Ep 03: "We Were the Punks" | World Coffee Championships Podcast
This week, we’re excited to launch the third episode of the World Coffee Championships Podcast.
“We Were the Punks” traces the early days of the World Barista Championships from a rag-tag group of volunteers looking to raise specialty coffee awareness to a powerful, monetizable stage grappling with questions of scale and professionalism. Along the way, co-host Sonja Bjork Grant leads us through stories of spit buckets, snakeskin boots, backstage woes, intensifying competition preparation, and devastating debriefs through interviews with Tone Elian Liavaag, Emma Markland-Webster, Simi Benzadon, Paul Basset, and Heather Perry.
Special Thanks to Our Series & Episode Sponsor, Victoria Arduino
This series of the WCC Podcast is brought to you by Victoria Arduino. Born in the early twentieth century amid social and cultural transformation, Victoria Arduino broke with tradition and focused on progress, a mission it carries forward today. Victoria Arduino advances coffee knowledge and innovates across design, technology, and performance to produce machines that nurture coffee professionals' passion for espresso excellence. For more information, visit victoriaarduino.com. Victoria Arduino: Inspired by your passion.
We’d like to thank Sonja Bjork Grant, our co-host for this episode, and our interviewees for their time in sharing their stories about the early days of the World Barista Championship, in order of appearance: Tone Elian Liavaag, Emma Markland-Webster, Simi Benzadon, Paul Basset, and Heather Perry. Thanks, too, to Igloo Media for use of audio from “Living Coffee with Paul Basset.”
For a full list of those who helped across the entire series, a year-long effort, click here. Series 01 of the World Coffee Championships Podcast is a coffee documentary series produced by James Harper of Filter Productions for the Specialty Coffee Association.
Full Episode Transcript
James Harper: So welcome back to the World Coffee Championships Podcast. Today, we're going to explore the most famous of all the competitions, the barista competition, and I'm joined by new co-host.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Nice to see you, James, my name is Sonia Bjork Grant. I'm from a small Island up north called Iceland. I'm a roaster and a barista and a barista trainer, in Iceland, you know, with my own company. And we normally say, when we have our own companies, that we also cleaning ladies in our own company, because that's what we basically are.
James Harper: That's great. So Sonia, I see you're in your room and it's super bright, lots of light. We're recording this, what, in the middle of July, so... does the sunset where you are?
Sonja Bjork Grant: No, actually, uh, you know, we have 24-hour lights, so that's why it's so bright in my apartment.
James Harper: And I see in the corner of the room. You have a… is that a tent bag?
Sonja Bjork Grant: Just after we finish off here, I'm going on a camping trip, beside one of the waterfalls. I'm going to camp there, stay for the weekend. You know, just take in the nature.
James Harper: Like I gotta say, Icelandic COVID lockdown doesn't sound that bad. So, Sonja, what's been your experience with these competitions?
Sonja Bjork Grant: I'm a World Certified Judge, but also I'm a World Coffee Events Representative. I've gone from being, you know, in all the committees for the rules and regulations in different stages.
James Harper: Paint a picture for me, how popular and how important are the barista competitions today?
Sonja Bjork Grant: The competitions are very important for each and every country because they push quality, both for machine manufacturers, they push quality for the roaster, they push quality for the hospitality section. So, all of this comes together in a barista competitions.
James Harper: Wow. So, it's almost like the specialty coffee movement is kind of wrapped up in the evolution also of the barista competitions.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah, absolutely.
James Harper: And this is the story we're going to explore across this and the next episode.
Sonja Bjork Grant: But before we go into the stories, let's just talk a little bit about the sponsors.
James Harper: Yes! So, the World Coffee Championships Podcast series, and this episode, is supported by Victoria Arduino. Born in the early twentieth century amid social and cultural transformation, Victoria Arduino broke with tradition and focused on progress, a mission it carries forward today. Victoria Arduino advances coffee knowledge and innovates across design, technology, and performance to produce machines that nurture coffee professionals' passion for espresso excellence. You can learn more at victoriaarduino.com or give them a follow @victoriaarduino1905.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Let's focus now on how coffee looked like back in the nineties.
James Harper: What was it like back then?
