Well, well, well, lookie here! It’s another action-filled day of brewing passions, strategies, and technical abilities at the World Brewers Cup in Dublin, Ireland! We are here on stage, watching every detail, and reporting back to you. It’s our pleasure to welcome you to Day Two of Round One at the #2016WBrC.
Check out Round One Day One here, and peep the schedule of Day Two here.
WATCH THE LIVESTREAM HERE!
Sprudge.com’s coverage of the 2016 World Brewers Cup Championship is made possible by Acaia. All of our Sprudge Live coverage from Dublin is supported by Urnex Brands and KitchenAid.
VALENTIN FREYLER, Kaffeemodul, Austria
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 4
Number of Competitions Competed In: 3
Coffee: I’m using a lactically processed Coffee from Colombia’s La Palma y El Tucan
Brew Method: v60
Recipe: 20g coffee to 300g water
2:20 total brew time
Does your routine have a theme?
Not really. I’m talking quite a lot about choices, though
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
I really can’t say. You spend so much time on coffee selection and developing the right roast profile, actual practice of your routine is shorter but more intense, I guess.
Do you have a coach/coaches?
My coach here in Dublin is Dominik Kierot, whom I work with at Kaffeemodul in Vienna. Boris Ortner, whom I run Kaffeemodul with, has also helped quite a lot (he just became 4th at the World Cup Tasters, by the way), as well as Nikolaus my roaster and Erhard who helped with my routine too. And Kathi, my girlfriend, we worked on the routine together quite a lot. I think she could do it easily now.
Chunghyun Kim, Korea Occupational College, South Korea
Coffee: Ninety Plus Panama Gesha Makers Series
Brew Method: Kalita Wave & Hario V60
Recipe: Kalita Wave – 20g coffee to 66ml water / V60 – 20g coffee to 60ml of water / 120ml water bypass
Stathis Koremtas, Taf, Greece
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 12
Number of Competitions Competed In: 3
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
4 months
Do you have a coach/coaches?
Stefanos Domatiotis and Konstantinos Latridis
Veronika Gálová Veselá, Independent, Slovakia
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 5
Number of Competitions Competed In: 5
Coffee: Panama Geisha
Brew Method: Cupping using a French Press
Does your routine have a theme?
I’d like to bring uniqueness of the Geisha back to the day of cupping at Best of Panama 2003
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
It’s been a long project from the farm to the cup, so I would be crazy to count all the hours
Do you have a coach/coaches?
My coach/mentor Rubens Gardelli, the most passionate person I have ever met! He is able to share not only knowleadge but also love and respect to every single bean. I thank him sooo much for giving me an oportunity to grow as a female in the specialty coffee world.
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to learn more about you.
Well, it’s my third time winning the Slovak Brewers Cup but only first time coming to the World’s. There were a lot of complications the first two years, so this year I promised myself to put three times the energy towards the championship!
SUTIDA NAN SRIRUNGTHUM, SUTDRIP, THAILAND
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 2
Number of Competitions Competed In: 1
Coffee: A Panama Geisha from the Ninety Plus Maker Series
Brew Method: Kalita Wave
Flavor: berries and chocolate
Aroma: honey sweetness and fruity notes
Body: syrupy mouthfeel with medium body
Does your routine have a theme?
Flow rate technique!
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
I lost count… Was practicing in my dreams too!
Do you have a coach/coaches?
His name is Ryan Tan, he’s from Singapore. He won many many competitions that I’ve lost count. He’s a friend and a super coach!
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to learn more about you.
I’m a writer for coffee T&I magazine, so if there is anything you’d like to feature, let me know! I also love traveling, scuba diving, mountain trekking, anything! Im up for anything!
