The rules of the 2023 World Barista Competition are updated! WBC allows the use of plant milk / other animal milk to enter the competition

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On December 22nd, the Fine Coffee Association released updated rules and regulations for the 2023 World baristas Championships (WBC), the World barista Brewing Competition (WBrC), the World Cup sommeliers Championships and the Cezve/Ibrik Championships.

After the WBrC evaluation criteria are updated, the competition will refocus on evaluating competitors' coffee brewing skills. These changes include the expansion of the category of baristas, the decoupling of the competition structure from existing SCA cup test forms and agreements, and the introduction of a new coffee evaluation scale.

The scale is more clearly in line with SCA's ongoing work to transform existing cup testing protocols and forms into a coffee value evaluation system on the basis of research and sensory science best practices.

In addition, WBrC will introduce semi-finals. All contestants will cook on their own in the first round and 12 contestants will be selected to enter the semi-finals. Then six contestants are selected through designated cooking, which will be cooked on their own in the final, and the semi-final score will continue.

In terms of WBC, two new rating scales will be introduced, as well as the traditional six-point system. These scores will help the competition better align with the development direction of the Fine Coffee Association's coffee value evaluation system. At the same time, the weights of different categories are adjusted to better reflect the skills and focus areas of the competition.

At the same time, contestants can use plant milk or other animal milk to make milk coffee. For such a decision, the SCA side can be said to have been "struggling" for a long time. Because in recent years, some people in the industry and contestants have criticized these competitions for their lack of inclusiveness and accessibility, saying that the rules that can only use milk are somewhat "antiquated".

In October, Oatly, a well-known plant milk brand, publicly challenged the Fine Coffee Association on its official website and account, saying that as a globally recognized boutique coffee association, SCA's mission, purpose and core values included the term "sustainable".

Oatly said that according to research, oatmeal milk is more environmentally friendly and more sustainable than milk. On the other hand, SCA requires that the contestants participating in the WBC competition can only use milk to participate in the competition, which is obviously "hitting the face". Therefore, SCA is required to immediately change the rules of the WBC to allow contestants to participate in the competition with oatmeal milk.

But this challenge was opposed by netizens in the coffee industry. Most netizens still think that milk is king! Whether it's a coffee competition or a daily coffee shop! Some netizens said that the foam of oatmeal milk is unstable! And it steals the limelight of coffee, and the price is not cheap. The quality of the products made from the two materials is not available for reference and comparison. It would be unfair to any contestant if oatmeal milk is allowed to participate in the competition.

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Some contestants who have participated in the WBC say that if oatmeal milk is allowed to compete, it may lead to further rule changes. But it takes a lot of time and manpower to modify the existing scoring rules, and the game will become more complicated.

But obviously, the boutique Coffee Association has compromised and developed new scoring rules to allow all contestants to express their ideas more freely, not limited to the use of milk.

As for such a decision, other former contestants say this is what the Fine Coffee Association should do. These competitions, which have attracted the attention of the global coffee industry, will not be progress if they do not reflect the changes in the culture of fine coffee. At present, vegetable milk is now the main product of coffee shops.

Although milk is used to make products, it does taste better and the grading process will be fairer. But it will also cause some people who can't drink milk to lose production and perform more and perhaps more amazing products than milk coffee.

This change will be a good start ~ these world-class competitions often affect the trend of the boutique coffee industry. Whether using plant milk or other animal milk, as long as the whole process of presenting the drink is professional, it should be regarded as fine coffee, which will be an opportunity for the development of boutique coffee culture.

Photo Source: Internet