Sonja Bjork Grant: Before the world championship, we only had baristas in like Italy that was like, actually like a profession, but in the rest of the world, you were just a person that were working in a coffee shop. So, it didn't really have any respect, didn't really have any meaning. People that have been traveling to Italy, they of course they knew "espresso," but, uh, like in all the other countries, we kind of didn't really know much about this very small and short drink. We were told that espresso was only made by a blend and the blend was like Central America, South America, and of course it had to be a lot of robusta in it and doing the sugar test, because that's like—
James Harper: What was the sugar test?
Sonja Bjork Grant: When you're in a bar and you have espresso, then you had to put one spoon of sugar on top of the crema, just to see how fast it was going into the cup. Everybody told us that if you have arabica, it runs through very quickly. If you have robusta, it stays on top of the crema for a long time. And we were like amazed. Wow.
James Harper: And what’d it taste like?
Sonja Bjork Grant: It was horrible. I'm sorry that I'm saying it, but, uh, many of the blends that were used in the nineties were so disgusting that, you know, I get chills, just thinking about it. And nobody knew what to do. Nobody was cleaning the machines. We had like plastic tampers…
James Harper: So, did a thing called specialty coffee even exist back in the nineties?
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah. I mean, Specialty Coffee Association of America and Specialty Coffee Association of Europe, both of those organizations, they had their small gatherings.
James Harper: So, ok. We're in this environment in the nineties where espresso is, is quite a niche thing. And you had these small specialty coffee organizations, and then at some point we have a barista competition.
Sonja Bjork Grant: There were various competitions around the world, but there was like one particular, that was the one that actually kept everything moving. And that was the Norwegian barista competition that took place 1998.
James Harper: 1998. And I spoke with Tone, the woman who helped put it all on.
Tone Liavaag: Uh, my name is Tone Elian Liavaag, is difficult to say in English, so I have to say it in Norwegian. I was head of the Norwegian competition and also running the World Barista Championships.
The coffee landscape in Europe, if I take Europe, it was only Italy that was like an espresso country. You can get the espresso and cappuccino and so on, but it was just a machine that made it. People have no clue what a cappuccino actually was, they just pushed a button, you know, back in the days it was all fully automatic.
Well, I remember I was on my first convention, the SCAA convention in, I think it was in Denver, Colorado back in ‘98, and I was thinking, “what on the earth is the business I've gone into? This is just like a old man's club.” The coffee community in the nineties was definitely older men. Definitely. I think I was one of the few female and the youngest person there, but that changed with the competitions.
Back in ‘97, we were discussing how to promote specialty coffee in general and also raise the bar of a profession that wasn't as known as today, the baristas. The establishment of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe was emerging. And Alf Kramer was elected to its first president. And then Alf said, like, "let's have a competition." "Good idea." And we'll look to Bocuse D’Or to see how they did it with the fine cuisine in the scoring sheets.
And, whatever can be done wrong in a competition, we did that first year in Norway. The first Norwegian barista event was in like a food and beverage convention. Basically, they had to do exactly the same thing they're doing today. So, they had to make, you know, the espresso, the cappuccino, and their signature beverage.
But back in those days, they just made like, two of each: two espresso, two cappuccino, and two signature. And the challenge came when we had three judges. So, it's not very polite to say to two of the judges, "can you sip from the same cup?" So, so the solution was some straws so they could suck it up. [Laughs]
The other areas that didn't work was like, we added on like a promotional thing on this, so there was supposed to be like a photo shoot of all the beverages, especially then the signature beverages. So the problem was, so there was only two of each drink, so they served it to, one of them was taken away to like a photo studio, just behind the competition. Yeah. Took the shots of the drink back to the judge table. So, it was a constantly delay in everything because it was back and forth, back and forth, all the time.
We were going around promoting this barista competition thing, and Alf launched that to Mick Wheeler and a couple of older fellows in the board of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe, and then Mick Wheeler called me and said, he said like, "we're going to have the first European convention in Monaco, 2000. Alf has said that you can put up a world competition."
And I said like, "I what?" "Yeah, you are having the Norwegian Barista Competition. Can you put up like a World Barista Competition?" And I was thinking about it and I said like, "yeah, that would be fine. We can do that." And so, we did.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Of course. Oh my God.
James Harper: Can you imagine professional judges slurping up coffees through straws?
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah, it was so crazy. And also, she didn't mention the bins. They were like spitting bins, like the wine industry has, so sometimes we were like sharing bins. So there was like, uh, a huge bin of spit. It was disgusting, but it was like, we kind of had to do it because we were like only one set of judges and maybe we were judging like 20 baristas. I mean, you can't have that much robusta in your blood.
