spirts stage, everything from serious amounts of passerby espresso production to a Master Class by Spirit Sponsor Grand Marnier were happening—including perhaps the most captivating of the events, the art bar portion of the Latte Art competition, where the competitors first poured the reference designs they’d try to replicate the next day.
Thank you again to all of our sponsors, and we can’t wait to see you in Dublin, where World Coffee Events will be putting on the World Barista Championship, World Brewers Cup, and Re:Co Symposium.
Additional photos available by request. Please credit all photos to World Coffee Events.
Top Six Rankings:
World Coffee In Good Spirits
1. Michalis Dimitrakopoulos of Greece
2. Martin Hudak of Slovakia
3. Berg Wu of Taiwan
4. Shae Macnamara of Australia
5. Hu Ying of China
6. David Jameson of The UK
World Latte Art Championship
1. Um Paul of South Korea (PHOTO)
2. Qi Li of China
3. Minako Yoshizumi of Japan
4. Dhang Tamang of the UK
5. Agnieszka Rojewska of Poland
6. Ben Morrow of Australia
World Cup Tasters Championship
1. Gabriel Céspedes of Costa Rica
2. Boris Ortner of Austria
3. Seong Jun South Korea
4. Mateusz Petlinski of Germany
5. Patricia Birungi of Uganda
6. Viktoria Sharkova of Russia
World Coffee Roasting Championship:
1. Alexandru Nicolaie of Romania
2. Dmitrii Borodai of Russia
3. Matthew Robley-Simeonsma of the UK
4. Joanna Alm of Sweden
5. Rubens Gardelli of Italy
6. Özgün Sarisoy of Turkey
About World Coffee Events, Ltd.
World Coffee Events’ mission is to develop events that engage the specialty coffee community and promote coffee excellence. Founded in 2011 by joint cooperation of the Speciality Coffee Associations of Europe and America, World Coffee Events is the premier producer of events for the coffee community and licenses national championships in more than 60 countries involving thousands of participants worldwide. For more information, visit our website at http://www.worldcoffeeevents.org.
About World Latte Art Championship
World Latte Art Championship, produced by World Coffee Events, highlights artistic expression in a competition platform that challenges the barista in an on-demand performance. Classic milk and espresso drinks are topped with designs of the barista’s creation, with emphasis on execution, replication, and creativity. (www.worldlatteart.org)
Support from international and national companies for WLAC comes from:
2015-2017 Official Espresso Machine Sponsor: CMA Astoria
2015-2017 Official Grinder Sponsor: Anfim
2015-2017 Official Cleaning Products Sponsor: Cafetto
About World Cup Tasters Championship
World Brewers Cup, produced by World Coffee Events, awards the professional coffee cupper who demonstrates speed, skill, and accuracy in distinguishing the taste differences in speciality coffee. Using skills of smell, taste, attention, and experience, the cupper will identify the odd cup in a given set as quickly as they can. (www.worldcuptasters.org)
Support from international and national companies for WCTC comes from:
2015-2017 Official Brewing Equipment Sponsor: Technivorm
2015-2017 Qualified Water Filtration Sponsor: Pentair
2015-2017 Official Cleaning Products Sponsor: Cafetto
About World Coffee Roasting Championship
Competitors in the three-stage event will be scored on their performance evaluating the quality of green coffee (coffee grading), developing a roasting profile that best accentuates the desirable characteristics of that coffee, and on the ultimate cup quality of coffees roasted. (http://www.worldcoffeeroasting.org/)
Support from international and national companies for WCRC comes from:
2015 Title Sponsor: Proaster
2015-2017 Official Cleaning Products Sponsor: Cafetto
About World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship
The World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship promotes innovative beverage recipes that showcase coffee and spirits in a competition format. From the traditional Irish Coffee to unique cocktail combinations, this competitions highlights the barista’s skills in perfectly combining coffee and alcohol. (http://www.worldcoffeeingoodspirits.org/)
Support from international and national companies for WCIGS comes from:
2015-2017 Official Espresso Machine Sponsor: CMA Astoria
2015-2017 Official Cleaning Products Sponsor: Cafetto
