WBC 2007
Baristas descend on Tokyo for world championship
by Bruce Milletto
TOKYO—The 2007 World Barista Championship was a landmark event in the history of barista competition.
At the first WBC seven years ago, only 11 countries competed, and it was questionable whether or not this sort of event could hold the interest of the coffee world.
This year, 45 countries were represented—a 30 percent increase over last year's event in Bern, Switzerland. Not only did more baristas take part this year, but the audience was two to three times the size of the one in Bern. The growing interest in the craft of the barista was on full display.
More producing countries were represented this year, including Ethiopia, which competed for the first time. Also for the first time ever, a barista from a producing country—Brazil—made the finals. Other countries that arenŐt often associated with coffee, including Estonia, Croatia, Taiwan, Singapore, Iceland and Zimbabwe, also were represented.
On the third day of competition, it all came down to finalists from six countries, and finally, a winner was announced: James Hoffmann from the United Kingdom. Hoffmann was visibly humbled by the announcement. He will be a wonderful spokesperson—an unassuming, refined and sophisticated representative of the barista world. He has the moxie to handle his newfound fame and is a deserving winner.
...AND THE WINNER IS James Hoffmann from the United Kingdom
(Bruce Milletto)
The tension the contestants felt during the competition was palpable, with a field that included at least 20 baristas who many might argue deserved to be finalists. The judges worked tirelessly, as did many others who worked behind the scenes to make the event run almost flawlessly.
"I am truly amazed, proud, humbled and grateful," Hoffmann said. "I never expected this honor, and I am happy indeed." (Bruce Milletto)
Competitions like these are the culmination of years of work by organizations such as the Specialty Coffee Association of Japan, the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the board of directors of the World Barista Championship, a governing body that strives to improve the rules and format of the event each year to insure fairness and objectivity. It is the hard work of these groups and the competing baristas that make each successive WBC an event to behold.
AND THE FINALISTS ARE: CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Heather Perry, United States, second place; James Hoffmann, United Kingdom, first place; Silvia Magalhaes, Brazil, sixth place; Carl Sara, New Zealand, third place; Anna Kaeppeli, Switzerland, fifth place; and Miyuki Miyamae, Japan, fourth place. (Bruce Milletto)
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