James Harper: I'm imagining this kind of pot, just kind of smeared black with this robusta coffee mixed with saliva.
Sonja Bjork Grant: And also having the judges at the table, you know, spitting... It's not really appealing as well. You know, you are a barista, you are serving your drinks to the judges and they are spitting your coffee.
James Harper: I went to the farmer, we spent months preparing this beautiful coffee, roasted to perfection and the judge just goes [spitting noise]. And this was at the Norwegian Barista Championship in 1998.
Sonja Bjork Grant: But this is also in the early days of WBC.
James Harper: Oh, really? Like in Monaco, that happened? So, as Tone mentioned a little bit about the demographics, what was your experience as a woman in coffee back then?
Sonja Bjork Grant: I actually have a very good story. It was back in Monte Carlo, the year 2000. I was listening to this Italian guy basically saying to us, the audience in a big hall, he was like, "women cannot make coffee because they can't tamp." So, I was sitting there in the audience and, you know, listening to this guy and I couldn't believe it, you know?
I came from, you know, a company full of women and we were all tamping coffee. I wanted to, you know, challenge this guy. So, I waited for his speech to be finished. I went to him and I said, “well, excuse me, you need to come. We have this barista competition, the first one, we have women there actually in the finals and they are making beautiful espressos."
And then he actually came, he was like there in his beautiful long coat and he was looking at the competition and he was looking at me and he nodded. He nodded his head. You know, for me, it was kind of like, “yes, I think he got it.” This kind of things just makes me personally stronger because I'm like, "okay, I'm going to show them," you know, this is just like how humans are acting.
You know, if we have too many suits, you will have some punks coming in. And we were the punks, you know, we were the young people coming in and like, we wanted to change.
James Harper: Sonja.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah.
James Harper: Paint a picture for the listener. You know, you're a barista competitor back in like 2000 going to Monaco, you're there in front of your judges and like, what are they doing?
Sonja Bjork Grant: This was the time where you had a chance to meet with the people that you were in business with. So being stuck on stage, you know, that meant also that you are not, you know, doing your business. So sometimes the judges were like turning around to the audience and waving, "hey, I’ll meet your later!" You know, "I just have to taste this coffee and spit it into the bin."
It was the same with Emcee I remember Alf Kramer it was the Emcee in Monte Carlo, and he is like the guy that Tone was mentioning. So, he was talking to the audience, you know, he was going with the microphone, "so what do you think about this coffee?" You know, "what do you think how it looks like?" you know, so kind of like while the barista was competing, influencing everybody, influencing the judges, influencing everybody, you know. So, the Emcee kind of had like a lot of like power, you know, if he can say so.
James Harper: You know, it's funny. You mention that Sonja, because I spoke with Emma Markland-Webster.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Oh.
James Harper: And she has a story about emceeing both when she was a competitor back in the early days.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah.
James Harper: And then also when she became an emcee herself!
Sonja Bjork Grant: Oh my God.
Emma Markland-Webster: My name is Emma Markland-Webster and I am a, not sure, coffee professional, maybe? On a good day?
I'm from New Zealand and I first got into coffee. I hate to actually remember how many years ago, maybe 23, 24 years ago. I sound like a dinosaur, of which I am.
Back in the day, way back in 1860, the first New Zealand Barista Championship happened and I saw it advertised and I was like, "Ooh, I should give that a go."
So, went on to the local regional, and it was very interesting, the competition at that point. It was two baristas at the same time with one panel of judges, I think we had to make two lattes and two espressos. And then we had a written test. I aced the written test, you see, and I came second and then made it to the final up in Auckland at a hospitality show. And then, yeah, I won and then I was like, "Damn it. What's this world thing about?"
Well, Oslo 2002, interesting. "Team New Zealand." I had it on my shirt. It was just me. I think I was the only barista that didn't get picked up at the airport, which was really cool. I had a mini-Mazzer that I brought with me from New Zealand.
Great. Forgot to check on the phasing and the power... so had to borrow, ehm, Sweden's mini-Mazzer? It was a while till you got a coffee, it was like "rrrrrrrrrrr", "just be with you in a minute." But back then, there was a very large backspace area, but I don't remember any tables. It was just the floor and my suitcase. The table that you served on was a round bar-leaner, just a little circle.
