On Sunday 14 April, Brazil’s Dionatan Almeida was announced as the 2024 World Cup Tasters Champion at the Specialty Coffee Expo in Chicago, United States.
Dionatan scored eight out of eight cups correctly in the final round in a time of 2:19 minutes, narrowly beating Aurore Ceretta of Germany who placed runner up with a score of eight out of eight cups in 2:29 minutes.
Han Jong Lee of New Zealand came in third, scoring eight out of eight in 2:51 minutes. Jonathan Rangel of Guatemala came fourth, scoring seven out of eight in 2:24 minutes in the final round.
Australian competitor Frankie Shi of Infinity Coffee Roasters placed 17 out of 34 finalists.
Austria’s Martin Wölfl won the World Brewers Cup Championship.
As part of Martin’s routine, he explained how six innovations have inspired the coffee industry and himself as a barista to create new experiences for others.
“One of my favourite moments as a barista is creating anticipation for the cup and sharing my flavour profile with you,” Martin told the judges during his performance.
Wataru Iidaka of Japan was runner up, Ryan Wibawa of Indonesia came in third, Tom Hutchins of Australia placed fourth, Charity Cheung of France placed fifth, and Jackie Tran of Czech Republic placed sixth in the final round.
Martin used a geisha coffee with natural anerobic processing from Finca Maya in Panama. It has a medium-intensity and aroma of honeydew, rosehip, and cherry. The coffee was roasted using the Link coffee roaster by Sam Corra.
“[The farmers] picked the ripest cherries, and this led to the sweetness in the cup, which was paired with the floral characteristic the geisha has to offer,” Martin told the judges. “The flavours include honeydew, cherry, and pineapple.”
Martin used Apex Water, Sibarist fast paper filters, the Comb distribution tool, Melodrip with custom mount, and Orea Brewer V4 for his brewing method.
Martin divided his pour into three stages: 60 millilitres at 40 seconds, 50 millilitres at 1 minute 20 seconds, and 100 millilitres at 2 minutes.
“[This is] to get a good complex flavour, fruity notes, and a good balance,” Martin said.
To watch performances on-demand, click here.