Dmitrii Borodai, Double B Coffee&Tea, Russia
Coffee: Panama Finca La Mule Gesha
Brew Method: WIlfa Pour Over
Recipe: 20g of coffee and 310ml of water
LAURA DE BOECK, OR COFFEE ROASTERS, BELGIUM
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 2
Number of Competitions Competed In: 3
Coffee: A washed Bourbon coffee from the Nyamwenda region of Rwanda, located on the shores of Lake Kivu
Brew Method: Ceramic Kalita 185
Recipe: 22g medium grind coffee to 280ml water
Aroma: cherry tomatoes but also the greenish of a tomato, so think about the green stalk or the pulp with the seeds as well, sweet liqourice
Flavor: almonds, marzipan, tobacco, brown sugar
Body: buttery, round
Does your routine have a theme?
It tells the story from My trip to origin to Rwanda, the roasting in Belgium, up to the brewing in Dublin
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
Over 100 for sure!
Do you have a coach/coaches?
Katrien Pauwels, she is amazing. She is also an international judge and knows perfectly what I think and what I want, so we worked super well together! I love her.
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to learn more about you.
I went to Rwanda in April, and on the last day we did a cupping of all the washing stations we visited. After my first sip I knew this was the coffee for WBrC. So we bought it on the spot – 40 kilos of green beans (all picked on the same day in the same region) – and stuffed it in our suitcases and took it immediatly home with us. That was so cool 
TUMI FERRER, TE & KAFFI, ICELAND
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 10
Number of Competitions Competed In: 11
Coffee: A washed coffee made of heirloom varieties from a coop of 1700 small farmers called Hunkute in Sidamo, Ethiopia
Brew Method: Chemex
Recipe: 26g coffee to 300g water
No bloom. Pour all 300g water in the first :30
2:00-2:30 total brew time
Total TDS of 1.6% and 15% extraction
Aroma: Earl grey, lime, bergamot
Body: Medium body, juicy mouthfeel
Does your routine have a theme?
I’m experimenting with the correlation of taste and extraction. E.E. Lockhart and his team did a great job of laying out our preferences half a century ago and the results are still useful today. We know however that the range of tastiness is a bit wider now, we can reach extractions over 23% in some cases and still have a really tasty coffee.
I’ve been curious about the where the sweet spot lies in lower extractions. I had some clues of where it could be years before but I never tried it until now. I really think acknowledging that coffees can have multiple sweet spots helps in promoting diversity in brewing within specialty coffee. We have a risk of becoming too homogeneous in the way we brew when everybody’s trying to reach super high extractions or trying to maintain within the golden cup standard no matter what. There is still room to redefine the ways we can achieve good flavors in filter coffee.
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
I’ve lost count
Do you have a coach/coaches?
My wife, Silja, is coming with me as my coach. She is helping me with my lines and helping me making sure that I have everything I need. She’s been with me to a couple of coffee show so she knows how crazy it can be and it’s been priceless to have someone like her by my side.
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to learn more about you.
I’m extremely grateful for everybody who have helped me during my time preparing for the Championship: My wife, Silja; the great team I work with at Te & Kaffi, the SCAE chapter of Iceland, IKAWA for generously letting me roast my coffee in Dublin.
TODD GOLDSWORTHY, KLATCH COFFEE, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 15
Number of Competitions Competed In: 8ish
Coffee: Natural processed Hacienda La Esmeralda Montana in Boquete, Panama
Brew Method: Glass Kalita Wave
Recipe: 27g coffee to 350ml water
Flavor: boysenberry, sugar cane
Aroma: berry, spice
Body: juicy, creamy
Does your routine have a theme? What Happens If…
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
Too many to count
Do you have a coach/coaches?
Holly Perry, Heather Perry, Mike Perry. All three help me constantly along the way and each give something different to my presentation.
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to learn more about you.
Shout out to my sons, Jacob and Levi, who are traveling to Dublin to watch me compete!