Back in the day, the emcee could just talk over, just to keep the crowd busy. I was trying to explain about “my sun-dried Brazilian Cerrado is the base of the coffee” and the taste notes, but the emcee at the time was too busy talking about snakeskin boots and what's happening in Oslo at the weekend, I think, yeah. And I pretty much just gave in trying to over-talk him and yeah. Okay. I'll just, I'll, I'll just shut up. I ranked second going into the finals and unfortunately it all went wrong and I came fifth. After I competed in New Zealand, they wouldn't let me compete again. They were like, "No, we need a fresh face." So, I was like, "okay." But I spent some time over in Australia with the Australian championships and I did a spot of emceeing there. You'd be conversational, ‘cause they wouldn't say anything! It's like, "come on, talk." So I think I asked this one girl, whether she preferred her cappuccinos wet or dry and she just stopped [music stops] and stared at me.
And it was just so long and I'm like, "carry on, go on." But it just completely threw her off her whole presentation, unfortunately. And at the end she was like, "what did you, what did it mean?"
"What did it mean, wet or dry?! I don't understand." She was processing this question all through her routine. "Wet or dry cappucinos, how do you prefer them?" It was a thing back then, you know, people liked dry foam cappuccinos, predominantly foam in the cappuccino. Well, after I was told I wasn't allowed to compete, I was hooked. I had that memory of that finals day in Oslo. I became a world judge the following year and every year I went to the worlds.
It's just so much fun to be part of this greater thing than your day-to-day in the café. And I guess I don't look at it as a… actual thinking about my career. It was just what I loved and I wanted to do, and I wanted to help other people do it as well. When you see somebody that you've nurtured or tried to push into being a judge, judge at the world finals and the smile on their face, it's just, it's pretty amazing to see what they get out of it as well. I'm wavering. Sorry. I get emotional. I am noted as an ice maiden, but I do get emotional, dammit.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Oh my god. So, I remember like, what Emma’s talking about, that this emcee did about the snakeskin boots? Because it was actually Tone’s snakeskin boots, you know? So she was like walking around in them and he was like, "Oh my God, this snakeskin boots," you know, you know, we have like more samples like this, you know, we had like, 2003, for example, one barista was losing time.
The audience could see that this barista was stressing. And then the emcee was like, "Oh, so what is happening? What's going wrong?" And you know, of course the barista went over time, because they are like so stressed and replying to this emcee, you know, but this was like, horrible moment to talk with the barista.
James Harper: Well, Sonja, I'd love to shift gears a little bit now and talk a little bit about the judges and the organizers. And I'm wondering, "Are they getting paid?"
Sonja Bjork Grant: No. So, this is like an interesting part of the whole coffee community and the competition community is that none of us are getting paid. You know, we are all volunteers. And that has always been like the number one priority, because, you know, it was always said like, "okay, when we pay judges or if you're going to pay judges, it's gonna be different kind of judging, you know?" So that's why it's run by volunteers and, you know, trying to keep this grassroots atmosphere?
James Harper: So speaking of grassroots, in the early 2000s, across the world, these barista competitions are happening on a national level.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Absolutely. Yeah.
James Harper: And like in 2002, like how many people actually attended the World Barista Championships? How many competitors came?
Sonja Bjork Grant: 26 countries ended up competing in Oslo 2002, so that was like a huge step.
James Harper: Yeah. Right. And I'm looking down the list here. You know, we have India, Lebanon, Israel, Brazil. It's much more than just Europe and America.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Absolutely.
James Harper: Yeah. I want to dwell on like that grassroots culture, that kind of volunteerism, because when you're at one of these big trade shows and there's like, "Oh yeah, there's a German competitor."
"Oh yes. And there's a Russian competitor." But what we don't see is what actually happened behind the scenes, trying to put on those national competitions.
Sonja Bjork Grant: It's a lot of hard work and sometimes it's not very appreciated.
James Harper: And I spoke with Simi Benzadon, Panama's competition manager. And I heard from her just what it takes to put on these competitions.
Simi Benzadon: Okay. My name is Simi Benzadon and I'm a graphic designer and I also organize events. Okay. So, the story of the Panamanian coffee competitions goes back to four years ago. Wilford Lamastus Junior, back then, wanted to compete on a barista competition, but he had to bring the competition first to Panama.
