In advance of the WBC event on June 21–24, we introduce the champions from Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF WORLD COFFEE EVENTS
The ancient city of Athens, Greece, will be the backdrop for the 2023 World Barista Championship on June 21–24, at the World of Coffee event. Forty-eight national champions from around the world will take the stage to compete for the ultimate coffee championship title.
In the run up to the World Barista Championship, we will showcase these champions here at Barista Magazine Online in the alphabetical order of their countries. (Here are parts one, two, three, and four of this series.) Today, we meet the champions of Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
NORWAY
ALEXANDER MONSEN
NORD KAFFE AS
“Working as the head roaster, quality, and training at Nord Kaffe in Oslo, Norway. While locked in the roastery four days a week, tinkering, making, and working with recipes and production, there is this one where everything coffee is on show. All my efforts go to lift the coffee community in Norway, as this community is my life.“
PANAMA
BENJAMIN ROQUE
BÚHO CAFE
“I work in my own coffee shop called Búho Café in Chiriquí, Panama. I have been competing for seven years. This time it is the third time that I represent Panama in the barista championship. And what motivates me to compete is to be able to excel as a barista professional and leave Panama in a good position in these competitions.“
PERU
JHOSSELINE BENITES
ORIGEN TOSTADORES DE CAFE
“I have been working for six years in Origen Coffee Roasters as a barista and a shop manager.
The year 2022 was the first time I competed in a barista national championship, and I felt happy to be the champion. With many years of experience as a barista, I felt it was the right time to compete to test myself and show myself what I could do. I am a pastry maker, and I entered the coffee world by coincidence looking for a job, without thinking I would end up loving coffee.“
POLAND
DOMINIKA KOWALSKA
MAME
“I’m working in Switzerland in MAME. I’m working with coffee for four years, and this is my first time competing in the national championship. And I’m training (in) underwater hockey for nine years. :)“
ROMANIA
ECATERINA SZASZ
INDEPENDENT
“I have been competing for some years in ibrik coffee, but I always dreamed to be on the stage for the World Barista Championship. I got into the coffee industry because I made a very bad cappuccino for my sister 🙂 and so I went to the barista school.“
SAUDI ARABIA
AHMED ABDELAZIZ
CROPS COFFEE ROASTERS
“I’m Ahmed, working in the coffee industry for close to 20 years. I’ve been competing since 2017 in Saudi Arabia. My motivation is to use the coffee competitions as a medium to gain much more of coffee arts and techniques, communicate ideas and messages, as well as develop my presence in the industry.“
SOUTH AFRICA
STEVO KUHN
URBAN BREW BARISTA ACADEMY
“I am an AST for the Specialty Coffee Association and founder of Urban Brew Barista Academy. My first national competition was in 2019, and in 2021, I competed in the World Barista Championship Milan. I am naturally competitive, and coffee competitions are the perfect place for me to grow professionally and share with others. With the success in competition thus far, I have enjoyed being able to connect with a variety of people across continents to learn and share coffee knowledge. As a trainer and consultant, it is such a joy for me to help grow specialty coffee in Southern Africa and beyond. Like most people, I got into coffee by ‘chance.’ Quit my job as a teacher thinking that I’d become a musician and here I am—a scholar of coffee and loving it.“
Stay tuned to Barista Magazine Online as we introduce all 48 National Barista Champions set to take the stage at the 2023 World Barista Championship in Athens, Greece, June 21–24!
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