Boutique coffee information Hidenori Izaki barista champion visit

Name: Hidenori Izaki

Title: WBC champion of the 2014 World Barista Competition

Occupation: chief barista of Maruyama Cafe

Coffee shop official website: www.maruyamacoffee.com

Every year, thousands of baristas from all over the world gather together to compete for the highest honor in the coffee industry-the WBC champion of the World Barista Competition. There is only one lucky one, and thousands of contestants take part in the competition. This year, the winner of the award is Hidenori Izaki, a barista from Maruyama Cafe in Japan. The young player from Japan made it all the way to the final by a narrow margin of 0.5 points, and finally won the championship. Hidenori Izaki is the first Asian to win the championship. The coffee beans he uses are Kaddura (Caturra) and Typica (iron pickup) from the Monte Copey plantation in the Santa Maria Mountains of Tarazu, Costa Rica. This week, Weekend Edition magazine was honored to invite Hidenori Izaki, the new world baristas champion WBC. The purpose of his visit to Australia is to visit Wolff Coffee Roasters Bakery in Brisbane, the famous local coffee shop Dandelion and teahouse Drift Wood. In this interview, Hidenori Izaki shared with us how he went all the way to become the WBC champion of the world barista competition.

Reporter: first of all, congratulations on winning the WBC championship of the World Barista Competition! What preparatory work did you do before the game?

Hidenori Izaki: the preparation process is long. I participated in the World Barista Competition held here (Australia) in 2013. In the end, I finished 13th and failed to make it to the semi-finals. I really wanted to hit my head to death at that time. I practiced alone for a year for that game. Many of my friends left me, and even my girlfriend left me. Looking back on that experience, I think all the efforts were worth it. I learned a lot from it.

Interviewer: why Costa Rican coffee?

Hidenori Izaki: my tutor used to import coffee beans from the Monte Copey plantation in Costa Rica. Two years ago, I met Enrique Navarro, a young local coffee grower. He is very willing to work with me because he knows that only the unlimited creativity of young people is the key to success in today's coffee world, and only our younger generation can do it. I thought about using local coffee beans to participate in the competition, but at that time I had some scruples about the excessive sour taste of Costa Rican beans in making espresso. In order to make the perfect coffee, Enrique and I thought that only creating a Costa Rican bean specializing in Italian espresso and cappuccino could solve this problem. So the coffee beans I use are specially provided for me.

Reporter: what do you think is the secret of success?

Hidenori Izaki: I don't keep working hard for the championship. I just want to make the best espresso in the world. I want to show the world my understanding of coffee and my love for coffee. Heart is the most important thing, you must let the referee understand your coffee philosophy.

Reporter: what are your plans for the future? What do you predict the coffee industry will be like in the future?

Hidenori Izaki: I want to be a raw bean merchant next. I want more coffee growers to cooperate with baristas face to face. Why? Because only baristas really understand the needs of customers, which coffee growers do not understand. I think I'll still work at Maruyama Cafe. I want to bring the best coffee beans in the world to my boss and colleagues.

Interviewer: what suggestions do you have for new baristas?

Hidenori Izaki: I think all young people who have just entered the coffee industry must realize that the coffee industry is a service industry. Baristas are the key to serving customers. Making coffee is not the whole job of baristas, you must also serve your customers. Nowadays, there are many baristas who only care about the quality of coffee, but ignore the needs of customers. All they think about is equipment and machines. Such a person cannot succeed. We must fully understand the needs of our customers and meet them as much as possible. This is actually very simple! Baristas are all about making delicious coffee for their customers. Why is it so difficult?

Interviewer: how did you become the WBC champion of the World Barista Competition?

Hidenori Izaki: first of all, I won the championship of the Japanese division. Then I won the all-Japan Championship. Since then, I have been participating in all kinds of world competitions. I need to make 4 cups of espresso, 4 cappuccinos and 4 homemade coffees during the competition. The whole production process needs to be completed in 15 minutes, with background music in the process. The referees of world-class coffee events are the most famous and authoritative coffee professionals in the world. They rate the coffee according to its taste, purity, creativity, production skills and barista's performance. In the first round, a total of 12 contestants can enter the semi-finals, of which only 6 contestants can reach the finals. In the end, only one of the six baristas could win the championship.

Reporter: do you have a coffee instructor who is important to you?

Hidenori Izaki: of course. He is Kentaro Maruyama, the owner of Maruyama Cafe. He has many years of experience in purchasing raw beans of overseas coffee. He knows the coffee industry like the back of his hand and takes great pains to teach me everything. He gave almost everything to give me a chance to participate in the World Barista Competition.

Interviewer: which part do you spend the most time on?

Hidenori Izaki: I think it's the extraction of coffee. I know very well that sometimes the difference between winning and losing is just 0.5 points. I think coffee extraction is my magic weapon. In the game, every detail is crucial. From flushing the coffee handle, controlling the amount of wasted powder, pressing the powder, and then controlling the extraction time, you have nothing to lose.

Interviewer: do you go to work while you train?

Hidenori Izaki: yes. I spend as much time at work as I can because I want to remind myself of how important it is for baristas to communicate with customers, which is what baristas are for. I try to balance my training and working time. In retrospect, I spent almost half a year training coffee-making skills last year.

Interviewer: how long did you keep the coffee beans you used in the competition?

Hidenori Izaki: every coffee bean I use has been set still for 14 days after roasting. I have tried beans for 8 days, but I think 14 days is the prime time for coffee.

(this article is reproduced)