World Barista Championship winners are decided every year by four judges across 15 minutes of espresso, milk, and signature drinks. Australia’s Jack Simpson took the 2025 title in Milan, the 25th edition of the competition. This guide lists every champion since 2000, covers the last 10 in detail, breaks down the coffees and processing methods that keep winning, and tells you what is coming at WBC 2026 in Panama City.
Last updated: August 2026
Who Is the Current World Barista Champion?
Jack Simpson of Axil Coffee Roasters in Melbourne is the current World Barista Champion, crowned in Milan in October 2025 at the 25th World Barista Championship, held alongside HostMilano with 51 competition bodies represented.
Simpson’s win followed third place in 2023 and a runner-up finish behind Indonesia’s Mikael Jasin in 2024. He brewed a nitrogen-macerated Gesha from Finca Deborah in Volcán, Panama, and an anaerobic natural from Finca Zarza in Huila, Colombia, and built his routine around personal journal entries from the previous year’s defeat.
The 2025 podium was Simpson first, Simon SunLei of China second, and Ben Put of Canada third, followed by Jason Loo of Malaysia, Hiroki Ito of Japan, and Christopher Sahyoun Hoff of Denmark.
World Barista Championship Winners: Full List 2000 to 2025
The World Barista Championship has run annually since 2000, with one gap: the 2020 edition was cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Denmark and Australia lead with four titles each.
| Year | Champion | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Jack Simpson | Australia |
| 2024 | Mikael Jasin | Indonesia |
| 2023 | Boram Um | Brazil |
| 2022 | Anthony Douglas | Australia |
| 2021 | Diego Campos | Colombia |
| 2020 | Not held (COVID-19) | |
| 2019 | Jooyeon Jeon | South Korea |
| 2018 | Agnieszka Rojewska | Poland |
| 2017 | Dale Harris | United Kingdom |
| 2016 | Berg Wu | Taiwan |
| 2015 | Sasa Sestic | Australia |
| 2014 | Hidenori Izaki | Japan |
| 2013 | Pete Licata | United States |
| 2012 | Raúl Rodas | Guatemala |
| 2011 | Alejandro Mendez | El Salvador |
| 2010 | Michael Phillips | United States |
| 2009 | Gwilym Davies | United Kingdom |
| 2008 | Stephen Morrissey | Ireland |
| 2007 | James Hoffmann | United Kingdom |
| 2006 | Klaus Thomsen | Denmark |
| 2005 | Troels Overdal Poulsen | Denmark |
| 2004 | Tim Wendelboe | Norway |
| 2003 | Paul Bassett | Australia |
| 2002 | Fritz Storm | Denmark |
| 2001 | Martin Hildebrandt | Denmark |
| 2000 | Robert Thoresen | Norway |
The geography tells its own story. The first 10 editions went almost entirely to Northern Europe. Since 2011 the title has travelled to El Salvador, Guatemala, Japan, Taiwan, Poland, South Korea, Colombia, Brazil, and Indonesia.
The Last 10 World Barista Champions in Detail
The 10 champions crowned between 2015 and 2025 shaped what you buy, what cafés serve, and how producers process. Each entry below covers the routine and what changed afterwards.
2015: Sasa Sestic, Australia
Sestic, founder of Ona Coffee in Canberra, introduced carbonic maceration to the WBC stage using coffee from El Salvador, adapting a fermentation technique from winemaking. No single routine has had a longer commercial tail. Carbonic maceration moved from competition curiosity to a category producers now run at scale, including in Indonesia.
2016: Berg Wu, Taiwan
Wu won on fundamentals rather than novelty, focusing on extraction control that maximised sweetness and clarity in an Ethiopian coffee with floral and citrus character. His win established Taiwan as a specialty coffee force and demonstrated that precise execution still beats technique for its own sake.
