World Barista Championship 2017
The World Barista Championship is well under way. Here are the results after the preliminary round:
| CURRENT ROUND ONE RANKINGS: | |||
| RANK | NAME | COUNTRY | COMPANY |
| 1 | Hugh Kelly | Australia | Ona Coffee |
| 2 | André Eiermann | Switzerland | Ucc Coffee Switzerland |
| 3 | Ben Put | Canada | Monogram Coffee |
| 4 | Jun-Bae Bang | South Korea | Andrea Plus |
| 5 | Kapo Chiu | Hong Kong | Cupping Room Coffee Roasters |
| 6 | Dale Harris | United Kingdom | Hasbean Coffee |
| 7 | Miki Suzuki | Japan | Maruyama Coffee |
| 8 | Francesco Masciullo | Italy | Ditta Artigianale |
| 9 | Kyle Ramage | USA | Black & White Coffee |
| 10 | Konstantinos Iatridis | Greece | Taf |
| 11 | Jason Loo | Malaysia | Yellow Brick Road Café |
| 12 | Lavinia Toma | Romania | Origio |
| 13 | Yoshua Tanu | Indonesia | Common Grounds / St Ali |
| 14 | Melody Lu | Taiwan | Single Origin Espresso & Roast |
| 15 | Jeremy Zhang | China | M2m Coffee |
| 16 | Merijn Gijsbers | Netherlands | Alpro & Het Koffiegenootschap |
| 17 | Sonja Zweidick | Denmark | Barista Connect |
| 18 | Steven Moloney | Sweden | The Barista League |
| 19 | Natalia Piotrowska | Poland | Bless Coffee Roasters |
| 20 | Mai Eson | UAE | The Espresso Lab |
| 21 | Marco De Sousa Rosa | France | Maxicoffee |
| 22 | Martin Shabaya | Kenya | Artcaffe Coffee And Bakery |
| 23 | Jan Skerik | Czech Republic | Double B Coffee & Tea |
| 24 | Nisan Agca | Turkey | Independent |
| 25 | Diego Campos | Colombia | Amor Perfecto |
| 26 | Víctor Flores Menéndez | El Salvador | Biscuit Factory |
| 27 | Laurynas Arlauskas | Lithuania | Coffee Hill |
| 28 | David Coelho | Portugal | 7groaster |
| 29 | Srettakarn Veerakultevon | Thailand | Factory Coffee |
| 30 | Terence Tan | Singapore | Santino Coffee Specialists |
| 31 | Leo Moço | Brazil | Barista Coffee Bar |
| 32 | Sergei Stepanchuk | Russia | Laboratoria Coffee |
| 33 | Chloe Jess Nattrass | Germany | Independent |
| 34 | Rory Rosenberg | Norway | Kaffa And Oslo Cold Brew |
| 35 | Luis Feria | Mexico | Mas Café |
| 36 | Jarno Peräkylä | Finland | Bean & Burner |
| 37 | Niall Wynn | Ireland | Proper Order Coffee Co |
| 38 | Silvester Dan Samonte | Philippines | El Union |
| 39 | Tran Que Hân | Vietnam | Bosgaurus Coffee |
| 40 | Ariel Bravo | Costa Rica | Cafering & La Máquina De Café |
| 41 | Winston Thomas | South Africa | Origin Coffee Roasting |
| 42 | Renat Mamatkazin | Ukraine | Lion Coffee |
| 43 | Michael Prem | Austria | Prem Frischkaffee |
| 44 | Raimonds Zadvornovs | Latvia | Kalve Coffee |
| 45 | Mary Portillo | Honduras | Café Capucas |
| 46 | Martin Karabinos | Slovakia | Leroy |
| 47 | Mario Idrovo | Ecuador | Sweet & Coffee / Café Del Ecuador |
| 48 | Attila Ferenczi | Hungary | Goosebumps Coffee Lab |
| 49 | Cesar Eduardo Bermejo | Panama | Leto Coffee Brew Bar |
| 50 | Javad Akbari | Iran | Independent |
| 51 | Jenner Fuentes | Guatemala | Iq Café |
| 52 | Jorge Luis Paramo | Nicaragua | Delafinca |
| 53 | Edwin Gorritz | Puerto Rico | Barista Squared |
| 54 | Paras Bindra | India | Travel Food Services |
| 55 | Axel Simón | Spain | Mare Terra Green Coffee |
| 56 | Dove Chen | New Zealand | Grey St Kitchen |
| 57 | Evgeni Pinchukov | Belarus | Kitchen Coffee Roasters |
| 58 | Mark Okuta | Uganda | |
The top 16 semi-finalists will compete tomorrow, at the Seoul Café Show, starting at 02:52am (GMT +2). Live Streaming is available at: https://worldbaristachampionship.org/2017-world-barista-championship-seoul/
Unfortunately, SA Barista Champion did not make it to the semi-finals but he gave a great performance. If you missed his performance live you can watch it here: https://worldbaristachampionship.org/2017-world-barista-championship-seoul/ (Streams and Past Performances -> Station 1 -> South Africa Winston Thomas).
Two members of Winston’s Team, Team Espresso, have advanced to the semi-finals:
6 United Kingdom (Dale Harris)
14 Taiwan (Melody Lu)
We, at Origin, wish all of the competitors the best of luck and are excited to see who takes the gold this year.