What is WBC? What are the categories in world-class coffee competitions? What do the World Coffee Championships consist of?

Just as film has the Oscars, music has the Grammys and sport has the Olympics, the coffee world has its own world-class competitions that stand for the highest honors. These events are not only grand stages where coffee professionals from around the globe show off their skill and technique; they also set the trends that guide the specialty coffee scene, while driving the industry to keep innovating and improving.

If you love coffee, you are probably curious about these professional competitions too. Today FrontStreet Coffee introduces some of the world's most prestigious coffee events and what they involve. Let's go.

World Barista Championship (WBC)

As the flagship of the seven major competitions hosted by World Coffee Events, the WBC is known as the "Coffee Olympics." It is an internationally recognized contest that tests a barista's all-round ability, and one of the most closely watched international coffee events.

Since the first WBC was held successfully in Monte Carlo in 2000, more than 50 contestants, each a regional champion selected from competition zones worldwide, have gathered on the same international stage each year to compete and exchange knowledge. The WBC aims to discover and guide coffee trends, spread coffee culture, and give professional baristas worldwide a platform to perform, compete and communicate.

Rules: Contestants must prepare 4 espressos, 4 milk coffees and 4 creative espresso-based signature drinks within 15 minutes, while fluently explaining their creations and concepts. Judges score on multiple aspects, including equipment use, coffee bean selection, preparation technique, the taste and appearance of the final drinks, and the creativity of the signature beverages.

World Brewers Championship (WBrC)

The WBrC is a competition that showcases pour-over extraction technique. It aims to bring baristas back to their roots, preparing high-quality black coffee for customers, and is dedicated to raising the professional standards of manual coffee extraction and service.

Rules: The WBrC has two parts, compulsory brewing and open brewing. In the compulsory section, contestants use the same specified roasted beans and standardized equipment to prepare three cups of coffee. In the open section, contestants use their own roasted beans and may choose different brewing devices for extraction. The fluency of the entire presentation, brewing and service process is all taken into account in judging.

World Latte Art Championship (WLAC)

Latte art, a coffee technique that has captivated countless people, has baristas using the classic pairing of espresso and steamed milk to create all kinds of exquisite patterns. The WLAC can be considered the most artistic coffee competition: baristas compete not only in innovative designed latte art but also in complete specified complex patterns, demonstrating professional skill and artistic expression across the board.

Rules: There are three rounds: preliminaries, semi-finals and finals. In the preliminaries, contestants must create one latte art piece within 5 minutes for photography, and judges score from the photos. Then, following the provided design photos, they must present two identical conventional latte art patterns and two identical design patterns within 8 minutes; etching needles are allowed. The semi-finals and finals follow similar rules, requiring contestants to prepare 6 latte art beverages within the specified time.

Judges score comprehensively on the visual effect of the patterns, creative expression, contrast, consistency between each set of patterns and the reference images, and the contestant's overall stage presence. To ensure fairness, all equipment and materials used in the competition, including espresso machines, grinders, milk and coffee beans, are provided by the organizers.

World Coffee Roasting Championship (WCRC)

FrontStreet Coffee has noted several times that a suitable roasting curve can maximize the essential flavors of green beans and avoid undesirable defects, which improves extraction as well. Roasting therefore plays a crucial role in the whole coffee chain. Like the other events, the World Coffee Roasting Championship tests a contestant's ability to select coffee beans and to present roasting flavors perfectly. Participants are typically roasters from around the world, or experienced baristas who handle both coffee preparation and roasting.

Rules: The WCRC generally has three parts: contestants' on-site performance in evaluating green coffee beans, setting optimal roasting curves for specified beans, and the quality of the final roasted beans. It is a comprehensive test of roasting experience and theoretical knowledge. The roasted beans are evaluated by professional judges through blind tasting, and those judges determine the final scores.

