Wow wow wow. Just wow. What an absolute fever dream these past four days in Busan have been. The 2024 World Barista Championship has come and gone, and we’re still trying to pick our collective jaw up off the floor. The coffees! The distributions tools! The milks! The electromagnetic waves! It was a WBC like no other, and honestly, we’re still processing everything that happened.
But while much of it is still a little rough around the edges, there are some facts that remain crystal clear. We started Wednesday with 53 competitors from 50 countries. There were clerical errors that led to a Semi-Finals round of 17 AND an unprecedented seven Finalists. But in the end, there was just one.
Up until the final bell we couldn’t call it. All seven Finalists were worthy of the crown and it truly felt like any one of them could have won it all. But there are no ties for first, and in the end, the day belonged to Mikael Jasin, the barista champion representing Indonesia.
There’s still much to be discussed, considered, pontificated on even, but now is not that time. This is a moment to exhale, and to celebrate all the hard work these competitors undertook to make it this far. So let’s all take a deep breath and take a look at the Finalist rankings for the 2024 World Barista Championship in Busan, South Korea.
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.
WINNER: Mikael Jasin (he/him), So So Good Coffee Company, Indonesia
RUNNER-UP: Jack Simpson (he/him), Axil Coffee Roasters, Australia
THIRD: Takayuki Ishitani (he/him), Japan
Fourth: Honoka Kawashima (she/her), Frank’s Coffee, New Zealand
Fifth: Junghwan Lim (he/him), Aerycoffee, South Korea
Sixth: Ian Kissick (he/him), Formative Coffee, Ireland
Seventh: Zjevaun Lemar Janga (he/him), Ripsnorter Coffee, The Netherlands
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.