KAROLÍNA KUMŠTOVÁ, INDEPENDENT, CZECH REPUBLIC
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 4-5
Number of Competitions Competed In: 4
Coffee: A washed Maracaturra variety from El Socorro farm, in the Palencia region of Guatemale, produced by La Cerda family
Brew Method: Kalita glass brewer
Recipe: 14g coffee to 200ml water at 84°C
30g bloom, :30 bloom time, stir in the blooming phase
top up at :30 up to 100 ml
at :55 up to 150 ml
at 1:05 min up to 200 ml
no sieving, no stirring after total water top-up
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
Hard to estimate, unless I look at the last two weeks, that would be pretty much every day from 10:00 until 18:00
Do you have a coach/coaches?
The coach who spent most of the time brewing with me was Patrik Rolf Karlsson, head roaster at Five Elephant, where I spent most of my time practicing. He was a great support in terms of new approaches to brewing, feedback on my presentation and sensory feedback! A great support.
I also had advice from Cory Andreen, and other colleagues from Five Elephant roastery.
Undeniably helpful was feedback from the previous Czech Brewers Cup champ Petra Strelecka, as well as from Gwilym Davies and Petra Davies Vesela. No need to introduce those names
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to learn more about you.
I enjoy competing, yet it is only a fraction of my total focus, I am also senior editor for European Coffee Trip and an aspiring coffee-journalist, if I may use that term on myself ???? I tend to travel as much as I can, and hope to move overseas in the next 6 months. I split my career focus between writing and working as an independent barista, currently in Berlin, Germany.
ROB KERKOFF, KEEN COFFEE, THE NETHERLANDS
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 8
Number of Competitions Competed In: 6
Coffee: I’m using coffee from the Cafe de Altura de San Ramon mill. It’s called El Diamante, and it’s completely unique due to the ‘anaerobic fermentation process’, employed by it’s creator is Esteban Villalobos.
Brew Method: The Phoenix 70, hand made by Saint Anthony Industries
Recipe: 15gcoffee to 230g of water
30g water bloom for :30
At :30, fill to 100g of water
At 1:00, fill to 170g of water
At 1:30, fill to 230g of water
Flavor: Sweet Red Apple, Brown Sugar, Nectarine, Peach, Dates, & Cinnamon
Aroma: Cinnamon, Caramel, Dates
Body: Medium to High. It starts out syrupy, then as it cools down, it becomes juicy and creamy.
Does your routine have a theme?
The desire to progress, because everybody in the specialty coffee industries has this desire. It’s this desire that inspired me to bring the same coffee that I did last year. To show how much the coffee has progressed, how my brew method has progressed, and how I’ve progressed as a barista since last year’s championship.
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
I’ve lost count! In the last two weeks me, and the entire Keen team has been working on my presentation, and brew method 24/7. We started with cupping, brainstorming, and experimenting over 3 months ago, right after we won the Dutch Brewers Cup.
Do you have a coach/coaches?
I have an amazing team backing me. This kind of competitions is definitely a team effort! I am so thankful to everyone at Keen Coffee! Roasters Jan & Tosca Schuitmaker, my mental coach and best buddy Bonne Postma, and Doris Volnay our amazing intern and quality manager.
Then there’s team Netherlands: Kornelis-Jan van de Vaart, Babs Pol, Ilithyia Merien who are helping me with my prep here in Dublin.
And, Andre Eiermann from UCC who helped me with Sensory, and all the SCAE Netherlands judges for their feedback in my practice runs.
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to learn more about you.
You can taste our amazing coffee at our Pop-Up brew bar at booth A3 from Dutch Coffee Pack! Plus Esteban, the creator of our coffee joined us so you can meet him too!
Ege Akyuz, Punctum Coffee Roasters, Turkey
Coffee: Panama Finca La Mula Gesha
Brew Method: Hario V60
Recipe: 20g of coffee to 270ml water
CARLOS DE LA TORRE, CAFE AVELLANEDA, MEXICO
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 6.5
Number of Competitions Competed In: 10
Coffee: Barrel fermented natural Geisha from Finca Chelín in Oaxaca, Mexico
Brew Method: Clever dripper
Recipe: 19g coffee to 190ml water
Does your routine have a theme?