World Cup Tasters Championship (WCTC)

Many people have heard of cupping, a specialized term in the coffee industry, without knowing that there is a global cupping competition held annually in different countries and regions. In the World Cup Tasters Championship, contestants must show fast and accurate coffee identification. It tests a barista's speed and skill while distinguishing their accuracy in identifying differences in coffee flavor through examination rounds, aiming to select the world's most talented cuppers.

Rules: The cupping format arranges three cups in a triangular pattern, where two cups hold the same coffee and one holds a different coffee. Contestants use smell, taste, observation and experience to quickly identify the different cup. The presentation part also includes flavor descriptions and customer service, resembling a showcase of specialty coffee beans.

Each round consists of 8 sets of coffee. The top eight contestants by accuracy and speed advance to the semi-finals. Finally, the top four from the semi-finals advance to the finals to compete for the World Cup Tasters Championship trophy. FrontStreet Coffee would add that when two or more contestants have the same correct answers and scores, the one with the shortest time wins.

World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship (WCIGS)

Founded in 2022, the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship is a high-level platform that combines coffee with various spirits using different mixing methods to create unique and creative beverages.

Rules: This competition also consists of preliminary and final rounds. In the preliminaries, contestants must create two identical signature coffee drinks using spirits randomly selected by the organizers within the specified time. They then prepare one cold and one hot specialty drink using the specific spirits provided by the event sponsors, for four drinks in total.

In the finals, contestants must prepare two signature drinks, either cold or hot, based on coffee and spirits, plus two traditional Irish coffees within the same specified time. Irish coffee ingredients may only include coffee, whiskey, sugar and cream, and contestants must use the Irish coffee glasses provided by the organizers. Finally, judges score comprehensively on factors such as the drinks' balance, flavor and commercial value, combined with the contestants' preparation technique.

World Cezve Championship (TC/IC)

As shown in FrontStreet Coffee's article yesterday, the Turkish coffee pot, or Cezve/Ibrik, is a cylindrical vessel made specifically for brewing traditional Turkish coffee, which has a long history. Typically made of brass, its long handle is for holding and moving it while heating, the rim design makes pouring easier, and the user obtains the brewed coffee through multiple boiling processes.

In the eyes of industry professionals, the World Cezve Championship is a major event that promotes traditional coffee culture through its competitive format, encouraging baristas to bring their own style or elements to showcase ancient coffee preparation methods.

Rules: In the competition, baristas must prepare 2 basic black coffees, containing only water and coffee powder, and 2 creative Turkish coffees using a Turkish coffee pot within 15 minutes.

Besides the events above hosted by World Coffee Events, there are in fact other themed world-class coffee competitions held on schedule every year, giving skilled baristas a stage to show their talents, such as the World Siphonist Championship (WSC) and the World Aeropress Championship (WAC).

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Competition coffee tends to be high-grown, clean and expressive, and if you want to taste that style at home, start with Ethiopia. FrontStreet Sun-Dried Huakui from Sidamo uses the traditional natural process and leads with berry, floral, jackfruit, melon and honey notes, while FrontStreet Washed Guting Cooperative, a typical Yirgacheffe, brings jasmine florals, lemon acidity and a berry tone.

For a bean that balances sweetness and structure, Brazil is hard to beat. FrontStreet Cerrado Red Bourbon is an easy everyday single origin with the classic cream, peanut and cocoa flavors, while FrontStreet Queen Estate is grown higher and rare Yellow Bourbon, adding butter, sunflower seed, macadamia and almond aromas to a sugarcane-like sweetness that stays thick and smooth whether you drink it black or with milk.

If you prefer a deep, low-acid cup, look to Indonesia. FrontStreet Mandheling is wet-hulled, the process invented for the region's wet climate, giving it a fuller, smoother body than most coffees with herbal and spice notes. FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling, sorted three times by hand and once by machine, drops the defect rate to a minimum for a cleaner, silkier cup with clearer woody and caramel character.