Talking about the champion of Chinese barista

Q1: please share the key to winning the award that year?

Q2: has there been any change in your career path since you won the championship?

Q3: in your opinion, what changes have taken place in the Chinese coffee market in recent years, especially how does the development direction of boutique coffee affect you?

Q4: if you compete again, what do you think is different from the past? What advice do you have for new baristas?

A1: first of all, competition experience. My high school began to enter the city's first-class sports team, long-term participation in all kinds of large and small competitions, develop a competition in the ability of self-regulation, and enterprising spirit. Can give better play to their own level in the competition. Secondly, interest. As the saying goes, interest is the best teacher. At the beginning of the competition, I simply could not understand the detailed competition points and technical essentials, and the views of all parties were not unified.

It is difficult to have a real training standard and technical index for reference. You can only learn and imitate by yourself through the information obtained by all parties or videos of international competitions. So at that time, I often went to work normally during the day and sneaked back to the company at night to watch videos and train production alone. I often don't go home until late at night. After such experience, it is true that the "skill" will increase exponentially.

A2: everything has its advantages and disadvantages. I think the advantage is that the popularity has increased, and many people will pursue and praise it, which will be helpful to the coffee trade I am engaged in. But the disadvantage is that it is easy to get lost. In the sudden flowers and applause, young people often overestimate their abilities, are vulnerable to external interference and temptation, and make some unrealistic decisions. This is also the real situation faced by many award-winning baristas.

A3: I think the overall direction of China's coffee market is rising rapidly. Mainly because: first of all, the main force of the market has shifted to the post-80s and 90s, there is a real demand for coffee consumption, and more accustomed to going to cafes to experience life. Second, the overall national income has increased, while the price of coffee is basically the same as that of 10 years ago, which is equivalent to a 5-10-fold decline in the price of coffee. Thirdly, with the help of international chain brands

Its strong strength, the rapid opening of stores in various hot areas, resulting in a strong visual impact and cultural trend, for the younger generation of consumers have irresistible attraction. For the development of boutique coffee, I think this is the general trend, but it will take time, and in the foreseeable 5-10 years, fine coffee can only be used as a supplement to traditional commercial coffee, and can not form the main force of the market. After all, tasting ability can only be refined when tasting becomes normal. But what must be vigilant is that because the traditional commercial coffee industry, whether chain coffee shops or established trading companies, has occupied most of the market share and industry resources, it is difficult to be surpassed by new competitors. At present, most of the so-called enterprises or individuals touting boutique coffee in the Chinese market have a "shortcut" mentality, the main purpose is to distinguish between these traditional market oligarchs, so that it is easier to gain a firm foothold in the market. And this situation can easily lead to extreme market public opinion and guidance, too high praise of boutique coffee and too low comment on traditional commercial coffee. At the same time, it also causes new coffee practitioners or coffee shop investors to misjudge the current market situation and ignore the successful experience and market rules of the traditional commercial coffee industry, resulting in unnecessary losses. All in all, to expand and strengthen China's traditional commercial coffee market is to pave the way for the development of fine coffee. Without really learning the essence from international brands such as Starbucks, Costa, McCaf é and Coffee Bene, thus developing China's own coffee system, it is impossible to really step into the paradise of fine coffee.

A4: participating in the competition is a kind of experience, and the focus is not on the result of the competition, but on everyone's efforts and progress in the process, and the gains are different. For newcomers, the most important thing is to recognize one truth: participating in the competition will not determine your whole life, it will only be an important and wonderful experience in your coffee career, and it will be an important opportunity for you to verify whether you really love coffee.

I think it's a lucky thing for A1VOR 2005 to win the championship. At that time, I didn't think too much about why I won the award. After watching the international competition, I thought the key to winning the prize was beans and

The choice of formula (we were already choosing raw beans, fresh baking, and the formula was based on the design of the flavor), as well as my understanding of the rules of the game and my personal presentation.

A2: my current job is as a brand manager. Before participating in the competition, my job was the operation of coffee chain brands, and the process of competition and winning the championship helped me to learn more about the coffee industry, which enabled the brand I operated to grow and develop rapidly at that time. Coffee technology has also become the right hand of my work, which has played a great role in my career as a professional manager.

