We are mere hours away from the kick-off of World of Coffee in Milan, Italy. Beginning Thursday, June 23rd and running through Saturday the 25th, the SCAโ€™s premiere global coffee expo returns to the Milano Convention Center after having to be relocated from Warsaw due to the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine. [Read Yaroslav Druziuk’s reporting on how the invasion has impacted Ukrainian baristas on Sprudge Special Projects.]

Along with product releases, exhibitions from coffee companies around the globe, and educational opportunities, WoC Milan will also crown five new World Coffee Champions over the course of the weekend, in Coffee in Good Spirits, Cup Tasters, Roasting, Latte Art, and Cezve/Ibrik.

To prepare you for all the festivities soon to take place in and around Milan, weโ€™ve compiled a schedule of events, exhibitions, and new products to keep an eye out for. Weโ€™ll be updating the list regularly so check back for exciting new additions as they are being announced.

Competitions

Easily one of the most exciting parts of any coffee expo, but especially on the world stage, coffee competitions are back in full form here in 2022. Five events will crown a new champion in Milan this week, and with the exception of Cup Tasters, all the events taking place at WoC have not appeared since 2019. To find out more about the events, follow the links below to their official event pages.

World Coffee in Good Spirits

advert but first coffee cookbook now available

 

World Cup Tasters

World Coffee Roasting Championship

World Latte Art Championship

World Cezve/Ibrik Championship

Exhibitions

For gear geeks, World of Coffee is pretty much Christmas. Coffee brands from around the globe time their new product releases with the event, premiering some of the most talked-about new gear to soon hit the market. But beyond new tech, WoC Milan is hosting a litany of hands-on eventsโ€”including workshops on roasting, green coffee, tasting, and processing, amongst othersโ€”for anyone looking to up their coffee knowledge. A full schedule of workshops can be found here.

SCA Lecture Series

If you’re looking to leave WoC Milan with a head full of knowledge as well as a tote full of swag, the SCA has three days full of educational talks covering just about every facet of the speciality coffee business. With over 25 lectures to choose from, discussion topics include global warming’s effect on coffee productions, scientific looks at milk and water in a coffee context, sustainability, how to make a career in coffee, even cascara. The full lecture list can be found here.

Cuppings Are Back!

Is it weird to get really excited about tasting tiny little amounts of a lot of coffees side by side? It’s weird, right? I don’t care, I’m excited. Once a frequent occurrence at coffee expos, cuppings have had to be sidelined for a bit due to the pandemic, but slowly they are reemerging. And World of Coffee is chockfull of opportunities for attendees to show off their favorite little dipper. Coffee purveyors from around the globe are hosting tables of some of their best offerings for all to try, including Trabocca, JNP, Fairtrade, Laotian coffees from CQI, a Robusta cupping, and coffees from the International Women’s Coffee Alliance. Check out the list of presenters here.

Roaster’s Village

You know what’s better than a Roaster’s Village at WoC? Two Roaster’s Villages at WoC, that’s what. This year, over 80 micro-roasters and importers from around Europe will be sampling their product over the three days. Getting to taste this many coffees from this many esteemed roasters from around the world is worth the price of admission on its own. The rest is just the icing on the cake. The full list of Roaster’s Village exhibitors can be found here.