You Can't Win Awards Just by Brewing Coffee! 2022 WBC Runner-Up Smashed Cups in Front of Judges?!

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The Crisis Facing Specialty Coffee

"Two years ago, specialty coffee faced extinction. Coffee was once like a canvas where excellent customer relationships could be built, but that has now changed. Coffee service has become increasingly efficient, yet terribly dull and tasteless.

Two years later, as we steadfastly advance the coffee industry, the loss of coffee service has become unavoidable. While pursuing progress, we should look back at the past situation." This was the theme of Morgan Eckroth from the United States, the 2022 WBC runner-up, during her competition.

Unlike some previous barista championship contestants, Morgan was already a coffee blogger with over 7 million followers before participating in competitions.

Since the pandemic, Morgan has enabled more people to experience the charm of specialty coffee, ensuring they don't lose the experience of professional service and specialty coffee due to being unable to visit stores. She frequently shares on social platforms in a simple and relaxed way, allowing everyone watching her videos to make a cup of specialty coffee or creative coffee at home.

To help more people fall in love with specialty coffee and learn more coffee knowledge, the proper dissemination of coffee culture by baristas is indispensable. Such professionalism is not limited to face-to-face service; daily sharing is also valuable. Morgan also stated in this year's World Barista Championship US regional selection that as a member of coffee bloggers, she considers sharing professional coffee knowledge and promoting specialty coffee as her responsibility.

WBC Competition Journey

Back to the WBC competition venue~

In the milk coffee segment, Morgan selected an endangered coffee variety—Coffea Eugenioides from Colombia, the mother of Arabica, originally native to East Africa. The leaves and coffee fruits of this variety are smaller than Arabica. Although growing it is not particularly difficult, their yield is indeed lower than Arabica, and the variety is still considered a rare or experimental coffee cultivation.

"This incredibly unique coffee flavor gives us new expectations for coffee. In the entire coffee garden, people almost forgot about it. Fortunately, a coffee laboratory 'resurrected' this variety, and with careful care and cultivation deep in the Colombian Andes, this variety reappeared." Morgan said.

Today, with technological assistance, Eugenioides has reproduced its incredible coffee flavor—low acidity and complex rich sweetness, with the natural processing method further enhancing the coffee's inherent sweetness.

For the espresso portion of the milk coffee, Morgan used 23g of coffee grounds to extract 36g of coffee liquid in 25 seconds, paired with frozen distilled purified milk. Whole milk was frozen and distilled to 30% concentration, giving the milk an excellent creamy texture. After heating, the lactose in the milk is further stimulated, fully blending with the sugars in Eugenioides to create a candy-like sweetness.

The cream-like texture of the purified milk allows the coffee to showcase flavors of yellow cake batter, melted chocolate ice cream, caramel butter, sugar, vanilla, salty nuts, along with a rich milky feel and butter-like weight.

Eugenioides previously faced an extinction crisis, and in recent years, affected by climate change leading to decreased production, it faces another extinction crisis. Morgan hopes that with the enhancement of milk sweetness, Eugenioides' sweetness can be maximized, allowing everyone to rediscover the flavor magic of this variety.

Creative Coffee Segment

In the creative coffee segment, Morgan selected a light-roast natural processed Rume Sudan from Colombia, preserving the tropical fruit acidity characteristics of Rume Sudan.

First, using 18.2g of coffee grounds to extract 40g of coffee liquid in 25 seconds, the flavor exhibited red grapefruit, floral notes, brown sugar, and kiwi, with a moderate oiliness, soft and smooth mouthfeel, and a finish with rose and kiwi transforming into orange acidity, with a lasting aftertaste. Each judge received two espressos—one for direct tasting and one reserved for subsequent preparation.

Next, Morgan used 80g of Rume Sudan espresso that was prepared and frozen at the beginning of the competition; then added lulo, a unique lemon-shaped citrus fruit from Colombia, mixed with 25g of sugar in a 1:1 ratio to make syrup. When mixed with coffee, it produces tamarind and maple leaf flavors.

- Lulo fruit

Then add 30g of pineapple juice with salt water. The salt water serves to balance the coffee flavor and enhance the sweetness in the coffee, creating a spiced cocoa flavor; then add 20g of frozen distilled milk to bring a creamy texture to the coffee; finally, inject carbon dioxide and pour in the judges' remaining three espressos for mixing.

After pouring the coffee, the espresso cups are broken by Morgan, symbolizing the coffee crisis that has been faced, is being faced, and will continue to be faced. In turbulent times, is the coffee industry really ready? Morgan hopes so, because we can see this when looking back at the past. Coffee itself survives through constant renewal, and so will we.

After mixing, the coffee has fruit jam, cream soda, spiced cocoa, and spicy plant aromas, with dense foam, light yet creamy smooth mouthfeel. It is then served in cups made using Japan's ancient Kintsugi technique (a technique of repairing broken things with gold, making the object stronger). This symbolizes coffee and also humanity—take a deep breath and look forward to the broken pieces.

After serving, Morgan sprays each coffee with a mixture of orange blossom water and tea, simulating Colombia's national liquor Aguardiente, symbolizing celebration and also the hope for the complete return of specialty coffee in the future.

The Future of Specialty Coffee

It's not just Eugenioides that faces extinction—global climate change, major shifts in consumer markets, and the decline of the coffee industry have put specialty coffee itself in danger. Therefore, the inherent value of coffee must be enhanced.

Professional coffee knowledge and understanding of coffee extraction principles are essential conditions for being a barista, but for industry development, we need more people who can appreciate and are willing to learn about specialty coffee.

Specialization has its focus, and different fields are as different as mountains. Not everyone who drinks coffee has a deep understanding of coffee culture/knowledge. When facing beginners who want to know/learn about coffee, what baristas need to do is to properly simplify complex knowledge through understanding before expressing and disseminating it. This is the only way for specialty coffee to develop better.

From coffee beginners to coffee experts, all are added value to the industry. Finding new niche markets is the key to the industry's advancement.

Image source: YouTube (World Coffee Championships) screenshots, internet

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