Following the past two years postponement, the 2021 Milan World Coffee Championships is back from the 23 to 26 October, running alongside the 2021 HostMilano exhibition.

More than 90 national competitors representing 40 licensed Competition Bodies will be competing across the three skill-based competitions of the World Barista Championship (WBC), World Brewers Cup (WBrC), and World Cup Tasters Championship (WCTC).

Schedules for these events for the 24 to 25 October have been released here with fans able to watch the competitions live here.

The WBC aims to promote coffee excellence and advance barista profession across the globe with its annual competition. Each year, competitors must each prepare four espressos, four milk drinks, and four original signature drinks to exacting standards in a 15-minute performance set to music.

On 23 October — Day one for the World Barista Championship — Hugh Kelly of Ona Coffee will represent Australia under “Team Pressure”, appearing on stage at 11:27am till 12:14pm.

The WBC Team Bar schedule will see Team Pressure, consisting of Australia, Chile, France, and Ukraine taking the stage on 23 October from 10am to 10:50am.

WCE Certified Judges from around the world then evaluate each performance on the taste of beverages served, cleanliness, creativity, technical skill, and overall presentation.

The top 15 highest-scoring competitors from the first round, plus the wild-card winner from the Team Competition, advance to a semi-final round. The top six competitors in the semi-final round advance to the finals round, where one winner is named World Barista Champion.

The WBrC focuses on the craft of filter brewing by hand, promoting manual coffee brewing and service excellence. Here, competitors prepare and serve three individual beverages for a panel of judges in two rounds, split over two days: a compulsory service round and an open service.

The compulsory service will be held backstage on October 24, with the open service held on stage on 25 of October.

Carlos Escobar of Toby’s Estate will be representing Australia in the WBrC, taking the stage on 25 October at 2:05pm, setting up at 2:15pm, performing at 2:35pm, and cleaning up from 2:45pm.

The six competitors with the highest score from these two services will go on to compete in the finals consisting exclusively of an open service, where the WBrC will be crowned. One competitor from the final round will be named the WBrC Champion.

The goal of the WCTC is for competitors to differentiate between two different coffees across eight rounds. The top eight competitors with the most correct answers and the fastest time will proceed to the semi- finals round. The top four from this round will compete in the Finals round to determine the next WCTC Champion.

Kyoungha “Charlie” Chu of Ona Coffee will be representing Australia in the WCTC. On 24 October, he will be part of group six, and is set to take the stage from 1:15pm with the competition set to start at 1:50pm.

Competitions will also be covered on the WCC IGTV and Facebook, with supporters encouraged to cheer competitors on using the hashtag #MilanWCC!

The World Coffee Championships are supported by Qualified Espresso Machine sponsor Victoria Arduino, Qualified Espresso Grinder sponsor Mahlkönig, World Brewers Cup Title sponsor Hario, and more.

For more information, click here.