World of Coffee crowns new champions in Dublin

Berg Wu of Taiwan and Tetsu Kasuya of Japan have been crowned as the World Barista Champion and World Brewers Cup Champion respectively at the World of Coffee in Dublin. Berg leaves Dublin with a Nuova Simonelli Musica espresso machine, his choice of Mahlkönig EK43 or K30 Vario AIR grinder, a nine-day origin trip to Brazil with Ally Coffee, a trip to Swiss Water’s decaffeination plant in Vancouver, BC, and $500 gift voucher from Espresso Supply. In his presentation, Berg described his pursuit for “high complexity coffee”, which took him to Finca Debora, in the Volcan region of Panama. It was here that Berg found a washed Geisha grown at 1950 metres above sea level, one of the highest-elevated farms in Panama. “Because the coffee grows slowly in this elevation, it becomes unique in its intensity and complexity, shown in its floral aromas,” Berg told the judges. Berg’s Geisha coffee was slowly dried for 16 days in a green house. He said this process added sweetness and body to the cup. To complement this sweetness from the drying process, Berg slow-roasted the coffee with a rate of rise from 150°C to 160°C. For his signature beverage, Berg took to the specially-designed turquoise VA388 Black Eagle, and used 19 grams of Geisha coffee and extracted 51 grams. It was a longer extraction than his espresso course, but Berg said it was necessary to achieve a longer, lingering finish. “As a barista we're always looking at the best point of balance or to be honest, we're just trying to sacrifice less, but today I want to create an amazing signature drink. To me, this means explosive aroma, round fullness and long and lingering finish in the end,” he told the judges. To his drink he added 15 grams of orange juice and a honey reduction to emphasise the Geisha's juicy, citric acidity, but without caramelisation. He added 15 grams of earl grey tea and 100 grams of soft water. For heightened aroma he added one drop of jasmine and mandarin essential oil through an aromatiser, which was infused into the drink. Yoshikazu Iwase of Rec Collective in Japan placed runner up, Ben Put of Canada of Monogram Coffee placed third, Lem Butler of Counter Culture Coffee in the United States placed fourth, Charlotte Malaval of Ditta Artigianale of France placed fifth, and Lex Wenneker of Espresso Service West in The Netherlands placed sixth. After three attempts at a national title and his first presentation on the world stage, Tetsu Kasuya of Coffee Factory in Japan is the 2016 World Brewers Cup Champion. As the 2016 Champion, Tetsu wins a new VST Refractometer, a trip to Brazil from Ally Coffee, a $500 gift voucher for goods and services from Bonavita, a Lighttells CM-100 Roast Analyzer, and a gift set from Cafe Taf. Mikaela Wallgren of The Coffee Collective in Finland placed runner up, Chad Wang of Jascaffee China in Taiwan placed third, Benny Wong of The Cupping Room in Hong Kong placed fourth, Todd Goldsworthy of Klatch Coffee in the United States placed fifth, and Odd-Steinar Tøllefsen of Supreme Roastworks AS in Norway (2015 WBrC champion) placed sixth. The two international competitions were held as part of the annual World of Coffee event. More than 6,500 people met with more than 1,500 exhibitors at 250 stands over the course of the three-day event.  Organised by the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) and sponsored by BWT water+more, World of Coffee Dublin featured an expansive programme of educational seminars, talks and cuppings and the first ever Sustainability Forum. The SCAE Excellence Awards, sponsored by OikoCredit, the New Product of the Show Awards and the SCAE Photography Awards were all given to worthy winners and the second year of Re:co the Speciality Coffee Symposium, where delegates discussed innovation and strategic development within the industry, was another great success.