A festival for coffee people, a banquet for baristas

Korea Barista Championship(KBC) has worked hard to build an infrastructure of baristas, who are the center of the Korean coffee industry’s development, since its first barista contest held in 2003 for the first time in Korea, until its 13th contest in 2015. Until the 12th contest in 2014, espresso machines and coffee were officially designated to provide the same conditions within which baristas were to make the best coffee with coffee extracting technology. However, from the contest in 2015, it has changed into having baristas make the best coffee of the best flavor and aroma by blending coffee from six single-origin coffee beans provided by the organizer, at a ratio unique to themselves, without officially designating any coffee. Because it has transformed into a contest of highlighting each contestant’s individuality, baristas now emphasize the appeal of their individual coffee bean blends during their presentations and showcase various performances to draw as much response from the judges and spectators. The coffee bean blend of the champion is then launched into a product the following year, under the name of “Champion Coffee.”

Basic Theme

Contest of making diverse coffee menus based on espresso making

Keynote

Contestants make, showcase, and explain their unique espresso, cappuccino, and signature menus, among others, to win the hearts of the judges.

Interesting Points

For their blended coffee beans to appeal to the judges and audience, contestants present their coffee in a much more creative and elegant manner than before. They start by demonstrating with personally selected music playing in the background, and then by elegantly extracting espresso and performing to emphasize the appeal of their diverse signature coffee and draw the spectators’ attention.

Korea Barista Championship 2022

History