A3: more and more people accept and like coffee, which makes the coffee industry enter a stage of vigorous development. with the continuous intervention and expansion of international and domestic chain coffee brands, the competition in the whole market is intensified in vain. at the same time, the transparency of the coffee industry is getting higher and higher. in this case, boutique coffee has become a must for all businesses. For me, in the past, I only enjoyed myself, that is, I made it for myself to drink; now in the market, not only the merchants understand it, but also the acceptance of customers is getting higher and higher. They can drink good coffee everywhere, and the public is more and more likely to find good beans. It's a very joyful thing. A4: I didn't want to participate in the competition again. If I have to assume to participate, I think my growth lies in two points: first, the understanding and control of beans; second,. Personal presentation of coffee knowledge, customer service, competition rules, and communication interaction. For new baristas, my advice is not to stay and be satisfied with only making coffee, a little more dedication to making good coffee, of course, constantly learning and delving into coffee, service details, store management, marketing can broaden the career path of baristas.

★ Mu Feng

Representative of China in 2006

Participate in WBC in Tokyo, Japan

Now he is the general manager of Beijing Dolphin Bay Coffee Co., Ltd.

A1: the key is the in-depth understanding of the coffee machine, good mental state and technological innovation and stability. Each contestant has experienced long and arduous training and intense regional competitions, which makes the competition in the finals more fierce, and the difference in skills is already very small. so want to win the championship is more to show the perfect cooperation between the barista and the coffee machine and a calm attitude. In the Q & A section of my regional competition at that time, I saw that other contestants did not perform well in this part, and I was glad that I could win warm applause in this part, which gave me a lot of self-confidence in the final. As for innovation, I like the creative coffee part of the competition very much. It can freely exert the imagination of baristas. I always insist on superimposing my ideas without destroying the nature of coffee. People are surprised without losing the aftertaste of classic coffee, which has also been recognized and praised by the judges.

A2: my career has changed a lot since I won the championship. Here, I would like to thank the carving time Coffee Company that trained me to participate in the competition. At that time, I worked as a quality supervisor.

As a result, I have been strict with myself and other colleagues in terms of the quality of coffee and western food, which enables me to maintain good technical stability in the competition, and other colleagues have achieved very good results in the next few competitions. After winning the championship, with the support of the company, we planned and established the Engraving time Coffee College, which took on a lot of courseware writing and course teaching work. I am particularly glad to see that today's Engraving time Coffee College has grown up. A3: it is undeniable that great changes have taken place in the whole Chinese coffee market in recent years. With the arrival of famous coffee chains, coffee has gradually been understood and accepted by more and more people. Drinking coffee caf é has gradually become a way of life for young people and fashionable people. Also began to understand what is coffee beans, roasting, fresh grinding, coffee machine, which is a gratifying progress for coffee practitioners. But these are still the enlightening stages that I think love coffee, and now we see more and more coffee people talking about and looking for boutique coffee, studying and trying suitable brewing methods, promoting and exploring deeper cultural roots, all of which add more charm to the coffee industry. For me, the concept of boutique coffee influenced me deeply, especially the story of boutique coffee, which was put forward by Ms. Knudsen in the United States. She thought that people drank fine coffee at the beginning, but later, due to the lack of demand for coffee, the discovery and use of new coffee varieties led to the decline of coffee quality. Even later, people gradually abandoned this bad and bad coffee and began to turn to other drinks. In this case, Ms. Knudsen re-made people realize the value of boutique coffee, which led to a boutique coffee boom. This made me realize that the concept of fine coffee should focus on coffee quality and healthy drinking methods, which should also be the commitment of coffee people to the coffee industry from the initial simple pursuit of good coffee beans, famous individual coffee brands and other concepts.