And on February of 2017, he got the opportunity because there was a big event called Menu Panama, that it was a culinary event. He was, "yes, this is the place, that's it." Me, by that moment, and I was working on graphic design, but I didn't get that much involved. It was a tent, in a middle of nowhere. And Wilford was like, "Hey, can you take a look at how it's going?" And when I arrived there, the tent was falling, the sponsors were like making a line to see why what's happening. The competitors? They didn't have any place to put the stuff, they were like in the sun, sweating. I remember the judges did the deliberation like outdoors and the papers were like fine... But the reviews of the competition were amazing. Everything were like smooth, but by the, behind of it, I really feel bad about that year. And I was like, "Wilford, you don't have the skills for it. I don't think you can do this again." So, I took my note on my phone and I started writing like a huge list of improvements.
Let me see if I have it here. Okay. I have it in Spanish. So, I'm going to try to read them in English, okay? So it says, "How to Improve Competitions. First thing is: get a good score keeper, someone that has some relation with numbers. [Laughs] Then: get a clean squad, people to clean the stations. At least make sure that the judges have a place to leave their personal stuffs. Also get them some snacks, they're going to be really starving."
So, the next competition, that was Brewers Cup. I did it by myself. It was in a hotel room, a conference room. We had like conference room for them to deliberate. We had like, catering. All the things that I write down on the note was, "check!" One of the most challenging things was understanding the grinder and the water for it. I remember like sending emails, actually like going to a chemical food lab to see if they could make like some water for it.
My responsibility. I feel like with the competitors. So, I want them to be like well-treated, like comfortable. They have enough with the competition. They have enough, struggling with the nerves.
Yeah. Every year, I've put like around four months on organizing the competitions. You have to keep going with the promotion, you have to keep going with the interviews, you have to keep going with the newspapers, you have to keep going with the government. You have to keep going with the radios. You know, everything, because people forget.
The second competition, that it was Brewers Cup, zero. I didn't get paid a lot at all. Zero, zero. It was just time. But I have two partners that they joined me two years ago, and I have find some relief on them, because we split the work. We try to get sponsors for the competitors to fly to the country of worlds, but sometimes it's not that way. I think it's going to change. Every year, I feel more support. I feel more sponsors, and I feel more commitment from the government. This last year, we got like a sponsorship from government first time and they commit with us to do it again.
All of our competitors, when they go to worlds, they place like on the last 10. So, everything you do, it's like a lot of effort. And every time that I talked to national bodies from this part of the word, I can see that they have the same struggle as me. This last year, Wilford went to Brewers Cup and he went for the first time to Boston and he ended up being tenth place. He somehow show me like, "Hey, we can get to the first places if we keep working." So. That's something that, again, motivated me.
Then when the three days of competitions come, everything, it's like, worth it, and you forget about every struggle you have. You can see people laughing, people hugging, people crying, and somehow, it's a cliché, like, "coffee unites people," you forget about every struggle you have and you feel like every single barista down there, they recognize you do the best job possible. So, it's really beautiful.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Wow. Wooow. This story is, like, so full of hard work and energy. And this is the story of many origins and countries that have been in the same shoes. And it's a miracle that people don't just give up at the first year, but I think they don't give up because they see how good it is for the barista profession.
James Harper: Yeah. And kind of bringing us back to, you know, the early 2000s, all this energy, grassroots work is taking place, and what I want to know is like things come up, right? Like problems came up with the emcees, for example, like: how was that fixed year on year? Who was organizing at all?
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah. I mean, I think it was like 2002. We had like a huge meeting and we created the committees. You know, we had the rules and regulation committee. We had the judges committee, for example, but to be honest, like all the rules and regulations were kind of changed on the spot.
James Harper: Oh, very reactionary.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Absolutely. And, uh, I remember like one of the years, I had to go to Oslo just because we needed to finish the rules, uh, just before the competition.
Very much last minute. It was Tone and I, and there was a little bit of a family crisis in her family. So, we had to be in the hospital for that weekend. So, we were kind of just in the lobby, uh, writing the rules. We had like a lot of papers with the highlighting pen.
James Harper: I'm imagining, you know, people walking in with like broken arms, walking past—
Sonja Bjork Grant: Two Scandinavian ladies, writing rules?
James Harper: With papers just like, over the seats, on the floor. For what? For like, a barista competition no one's ever heard of?
Sonja Bjork Grant: Exactly.
James Harper: Geez. And I'm curious to know now, so today, if you win the competitions, you become, you know, a bit of an overnight celebrity in the specialty coffee world. And so, you know, what happened to the person who won the first barista competition in 2000? Did they become like an overnight celebrity?
