China's Pan Wei becomes world barista champion! Keisuke Honma advances to the semi-finals [World Barista Championship 2026 Results]
The World Barista Championship 2026 (WBC 2026) was held in Panama City, the capital of Panama, from October 22nd to 25th, 2026.
Pan Wei, representing China, won the world's most prestigious barista competition.
The runner-up was Shing Win from Malaysia, and third place went to Frederick Ruben from the United Arab Emirates. Keisuke Honma from Saza Coffee, representing Japan, advanced to the semi-finals, which featured 16 competitors.
This year's WBC was the first to be held in Central America. We'll report on the results of the tournament, which took place in Panama, a coffee-producing country.
The 26th edition was held in Panama, a coffee-producing country.
The venue for this year's event was the Panama Convention Center in Panama City. The 26th WBC was held as the central competition of the World of Coffee Panama, which was the first time it was held in Central and South America. The WBC took place over four days, from October 22nd to 25th, while the World of Coffee Panama exhibition ran for three days, from October 23rd to 25th.
The WBC is a competition that tests not only a barista's brewing skills, but also how they express and communicate the appeal of a single cup of coffee. Within a 15-minute time limit, contestants must serve 12 cups in total: 4 espressos, 4 milk beverages, and 4 original signature beverages.
WCC-certified judges evaluate not only the taste, but also the technique, cleanliness, creativity, and presentation. Sixteen contestants advance from the preliminary round to the semi-finals, and then six more to the finals.
China's Pan Wei reaches the top in his second world championship appearance.
The winner, Pan Wei, is a barista who runs "Parking Coffee" and a roastery based in Hangzhou, China.
According to his official WCC profile, he has 12 years of experience in the coffee industry. He has also been competing for 12 years, winning the Chinese Barista Championship twice. This time, he represented China in the WBC for the second time and claimed the world's best title.
My reason for pursuing a career in coffee was that, in addition to drinking it myself, I loved brewing coffee for my family. My profile before the competition also included expressions of gratitude for the support of my family, coaches, and team. What began with a daily cup of coffee led me to the top of the world.
The two Geisha from different regions that were used in the final.
According to the "Sprudge" final report, Pan Wei used two types of Geisha : one from Finca El Pergamino in Chiriquí Province, Panama, and another from Finca Las Flores in Huila Geisha , Colombia.
The espresso uses Geisha from Panama, which is said to bring out flavors of orange, peach, elderflower, and green tea in the aftertaste. For the milk beverages, they switched to Geisha from Colombia, which is said to bring out aftertastes of cinnamon, chocolate, and blueberry. The strategy was to use Geisha from different regions, selecting the type that best suited the drink.
WBC 2026 Final Results
The WCC announced the final standings as follows:
Winner: Pan Wei (China)
2nd place: Shing Win (Malaysia)
3rd place: Frederick Ruben (United Arab Emirates)
4th place: Gabrel Tan (Australia)
5th place: Jane Kawinnart (Thailand)
6th place: Jill Hoff (Canada)
2nd place: Shing Win (Malaysia)
3rd place: Frederick Ruben (United Arab Emirates)
4th place: Gabrel Tan (Australia)
5th place: Jane Kawinnart (Thailand)
6th place: Jill Hoff (Canada)
Three finalists from China, Malaysia, and Thailand made it to the finals of this tournament, showcasing the impressive performances of Asian baristas.
Keisuke Honma of the Japanese national team advanced to the semi-finals. The team also received an award.
Representing Japan was Keisuke Honma of Saza Coffee, who won the 2025 Japan Barista Championship (JBC).
Honma advanced through the preliminary rounds to the semi-finals, which featured 16 competitors. Although she did not make it to the finals, she represented Japan on the world stage.
Furthermore, Team Pressure, to which Honma belonged, was selected as the winning team in the WBC team awards. The team members were Honma, Kennedy Owino from Kenya, Jill Hoff from Canada, Michał Ciupiński from Poland, and Chiara Nicolini from Peru.
These teams are mixed teams formed considering the regional diversity of the participants and their performance in the past six years of competition. They also participate in the "Team Bar," which serves coffee to visitors, and team awards are determined based on the average of each player's qualifying ranking.
In her official profile before the competition, Ms. Honma mentioned that she had been competing for 15 years and expressed her desire to convey the appeal of specialty coffee that touches the hearts of many people. This competition in Panama brought her years of hard work and dedication to the world stage.
The next stage is Tokyo, where I'll be returning after 20 years.
The 2027 World Coffee Championship (WBC) will be held in Tokyo. According to the SCA, the 27th tournament is scheduled to take place at "World of Coffee Tokyo 2027" at Tokyo Big Sight from April 28th to May 1st, 2027. This will be the first time the WBC has been held in Tokyo in 20 years, since 2007.
The baristas' challenge continues, moving from Panama to Tokyo. I'm already looking forward to the next world championship being held in Japan.
You can watch the competition footage on the World Coffee Championships official website . In addition to the rankings, be sure to pay attention to the ingenuity and presentations that the contestants put into each cup of coffee.
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