Promoting Mexican coffee and the challenges as a barista in a country recovering from Roya plague, and highlighting the small but extraordinary microlots that we have available
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
It’s been months thinking and building the idea but just two or three weeks of intense training around 6-10hrs a day
Do you have a coach/coaches?
There’s a whole team, starting with my wife Julianne (Pastry Chef at the company) and my cousin Ximena (who also won 3rd place at Mexican Barista and Brewers cup Championship on 2014), and all the crew of skilled baristas at Cafe Avellaneda. Then we have some friendly consulting from past champions, specially from Fabrizio Sención, Alex Escobar, and the roaster from Cafe Avellaneda Enrique Alvarado (3rd place at Mexican Brewers Cup 2013).
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to learn more about you.
I work as a barista and roaster at my company Cafe Avellaneda. I really enjoyed working for this routine. I like dogs, punk rock, and drinks, and right now I’m feeling like my life is starting again, so there’s not a lot about me at the moment.
CHAD WANG, JASCAFFE CHINA, TAIWAN
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 2
Number of Competitions Competed In: 1
Coffee: Ninety Plus Gesha
Brew Method: v60
Recipe: 15g coffee to 250ml water
Flavor: stone fruits, dark coloured flowers, caramel
Aroma: stone fruits, floral
Body: juicy
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition? 60
Do you have a coach/coaches?
Stefanos Domatiotis, a passionate barista with extensive knowledge on coffee and championships. One of a kind.
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to learn more about you.
I’ve learned a lot from the championship and loved every minute of it.
ANNE LUNELL, KOPPI COFFEE ROASTERS, SWEDEN
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 12
Number of Competitions Competed In: 5
Coffee: SL28 from La Lia, Tarrazu, Costa Rica
Brew Method: v60
Recipe: 25g coffee to 400g water (95°C)
50-60ml bloom for :30
divide into three pours: 200, 300, and last 400ml
1:45 pour time
3:00 total brew time
Flavor: Warm Blackberries, dark cherries, brown sugar, sweet pink grapefruit
Aroma: Cherry jam, warm blackberries, marzipan
Body: medium body with a silky and juicy texture
Does your routine have a theme?
I’ve focused on taking control over every aspect of the brewing.
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition?
Many
Do you have a coach/coaches?
I have a couple of people backing me – Charles my partner, Christopher Hendon, Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood, and Cosmin Mihailov
NIKOLETT SCHREIBER, ESPRESSO EMBASSY, HUNGARY
Number of Years as a Coffee Brewer: 4
Number of Competitions Competed In: 4
Coffee: A Honduran coffee
Brew Method: Kalita Wave
Recipe: 15g coffee to 250g water at 92°C.
Bloom for :45
Add 50g of water with each pour in 30 seconds period.
3:45 total brew time
Do you have a coach/coaches?
My personal coach is Richard Vid who helps me the most in everything. On the other hand, every member of our coffee shop gave me lots of help.
ANDRÉ STRITTMATTER, HOCHSTRASSER, DIE KAFFEEMACHER, SWITZERLAND
Number of Competitions Competed In: 3
Coffee: Kenya, Gititu
Brew Method: Torch Mountain Dripper
Recipe: 15g coffee to 250ml water
Total brew time 2:45
Temperature starts at 95°C and ends at 89°C
Flavor: blackcurrant, pomegranate
Aroma: blackcurrant, almond
Body:medium to high, juicy and round
How many hours total do you think you’ve practiced for this competition? 200
Do you have a coach/coaches?
My coach is Benjamin Hohlmann, who participated in the Worlds and has great experience. We founded Kaffeemacher Akademie together 3 years ago.
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to learn more about you.
Coffee is my life ????
Stay tuned for the finalist announcements!
