Luckin Coffee Signs with 2022 WBC World Coffee Champion Anthony, Launches Global Bean Sourcing Initiative!

Another Champion Joins Luckin: Anthony Douglas Enters the WBC Champion Team

First came 2014 World Barista Championship (WBC) winner Hidesuke Izaki, then 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics freestyle skiing champion Gu Ailing, then the 2021 League of Legends world champion team EDG. Luckin's other identity, it seems, might be that of a champion collector.

On the morning of February 20, Luckin Coffee announced across multiple platforms that Anthony Douglas, winner of the 2022 WBC World Barista Championship, has officially joined the "Luckin WBC Champion Team." Starting in March this year, Douglas will lead Luckin's bean sourcing team to Ethiopia and Panama, two renowned coffee origins.

He is the fifth WBC champion Luckin has brought on board, following 2014 winner Hidesuke Izaki, 2003 Italian champion Andrea Lattuada, 2017 Chinese champion Pan Zhimin and 2018 World Barista Championship winner Agnieszka Rojewska.

Innovative Competition Technique

Coffee Workshop previously covered this champion's hardcore move of bringing his laboratory onto the competition stage. He used cryodesiccation to concentrate milk into "milk powder," then added it back into liquid milk to double both the milk flavor and fat content.

Anthony paired that "concentrated milk" with an anaerobic natural Sidra from Colombia's Huila El Diviso region to build a cappuccino with a rich texture and a foam structure that held up better than usual. His unusual preparation left a deep impression on the judges and ultimately earned him the 2022 World Barista Championship crown.

From Local Barista to Global Ambassador

The WBC title brought Anthony far more attention from industry professionals. Just last month, premium espresso machine brand La Marzocco announced through social media that Anthony would serve as its official global ambassador.

Born in Australia, Anthony is a true Melbourne native. At 18 he ventured to Sydney and worked at a Spanish restaurant, where he first developed an interest in coffee. The following year he moved back to Melbourne to start his barista career in earnest.

In 2015, driven by his passion for coffee, Anthony joined the Melbourne coffee brand Axil, where, under the mentorship of founder Dave Makin, he steadily sharpened his skills. Over seven years, from regional competitions to the Australian national finals, he pursued the ultimate expression of a good cup of coffee. The championship title is a testament to those years of dedication. After winning the world title, Anthony moved from training manager at Axil Coffee Roasters into research and development, hoping to explore specialty coffee further.

Luckin's Specialty Coffee Ambitions

Looking back at Luckin's specialty coffee moves in recent years, the company has expanded its store network rapidly while continuing to launch creative drinks that dominate social media. This time it has recruited the freshly crowned champion Anthony Douglas, who will lead a bean sourcing team into Ethiopia and Panama and take part directly in the green bean purchasing process.

It seems likely that Luckin will soon add classic single-origin varieties beyond Yirgacheffe and Flower Queen to its "Little Black Cup" series. Panama Geisha, perhaps? We will have to wait and see.

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Colombia is wonderfully versatile: its coffees work equally well in espresso blends and as pour-over single origins, spanning fruit-acidity profiles, full-bodied cups and aroma-forward lots. That range is exactly why Colombian beans suit such a wide audience, and FrontStreet carries several expressions of it.

To understand the country's signature regional style, try FrontStreet Colombia Huila. Huila, in the southern Central Cordillera, is Colombia's most famous specialty region: a landscape ringed by mountains, planted above 1,500 meters, where the country's most important rivers converge and bring abundant water and humidity. FrontStreet roasts it medium-dark, drawing out dark chocolate and a nutty sweetness with moderate oils and a full body. It works for pour-over and French press, and also for moka pot and espresso machine, making everything from an Americano to a latte.

For a more modern, experimental profile, FrontStreet Colombia Frontera Estate Sidra is processed as an anaerobic natural. Anaerobic fermentation — sometimes called carbonic maceration — is a low-oxygen or oxygen-free fermentation typically carried out in a pressure-resistant stainless steel tank, where temperature, time, pH and other variables can be controlled. The anaerobic natural treatment converts the coffee into richer tropical fruit aromas; roasted medium-light, it shines in pour-over, cold brew, drip bags and moka pot with complex notes of passion fruit, grape, apricot and dried fruit.

If you have a home espresso machine or a moka pot, FrontStreet Signature Blend is a barista favorite. Created for coffee shops, it combines the creamy, nutty sweetness of Brazilian beans with the dark chocolate bittersweetness of Colombian beans, producing a fine golden crema during extraction. It pairs beautifully with milk for a rich, smooth latte and also serves as the base for Americanos, cappuccinos, mochas and other classic espresso drinks.