Cupping & Sharing Masterclass by Boram Um & Team
PMQ Coffee Agenda is an annual event in the coffee industry. Every year, it invites many world-class coffee competition champions, award-winning baristas and local baristas to gather for tasting and exchange activities. This year, coffee shops from overseas countries such as the Netherlands, Canada, and Thailand were also invited. The event was held from October 20th to 23rd. Since we were still in Tokyo dealing with the opening of a new store at the time, luckily we were able to come back in time to attend the Cupping & Sharing Masterclass that was added at the end!
Remember the 2023 WBC champion, Brazilian-Korean barista Boram Um, whom we reported on before? Before winning the WBC title, he once said: “Team work makes the dream work.” This time, he and his dream team and coaches Marcia Yoko (Japan), Cole Torode and David Crosby (Rosso Coffee Roasters, Canada) shared their coffee experience with seminar participants. They also wanted to thank the conference for arranging 12 kinds of fine beans from different countries for everyone to cup test, including Geisha coffee beans worth $880/100g.
It is worth mentioning that at the event I visited the coaching team that trained Boram and his brother Garam. Regarding the important factors in forming a dream team, they believe that training baristas is like educating children. One cannot place personal expectations on every competitor. Instead, one should teach students in accordance with their aptitude. The most important thing is to allow them to develop freely based on their personal character and ability with the corresponding training. They also praised Boram for not only being handsome and speaking fluent English, but also being a very hardworking and self-disciplined competitor. Baristas with all these qualities are rare in Brazil and are one of the keys to becoming a champion barista.
Boram lives his daily life with coffee, a regular work and rest schedule, and training schedule, just like elite athletes, never taking a break 365 days a year. Boram even practices the same action at least 300-400 times, just to prepare for the WBC match which lasts about 15 minutes. It is conceivable how much effort he has put into making himself and his team continuously improve.
The 3rd World Coffee Championships Taipei 2023 will be held in Taipei from November 17 to 20. At that time, about 90 competitors from all over the world, including Hong Kong, will gather together to compete for the world championship in three events, including: World Cup CoffeeLatte ArtArt Competition (WLAC), World Cup Coffee Bartending Competition (WCIGS) and World Cup Coffee Roasting Competition (WCRC). I will be fortunate enough to be one of the staff members at that time. I look forward to meeting the Dream Team again and exchanging more coffee experiences. Coffee lovers are also welcome to come and participate. If you want to know more, you can visit the 2023 WCC Taipei website.
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