A little bit of breaking news coming out of Busan, South Korea as it was announced at the completion of competition on Friday that Irish Barista Champion Ian Kissick of Formative Coffee was mistakenly excluded from the Semi-Finals round and would be given the chance to compete.
The announcement was made by emcees Wendelien van Bunnik and Bart Deprez, explaining that Kissick—who competed on Day One of Round One—had scored well enough to make it into the top 15 and thus move onto the next round of competition. But due to a mixup in competitor numbering, he did not move on. During competition, each competitor is assigned a number (think of it like the number of a racing bib in a marathon), and with scheduling changes and updates, there was a conflation of competitor numbers, allowing another barista to move on in Kissick’s place. The SCA did not mention which competitor was accidentally subbed in for the Irish barista.
To rectify the error, Kissick was offered the opportunity to compete following the conclusion of the scheduled Semi-Finals round, but because some of the components needed for his routine required some time to prepare, he was unable to take the stage today. Instead, Kissick will compete at 9:17am tomorrow morning before the Finals.
If his score in that make-up run would have placed him in the top six, he will then join the Finals at the seventh competitor and compete a second time tomorrow. If he doesn’t, then the final six will remain the final six.
Sprudge’s coverage of the 2024 World Barista Championship is presented by Pacific Barista Series and La Marzocco. Our coverage is supported by Created Co., Proper Syrup, Third Wave Water, and DiFluid.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
