In the above picture, the inimitable Alf Kramer toasts (with coffee cupping bowls) to Lajos Horvath of Hungary, the new World Cup Tasters Champion. It was a wild day of coffee competitions here in Nice, France, concluding with the crowning of four brand new world champions. Here, in no particular order, are your new global champs.
Naoki Goto of Japan, the first-ever World Coffee Roasting Champion! Mr. Goto competes on behalf of his own Tokado Coffee, based in Fukuoka. He is a licensed Q Grader, SCAJ “Coffee Meister”, and JCQA Chief Instructor In Coffee.
*Update: This is a much better image of Naoki Goto’s championship roast profile. We aren’t roasters ourselves, but we’d love to hear from you on Twitter as to what you think of the winning curves!
Lajos Horvath of Hungary, your new World Cup Tasters Champion! Mr. Horvath is the co-owner of Casino Mocca Micro Roastery in Budapest. He’s a three-time Cup Tasters national champion, and first-time winner.
Your 2013 World Coffee In Good Spirits Champion is Victor Delpierre of France! Read our profile on Victor Delpierre here – we spent some quality time with him in Milan a few months back for the Dalla Corte DC Campus. Just 26 years old, Mr. Delpierre is a veteran of multiple Michellin-starred restaurants in Paris.
His victory comes on behalf of Cafes Richard, also based in Paris. 2013 is the first time France has fielded a Coffee In Good Spirits champion, and now he’s won the whole thing, and on home soil no less! Certainly one of the emotional highlights of WOC Nice week.
Hisako Yoshikawa of Japan is your 2013 World Latte Art Champion! Ms. Yoshikawa is pictures here next to Risa Sasaki (at right), who placed 2nd in the 2013 World Cup Tasters Championship. Hisako Yohsikawa represents Ogawa Coffee in Kyoto, and her win rounds out a remarkable weekend for Japanese competitors at WOC Nice.
*Update: Check out here winning pour!
Sprudge.com’s World of Coffee Nice coverage made possible by The Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) and UNIC. Latte art photo by Daniel Henderson.