Sonja Bjork Grant: I mean, the guy, Robert from Norway, he was the first of the first World Barista Champions, he was an architect. And he was already kind of successful in his own life before going into the competition. And today he's involved with a green importer called Collaborative in Norway. But I think because social media wasn't that, you know, I mean, there was like nothing happening. He didn't feel like he's the World Champion. There were some pictures of him. Like, you know, of course he had the trophy and everything. But today, I don't think he has it on his business card, you know?
James Harper: Right, right. But that starts to change. And Sonja, I spoke with Paul Bassett who did win around the mid-2000s. So, what's interesting about Paul's story is that, you know, before the likes of Facebook came along, Paul managed to commercialize his World Barista Championship win in a big way.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Absolutely, I believe so, too.
James Harper: And he's also a name we don't hear about so often today, unless you're in South Korea.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Ah-ha!
Paul Bassett: So, yeah, I'm Paul Bassett, I live in Australia. So, in 2001, I land in Italy, going to my first espresso bar and that's where it all started, you know? Just being captivated by this culture of how espresso is part of their daily routine and standing at the bar and then how it was treated differently in different parts of Italy.
So, coming back from Italy, I literally picked up the telephone book and I was like, I just need to get a job in this industry. Like, it was just calling everyone, you know, I didn't care. I just needed to foot in the door. And, you know, I worked for a few different companies and started going into my first barista championships. At the time when I was competing, I didn't see the commercial success. I just saw that there might be a lot of opportunity and I didn't even know what kind of opportunity. So, in 2002, in 2003, I won the Australian national barista championship.
Recording: You’re five minutes into your presentation, Paul.
Paul Bassett: I've sourced a Mazzer-Robur conical burr grinder and...
Recording: "...chosen this Rober grinder today, and this is a conical blade grinder. It rotates at approximately 400 revolutions per minute, so we're getting the volatile aromas being released just based on that, less heat, less friction."
Paul Basset: Had four different batches of coffee roasted, you know, so I could have it aged exactly the way I want wanted it. I had a performance psychologist who helped get my mind in check, and yeah, just really looking at how to navigate that whole process of what they call putting on your best performance. Looking at every single aspect of that score sheet and going, "how do I get the maximum there, there, there, and there? And how do I be the most consistent there, there, and there?"
Recording: Let's give the guy a hand. Come on. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Paul Bassett: So, after I won, came back to Australia and I was broke, and I was like, I just need, I need some, some sort of revenue coming through the door. It's very costly to go and compete. And then I was introduced to a couple of guys that were offering to talent manage me. They helped get some corporate partnerships in place. I was a brand ambassador for Sunbeam, helping design consumer espresso machines and grinders. And I was working with BMW as a brand ambassador for them, helping launch their one series here and putting on coffee events in all their dealerships throughout the country.
Recording: San Francisco? No, this is beautiful Trieste, where this year’s World Barista Championships are being held.
Paul Bassett: But I guess one of the most interesting things and challenging things that I did was the opportunity to do a television series on coffee, which was called "Living Coffee." And that was a 13-part series, each episode, half hour.
Recording: "Now the way this competition works is each barista has 15 minutes to prepare the workspace, machine, and grinder, making sure their espressos pour like liquid gold."
Paul Bassett: Like one of the other big things that we did was to go over to Japan and do a collaboration with the world pizzaiolo and world pâtissier champion. So, in 2004, we opened up the first store in Ginza, in Tokyo, and that was a collaboration between myself and Mr. Tsujiguchi. And he was a world pâtissier champion. So, in 2009, my partners in Japan were introduced to a dairy company in Korea. And I was just basically told, "we're going to open up a store in Seoul and we'd like your involvement." And I was like, "well, let's go for it." So, my partners saw an opportunity in calling the stores, Paul Bassett, and it's a premium experience. The fact that we were making coffee that was sweet, was medium-to-full body, low acid, I guess it was something that really resonated with Korean palettes. The store was a great success. And then, you know, following that, we just continue to open up more stores, and the brand just took off. Today, we've got, uh, be approaching 110 stores. If you’d have asked me as a child, you know, "Do you think you'll, uh, have 110 cafés in Korea in later life?" I would have laughed at you.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Wow. This is like every barista’s dream.
