WBC2010 from a volunteers perspective
The World Barista Championship has rolled out of town for another year, next stop Bogota, Columbia (June 2-5 2011)
Whilst the WBC is an annual event, the friendships created are timeless. Many of the competitors have attended numerous coffee competitions and grasped the opportunity to reunite with friends and regale them with stories of their past year, over a pint or two at one of the many barista parties taking place in conjunction with the show.
This year was no exception with nearly a dozen competitors competing in the WBC finals and representing their country for the second time. Some competitors brought with them a support crew, made up of mentors, colleagues, friends and fellow countrymen and women competing in other SCAE events (Cup Tasting, Coffee in Good Spirits, Latte Art, Ibrik) and the World Aeropress Championship (now in its 3rd year).
Due to the high costs of competing, not all competitors were fortunate enough to be able to bring supporters, and sadly, some competitors could not make the trip for visa reasons.
Although the barista was on their own while competing, there were real displays of unity behind the scenes.
Progressively, as competitors were eliminated, their attentions turned to supporting and helping those still in with a shot at the title.
Team Africa*1 were real standouts for me (I may be a little biased as I was looking after Kenya and South Africa), with Kenya, South Africa, Zambia and Uganda helping each other dial in their beans, evaluate their espressos and cappuccinos and even mucking in with the dishes after each others performances.
The support didn’t stop there, with a number of cafes, roasters, suppliers all willingly hosting national champions in their establishments, letting them loose on their machines for vital practice sessions, and in some cases inviting them to educate their customers about the region they represented.
My personal thanks go to the following people for warmly embracing Jimmy Njoroge (2010 Kenyan Barista Champion) and John Muli Mukau (2007-2009 KBC) and making their stay in the UK so memorable.
…an army of volunteers, sourced from around the world…
For the SCAE & WBC events, an army of volunteers, sourced from around the world, was drafted in to assist both behind the scenes and in an official capacity, working tirelessly to make sure the entire event ran smoothly.
I would encourage people to volunteer at any available opportunity in the future – the experience was so enriching and I can honestly say that I took more out of it than I imagined I would. I learned so much about coffee in 3 days, with the collective minds of the worlds best baristas and suppliers on hand to give their opinion, debate a theory or demonstrate what they meant by a post on Twitter.
One of the highlights for me was working for a short time on the brew bar, with the Über Boiler and the new Über Grinder, alongside Gary Whiteley and Faith Ortiz – 2 solid volunteers who made hundreds of Chemexes, Aeropresses and Filter Coffees over the 3 days of the show.
Volunteers were invited to attend the Barista Party, held on the Friday evening after the show had finished, and was a great opportunity for all volunteers to forget their sore feet for a few hours and mix&mingle with the WBC competitors and support crews.
For many people this was the last opportunity to congratulate the competitors and bid farewell to acquaintances, both old and new, before they headed home.
Finally, a thank you to all organisers who assigned the volunteers their tasks, and who helped make this event a success
*1 Rwanda and Tanzania were unable to attend
Click here to view a selection of images taken at WBC2010
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