2017: Dale Harris, United Kingdom
Harris, then wholesale director at Hasbean Coffee, built his routine around flavor perception, guiding judges through how brewing choices change the way flavors register. Using Colombian coffee, he argued that competition is about sensory communication, not only innovation, and pulled the format back toward hospitality.
2018: Agnieszka Rojewska, Poland
Rojewska became the first woman to win the World Barista Championship, presenting Ethiopian coffee with a focus on approachability rather than complexity for its own sake. Her win opened the competition to a generation of women and proved that a calm, uncomplicated routine can beat a spectacular one.
2019: Jooyeon Jeon, South Korea
Jeon of Momos Coffee became the second woman and the first South Korean to take the title, using a Panamanian Gesha in a routine built on clarity, consistency, and service. Her staging, which moved judges around the bar, was influential enough that later competitors openly referenced it.
2021: Diego Campos, Colombia
Campos of Amor Perfecto in Bogotá became the first Colombian champion, competing in Milan with Caturra and Castillo varieties from his own country. His routine tied his personal story to Colombian coffee history, and his win reframed producing nations as sources of barista talent rather than only green coffee.
2022: Anthony Douglas, Australia
Douglas of Axil Coffee Roasters in Melbourne won with frozen distilled milk, concentrating sweetness and texture in his milk course, paired with a washed Gesha from Colombia. Milk chemistry became a standard competition variable afterwards, and the technique spread quickly into high-end café menus.
2023: Boram Um, Brazil
Um, co-founder of Um Coffee Co. and the first Brazilian champion, competed with experimental processed coffees from his own family’s farm. Brazil had long been treated as a volume origin, and his routine connected farm, processing, and cup in a way that repositioned the country as a specialty source.
2024: Mikael Jasin, Indonesia
Jasin became the first Indonesian champion in Busan, building his routine around mindfulness. He used a Panamanian Gesha from Finca Deborah for espresso and a yeast-inoculated, thermal-shocked Ají from Colombia for his milk and signature courses, served with a blend of dairy, cashew, and oat milks.
2025: Jack Simpson, Australia
Simpson took the title in Milan on his third finals appearance, using a nitrogen-macerated Gesha from Finca Deborah in Panama and an anaerobic natural from Finca Zarza in Colombia. He credited producer Jonathan Gasca Serna directly on stage, and his routine leaned on vulnerability rather than technical spectacle.
What the Winning Coffees Have in Common
Look past the routines and the green coffee follows a narrow pattern, one worth understanding before you assume competition coffee and your commercial sourcing are the same market.
| Year | Champion | Coffee used | Technique on stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Sasa Sestic | El Salvador | Carbonic maceration |
| 2019 | Jooyeon Jeon | Panamanian Gesha | Service staging |
| 2021 | Diego Campos | Colombian Caturra, Castillo | Origin storytelling |
| 2022 | Anthony Douglas | Washed Gesha, Colombia | Frozen distilled milk |
| 2023 | Boram Um | Brazil, family farm | Experimental processing |
| 2024 | Mikael Jasin | Panamanian Gesha, Colombian Ají | Yeast inoculation, thermal shock |
| 2025 | Jack Simpson | Panamanian Gesha, Colombian | Nitrogen maceration, anaerobic natural |
Gesha dominates. Panamanian Gesha, particularly from Finca Deborah in Volcán, has appeared in winning routines repeatedly across 2019, 2022, 2024, and 2025. It is a variety bought in micro-lots at auction prices, not a commercial sourcing option.
Processing does the heavy lifting. Carbonic maceration, anaerobic fermentation, nitrogen maceration, yeast inoculation, and thermal shock all reached wide attention through competition years before they reached the lots you can actually buy.
That second pattern is the one that matters commercially, because it does eventually arrive. Indonesia Specialty Coffee now supplies both techniques on Gayo: our Gayo Carbonic Maceration Natural traces directly back to what Sestic put on stage in 2015, and our Gayo Thermal Full-Washed uses the same hot and cold bath principle Jasin brought to Busan.