James Harper: 110 cafes in Korea named after you.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Exactly. I always think about these things because actually like. Iceland was the second. So, you know, it's like bitter-sweet, like, yeah, I know. I know. Iceland was second in the first year. Iceland was second then the third year and it's always with females. So, we were so close to win, you know, as a female as well, but, you know, but I, of course I celebrate that. It's a, it's a joke, you know, it's a competition. So, I was really impressed with how Paul Bassett actually managed to take World Barista Champion title and make it into a business, which was like amazing.
James Harper: Yeah. And he was one of the first because you know, there are many others since.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah. So, he was the first one and you know, everybody were talking about it. He, I don't know if it's true or not, you know, but this is what was the gossip on the street. And it was about that he had made the contract with the BMW or Mercedes or… So, every time he came to a country, he could have those cars pick him up at the airport and all the baristas were like, "Oh, I wish somebody would pick me up at the airport." You know?
James Harper: And Paul mentioned on the call how he put in months of work, he devoted almost a year to this.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Exactly, exactly. But many of the baristas, they only practicing maybe for like a few weeks, and then they go into the barista competition. And if the accident happened that they actually won in their own country, and then they were like, "Oh my God, I have to go to this world competition. What should I do?" You know? "Oh yeah. Maybe I will practice, like few more nights, and then I would just compete."
James Harper: Okay.
Sonja Bjork Grant: You know, so this was like the average, but then of course, the baristas that were like in the leading positions and the finals, they of course had put more effort and dedication into the practice. And they had like teams behind them.
James Harper: It's interesting because as you mentioned before, you know, we're in a world where the rules were kind of being created "as and when," kind of reactionary? And can I ask, like in the mid-2000s, what should a top scoring espresso taste like?
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah. [sighs] I mean, So like the best espresso had to have those three parts—acidity, sweetness, and bitterness—and had to be like equal parts. And, uh, all the judges were like just normal coffee people, you know? And we didn't really have any training systems and yes, we had some sensory people, but still, at the time, we didn't have the knowledge that we have today about sensory.
James Harper: So, I actually have a story about Heather Perry.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Ooooh. I know her. Yeah. So, she was the American champion for many years.
James Harper: So, she told me a story about a time in 2007, when her espresso got some interesting feedback that she thought was going to help her win, but actually counted against her. But it was not because it was too bitter—
Sonja Bjork Grant: Oh my God.
James Harper: And I'm sharing this story because here were these rules that were made in a somewhat reactionary environment, which came up against competitors who were devoting years of their life to win. And the two collide in Heather's story.
Heather Perry: So, my name is Heather Perry and I'm with Klatch coffee. It's a family business, we've had it for 27 years and I get to work with my family every day. So, the competition circuit is something I got into because my family is competitive by nature. And so we thought it would be kind of a fun thing to do and enter. I participated in US nationals for, I think, seven years. 2002 to 2008. I really wanted to be crowned World Barista Champion, not going to lie. Really. I really wanted that title!
I put everything into competing. I mean, I remember the year that I competed in Tokyo, between January and August, I had one weekend where I wasn't practicing and I really felt like, "okay, this is it for me." Like, "this is my make or break year. I'm either going to get it this year or I'm not." And it wasn't just me. You know, my parents were a huge part of it. My dad and I worked on the espresso. We tweaked it throughout that entire year, every month kind of making changes. He is with me, pushing me, pushing me, pushing me. I always know if I'm going to do well in a competition because two to four days before the competition, I have a routine and he's like giving me feedback and it like breaks me down to tears.
So, the coffee evolved, more than anything, in the, during that process, in more tweaking the roast. So, we used a three-bean blend and it was a Sumatran, a Brazil, and an Ethiopian and really kind of breaking down the roast profile of each individual one. I remember from regionals to US, lightening up our Brazil, a little more, I would say from dark to milk chocolate. And then from US to worlds, going a little bit more fruit-forward with that kind of Ethiopian. So, when I got to Tokyo, first round went really well for me. So, I think it was 50 countries we had that year, so it went from 50 and then they announced the finalists and there are six finalists.
Finals went... good? The biggest thing I remember about it is like, I was super, super happy with the way my coffee tasted. At the time, as well, they actually gave away awards and it was best espresso, best cappuccino, and best signature drink. So, I got best espresso, which was awesome and super exciting. Evidently, my espresso worked really well for some judges, but for other judges—and what was my ultimate demise in the finals—is that my espresso was too sweet. And that was what I got docked for in all my score sheets in the finals.
So that year I ended up second. It was so close. The judges in the debrief told me nothing that I wanted to hear. And it starts with, "let's go over your espresso: oh, it was too sweet."
