Good evening!
This is Mickey from CROWD ROASTER .
I am currently attending the WORLD OF COFFEE 2024 BUSAN 2024 World Barista Championship, which is being held in Busan, South Korea from May 1st, 2024.

This event brings together coffee professionals, and we will be reporting from the event's third day.

At the 2024 World Barista Championship, barista Takayuki Ishitani, representing Japan, made it through the semi-finals and advanced to the finals.

Click here for the presentation

The semi-final featured two types of coffee: Geisha grown at Finca Deborah in Panama and Caturra grown at Finca Milan in Colombia.

The espresso is a blend of 16g Geisha and 2g of Caturra, giving it a flavor reminiscent of pineapple, orange, and guava.

The milk beverage is based on 17g of Caturra and 2g Geisha , and uses a blend of rice milk and lactose-free milk, which is perfectly balanced with espresso to bring out flavors of yellow peach, mango, and caramel.

The signature drink is inspired by the Negroni.
The drink combines rose, pine needles, and juniper berry infusion reminiscent of gin, fermented pineapple and brown sugar to recreate Campari, and Geisha coffee and vanilla bean sous vide instead of vermouth to create a drink with flavors of sage, white peach, blood orange, plum, and caramel.

His performance was calm and poised, and it was a presentation that fully captured the essence of barista Ishitani.
After the presentation, Barista Ishitani looked relieved, which also gave us peace of mind.

Many Japanese fans and people involved in the event were gathered in the audience, cheering them on.

Barista Ishitani's performance was highly praised, and he made it to the finals.
The final will be contested by six competitors from Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands, South Korea, New Zealand and Japan.
New Zealand's representative, Barista Kawashima, is also from Japan. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's final.

Meanwhile, the venue is also hosting WORLD OF COFFEE, which brings together coffee companies from around the world.

Among them, GLITCH TOKYO, led by Suzuki Kiyokazu a roaster participating in CROWD ROASTER , exhibited at ROASTERS VILLAGE from Japan, and proved extremely popular, with long lines forming that the booth could not accommodate them.

It gave us a glimpse into the Japanese coffee culture that captivates coffee fans all over the world.

We can expect even more from Ishitani in tomorrow's final. Keep an eye on him, as he says he is having the most fun he's ever had in his life as a barista.

I'll report again tomorrow, so please look forward to it.