A4: after my own competition and training of champions as a coach, if I play again, I think I should be more confident, understand the rules more accurately, and control the technology more accurately. In particular, seeing more and better ideas in the international arena can help me expand my thinking, and I can use more physical and chemical methods to show the charm of coffee. I would like to say to the new baristas: a good foundation is always the most important, of course, I most hope that first of all is a person who loves coffee, have a dream will go further. Every action in the work should be done in place, every cup of coffee should reflect its due quality, and we must learn the knowledge of coffee equipment and be a person who really understands coffee. I often see a lot of beginners pay too much attention to pull flowers, every cup of coffee is gorgeous but can not swallow, this can only be called a coffee model rather than a coffee expert.

A1: I think it should be a relaxed mentality. Maybe the level was not very professional at that time. As long as you are serious and pay attention to details, you will basically have better results.

A2: Winning the championship will really improve my work greatly. The competition in that year made many people in the industry know and contact me. Therefore, I slowly stepped into the life of Shanghai from Xi'an, a small city. After several years of precipitation, I slowly changed from a pure technical bartender to a salesman and returned to the western development.

A3: The development of China in recent years gradually tends to be professional and high-quality. The development of fine coffee is the only way. I also benefit a lot from it, because more and more people want to open stores and want to open professional stores. Fine coffee is also what they want to know and want to promote. At this time, I can bring some coffee cognition I have seen in Shanghai for several years to this semi-developed market in the west, so that the vast number of coffee lovers in the interior can understand and like it.

A4： It has always been my dream to participate in the competition again. In the past, as long as the details were on the line, but now more and more coffee rookies are rising. I find that my knowledge is too lacking, so I must do more homework when I go to the competition. I must have a comprehensive and deeper understanding of the whole process of coffee. I need more appreciation and learning for the flavor of fine coffee. Many baristas who have just entered the coffee industry want to enhance their fame and reputation through competitions. But I think if you are eager for quick success and instant benefit, it will not help you much. Instead, you should study hard. As long as you work hard and seriously, time will give you a satisfactory answer. Now what this society needs is to pay more than others in order to get greater gains.

★ Lin Jinbao

2008 Representative of China

Participated in Atlanta, USA WBC ranked 48th

Xiamen Single Product Life Investment Consulting Co., Ltd. Coffee

Technical Director

A1: through the communication with the judges after the competition, I think it is the solid technical foundation laid by the long-term front-line work experience, the good mentality cultivated by several competitions, and the team combat advantages of performing their respective duties. Therefore, I would like to thank me for working for 10 years, which provides me with a good platform for learning and development. I would like to thank my coach, Mr. Mu Feng, my enlightening master.

Mr. Li Yu, they have given me the encouragement and guidance to strengthen this industry; thank you, my working partner in carving time, your trust and support, is my greatest motivation!

A2: I returned to Xiamen as the Technical Director, which has two coffee shop brands, Waterfront Coffee and ReCoffee, and a coffee company with nearly 20 stores. Of course, it is also a young team. Coincidentally, I have the honor to continue my coffee dream on a new platform. I think that no matter where I am and what kind of coffee work I do, I should bear in mind my responsibilities as a barista. As a barista or coffee trainer, my main task is to develop new training and promotion models according to the needs of market development, so that more friends who choose coffee can learn how to interact with coffee in a faster way. to some extent, the experience of the champion helped me to realize my career planning and dream faster, while in the implementation of specific work, it continued consistently.

A3: I think that in recent years, China's coffee market has shown a scene of rapid development, whether in terms of quantity growth or quality improvement, whether it is business, cafes or training. Especially in the development of boutique coffee, more people are committed to finding and understanding coffee in their own way, and then pass it on to those who choose to try and like coffee in the form of training, salon or products. As far as I am concerned, I will continue to fight in the front line of barista training, through direct contact with consumers, to understand their needs, and at the same time to strengthen communication and interaction with the industry, looking for more new and good products, digest and understand themselves first, develop new training methods and interactive forms, and gradually share them with more friends I like. Regardless of region, there is no brand boundary. Work together for a good cup of coffee.