"What do you mean, it's too sweet?"
It's like, "well, it just needed a little bit more bitter to be a little bit more balanced." And it's like, "but that's like not a... no." My dad, he wanted answers. Like, "what do you mean it's too sweet?!" Like, he was definitely in an angrier place. I was definitely in a, more of like a defeated place, where I was like, I just... You know what I mean? Especially when you start with the debrief, and it starts to just kind of like, not make sense. And it's like, this is just, I don't agree. We're not, I can't change it. It's done. It is what it is at this point. I'm not going anywhere with it. And it just, at that point, like it is nine months of work that kind of just came crashing down to an extent where it's like, I don't even know what else I could have done at that point.
I think at that point, judges brought a lot more of their cultural heritage. We talk about Nordic coffees being really bright and acidic at that time, we talk about, you know what I mean, coffees in Australia using a much higher dose, coffees in Italy having more bitter to them. So, after Tokyo, I competed the following year and I took third in the US and I think that was the last year that I competed. So, at that point, it was like, all right, now it's time to focus on the company. Starting a family, I got married after that. Every once in a while, I joke that I'm going to go back to competition and my husband's like, I'm going to take the kids and run off and me and your mom are going to raise the kids.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah, I don't know what to say. I mean, it's kind of crazy, huh? I wasn't judging at that time, but uh obviously, today you wouldn't have a comment like this on the scoresheet.
James Harper: Yeah. But here's Heather, you know, nine months of work and today sweetness in, in an espresso is like, yeah—fantastic. That's the thing they're waiting for!
Sonja Bjork Grant: I know! I know.
James Harper: Sonja, it sounds to me like this competition, it was getting so big, it was actually in danger of maybe even going off the rails. I mean, is that fair?
Sonja Bjork Grant: Absolutely. And this is absolutely correct to say, because we were starting to be so big, so we kind of lost the sight of what we used to be and what we wanted to be.
So, we were all talking about professionalism. But nobody kind of knew what professionalism is, but of course, you know it when you look at it, but do you kind of like, how to get to that point? You know? So, it's, it's not something that you can ask a barista to be, if the infrastructure of the whole competition is not professional.
James Harper: But how's this going to work? Because all the judges—everyone’s a volunteer, they have busy lives, have to pay for this themselves. How on earth was this gonna work out?
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah! 2007 was a challenge. You know, it was kind of like a crossroads.
James Harper: So, Sonja, in the next episode, we're going to cover what that change looked like, that got us to where we are today.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Ooh, exciting.
James Harper: And in part two, we're also going to cover the story of the first time Africa makes it into the semifinals and there are going to be some extraordinary life stories. A woman from Venezuela who, in her words, is almost saved by specialty coffee, from a political situation. And the story of a woman in Uganda who is using these competitions to change coffee-drinking habits in her own country. And it's going to be a different co-host, but thank you so much for helping navigate this story up until this point.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Oh my god, it was my pleasure, just brings me back. I love this time. It was amazing time to go through. Oh, James, this sounds like a credit music.
James Harper: This is the credits!
Sonja Bjork Grant: We want to thank Emma Markland-Webster, Simi Benzadon, Paul Basset, and Heather Perry.
James Harper: And there were so many more people who we would like to thank, and we've listed all the names on the SCA website.
Sonja Bjork Grant: We also should think our sponsor!
James Harper: This World Coffee Championship Podcast Series—and this episode!—is supported by Victoria Arduino. Born in the early twentieth century amid social and cultural transformation, Victoria Arduino broke with tradition and focused on progress, a mission it carries forward today. Victoria Arduino advances coffee knowledge and innovates across design, technology, and performance to produce machines that nurture coffee professionals' passion for espresso excellence. Learn more at victoriaarduino.com or give them a follow @victoriaarduino1905.
Sonja Bjork Grant: And now it's your turn, James.
James Harper: Oh, thank you! This podcast was produced by me, James Harper, of Filter Productions for the Specialty Coffee Association. And Sonja, I hope you have a great camping trip. Are you ready for it?
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yes, absolutely. I'm starting cooking now and then we're going to have champagne for breakfast, and so it's going to be amazing.
James Harper: This is basic Icelandic camping, I see.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Absolutely, yeah.
James Harper: Well, have a great time, enjoy the midnight sun, and I'll see you next year at the competitions.
Sonja Bjork Grant: Yeah. Thank you, Bye bye!