Serene Yu and Karl Lee have each won the 2026 Australian Good Spirits and Cup Tasters championships, respectively, cementing their place to compete in the World Championships.
Serene of Smay Coffee delievered a “performance full of creativity, skill, and flair”, followed by Tony Xie of Plus Two Coffee in second place, and Lusheng Xu (Louis) of Code Black in third place.
Meanwhile, the Australian Cup Tasters Championship saw Karl take the first spot, followed by Myeonghwan Joen, and Michael Ji.
Speaking to BeanScene the day after being crowned, Karl said he still couldn’t believe he’d won.
“Tasting and cupping has become part of my life … I competed first in 2019, and now I’ve got a trophy, so it’s paid off,” he says.
Karl says he prepared for the competition by practicing on Brazil coffee, which has now become a staple of the competition.
“That makes me more sensitive … I get more deep and centralised to find that narrow difference [in the cups] to pick the difference”.
Karl will next be heading to Bangkok in May 2026 to compete in the World Cup Tasters Championship, while Serene will head to Brussels in June.