Building a competition or limited-release program? See our current pricelist or contact our team for experimental lot availability.
Mikael Jasin and Indonesia’s WBC Breakthrough
Mikael Jasin’s 2024 title was the first for Indonesia, and it landed for a country that has exported coffee for centuries while going unrecognised on the competition stage.
Jasin founded So So Good Coffee Company in 2020 in partnership with Common Grounds Coffee Roasters and ST. ALi, the same year he won the Indonesian Barista Championship. Because HostMilano pushed the 2025 event to October, he held the title for 18 months and travelled to 22 countries during his term, an unusually long platform for any champion.
Worth noting if you are sourcing on the back of his win: Jasin did not compete with Indonesian coffee. He used Panamanian and Colombian lots, which is the honest state of competition sourcing. What his win changed is the assumption that producing nations supply beans while consuming nations supply talent.
WBC 2026: Panama City
The 2026 World Barista Championship runs 23 to 25 October 2026 in Panama City, Panama, according to World Coffee Championships.
The location carries weight. Panama is where Gesha built its reputation, and it is the first time the competition has been staged in the country that supplies so many of the winning coffees. National champions from more than 50 competition bodies will compete for the title Jack Simpson defends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the World Barista Championship in 2025?
Jack Simpson of Australia won the 2025 World Barista Championship in Milan, competing for Axil Coffee Roasters in Melbourne. He finished ahead of Simon SunLei of China and Ben Put of Canada, after placing third in 2023 and second in 2024.
Has an Indonesian barista won the World Barista Championship?
Yes. Mikael Jasin won the 2024 World Barista Championship in Busan, South Korea, becoming the first Indonesian champion. He founded So So Good Coffee Company and competed on a mindfulness theme, using Panamanian Gesha for espresso and a yeast-inoculated, thermal-shocked Colombian coffee for his milk course.
Where is the World Barista Championship 2026?
The 2026 World Barista Championship takes place in Panama City, Panama, from 23 to 25 October 2026. Panama is the origin behind many recent winning coffees, particularly Gesha from Finca Deborah, which makes it a fitting host. Jack Simpson of Australia defends the title.
Who was the first woman to win the World Barista Championship?
Agnieszka Rojewska of Poland became the first woman to win the World Barista Championship in 2018, presenting Ethiopian coffee with a focus on approachability rather than complexity. Jooyeon Jeon of South Korea became the second woman champion the following year, in 2019, using a Panamanian Gesha.
What coffee do World Barista Champions use?
Gesha dominates, especially Panamanian Gesha from Finca Deborah, which featured in winning routines in 2019, 2022, 2024, and 2025. Champions pair it with experimental processing such as carbonic maceration, anaerobic fermentation, nitrogen maceration, and thermal shock. These lots are bought at auction in micro-lot volumes.
How many times has Australia won the World Barista Championship?
Australia has won four times: Paul Bassett in 2003, Sasa Sestic in 2015, Anthony Douglas in 2022, and Jack Simpson in 2025. That matches Denmark’s record of four titles. Three of the four Australian champions came from Melbourne, and two of those from Axil Coffee Roasters.
Buy Indonesian Green Coffee Beans from Indonesia Specialty Coffee
Indonesia Specialty Coffee supplies Grade 1 Specialty green coffee at 82 to 88 SCA points, graded against SNI 01-2907-2008 with a defect value of 11 or lower and moisture at or below 12.5%. We ship FOB Belawan from Medan, with Halal certification on every lot and Organic or Rainforest Alliance available on request.
Our experimental Gayo lots, including carbonic maceration and thermal shock, are produced in limited volume and move quickly each harvest, so tell us early if you want one held. Order tiers run 1 kg cupping samples, 60 kg microlot, 350 kg wholesale, and container loads from 9 MT.
Competition coffee is bought a kilo at a time. Your menu is not. Browse our green coffee beans or check the pricelist for a quote.