A4: in fact, I don't need if, I think, as a barista, in my lifetime, in the WBC competition itself, I will certainly find a suitable opportunity to continue to fight on the stage. It's my bounden duty as a coffee warrior. The competition stage is my battlefield, coffee is my weapon, and I hope my professional life can bloom and wither on that stage. With their own practical actions, to those who pay attention to and support the development of Chinese baristas to convey a voice: Chinese baristas have been working hard, we can! Before that, in addition to continuing to create the software and hardware of the competition, including the understanding of the competition process and rules, the understanding of coffee beans, the skilled operation of equipment, and the improvement of technology, I will continue to fight on the front line. I will try my best to make more friends who like and choose coffee as much as possible to know the beauty of coffee up close! For new entrants to the industry, my advice is to start with a small step, cherish every opportunity to improve yourself, accumulate the foundation in a down-to-earth manner, and humbly contribute to the steady progress of the industry. use practical actions to practice the uniqueness of coffee and yourself.

A1: The key to winning is innovation (although it seems that it is no longer innovative). The purpose of the competition is to innovate, push coffee in a new direction, and discover more possibilities for coffee.

A2: After winning the championship, my work has not changed much, just let me know more about coffee and help me know more people who love coffee.

A3: More and more people drink coffee, and they are more and more picky about coffee, which also encourages us to make coffee more carefully.

A4: We carry more burden for re-entering the race, always adding more ideas to innovation, but also introducing more uncertainty, which increases the chance of making mistakes more easily. For new baristas, I suggest you spend more time learning, settle your heart down, and don't be anxious.

A1: when I took part in the competition, I just wanted to bring you a good coffee, and then on the field, I also showed the judges my understanding of this coffee bean.

A2: currently engaged in the position of brand promotion manager, but also hope to bring good coffee to more friends.

A3: the demand for coffee in China is getting higher and higher in recent years, and the boutique coffee market is booming. At the same time, I will recommend the good coffee I have encountered to my friends.

A4: maybe I will stand on the competition stage in the future, and I will certainly show you my hand-picked coffee beans.

A1: realistically, every award-winning contestant is inseparable from his or her own efforts, and his comeback will eventually pay off. I started racing in 2008 and didn't win the national championship until 2012. Of course, there are some that get it faster than me, and some that take longer to get than me. But I firmly believe that: unremitting, continuous efforts, break through self, calm your mind! It is the first basic item of practice, and the reward will come eventually!

A2: after winning the championship, the career path will certainly change more or less, and we are also carrying the promotion of coffee culture. I am currently the lead lecturer of Beijing Beishu Coffee training College, and I am also a shareholder of the college. I also hope to contribute to the coffee industry as much as I can.

A3: I strongly felt that Chinese boutique coffee began to become active in the industry in 2009. I have been in contact with ordinary commercial coffee before, while foreign countries began to pursue boutique culture as early as 2000. But now the sources of information are more and more extensive, until now in the industry, in just a few years, the gap between China's boutique coffee culture and foreign boutique coffee culture has become smaller, and the only obvious gap is the speed of market acceptance. China still prefers super bitter coffee. The emergence of boutique coffee helps me to face up to the delicacy of coffee, but also helps me to take a comprehensive view of the coffee market, and accumulate more experience for later promotion.

A4: if I enter the competition again, I must have more ideas, innovations and so on in the whole competition process, which I think is the killer's mace of the competition. Now the impetuous social environment, for the new barista, hope to be the same as mentioned before: persevere, make continuous efforts, break through yourself, calm your mind!

A1: Just calm down, because I didn't think I had to get a place, so the whole competition was relatively relaxed.

A2: At present, I am still a barista. After winning the championship, I am still the same as before. I stand at the bar in Xiamen Chujiayuan Cafe every day.

A3: In recent years, more and more coffee peers have been working hard to promote specialty coffee. I can clearly feel that the concept of fine coffee has gradually entered the eyes of ordinary consumers, and more people have noticed the essence and taste of coffee.

A4: I don't think this kind of thing is likely to happen. The pressure is too great, so I can't play with a relaxed attitude and can't really share it. And the game needs to prepare a lot of East, I am too lazy. The advice of the new barista is: making coffee is nothing more than doing service, learning the most basic coffee knowledge while doing service, and building your own coffee knowledge structure, so as not to take detours in the future learning.

Source: China Coffee Net Forum Ice Blade Prince