It’s an exciting morning here in Vienna at the Wien Messe Congress Center, where the 2012 World Barista Championship has officially kicked off!
The view of the stage from the skybox. Note: those two white walls at the back will be taken down after today, so the competition will be open to the World of Coffee show and conference.
All is running on schedule — so far, the Barista Champions of New Zealand, Korea, Thailand, Russia, Romania, India, Kenya, and China have performed. Up next we have: Israel, Lithuania, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Denmark, France, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Hungary, Colombia, Mexico, the United States, Norway, Guatemala, and Canada, are still to come today! To watch it all live, tune into the World Barista Championship website!
For now, here are some scenes from the morning…
Good friends in coffee: Noah from Cafe Imports, Alon here with his book, The Infinite Emotions of Coffee, and the lovely Candace from the UK, who is helping Coffee Kids this week.The Barista Champ of the U.S., Katie Carguilo, practicing at the WBC Espresso Bar in some rockin' shoes, assisted by her coach, Ben Helfen.Happy with her grindThe backstage competitors' area may look like chaos, but believe me, it's organized chaos.M'lissa Muckerman is working hard! As on of the directors of the WBC Espresso and Brew Bars (she's co-captaining with the UK's John Gordon), M'lissa is a busy lady, but all is going smoothly!
I’m leaving you with a shot of the Barista Champion of Israel, Andrey Veitsman, giving a charming performance. More news to come!
Sarah Allen (she/her) is co-founder and editor of Barista Magazine, the international trade magazine for coffee professionals. A passionate advocate for baristas, quality, and the coffee community, Sarah has traveled widely to research stories, interact with readers, and present on a variety of topics affecting specialty coffee. She also loves animals, swimming, ice cream, and living in Portland, Oregon.
