World Barista Champs is today!

Tune in at 3:06pm to catch Honoka Kawashima

Holy moly - the World Barista Champs is finally here!

Today at 3:06pm, NZ Barista Champ Honoka Kawashima will be representing Aotearoa in the big dance.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, even though the champs are being held all the way in Busan, Korea, you can tune in on the interballs and watch her do her stuff!

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Head over to the World Coffee Championships YouTube channel to catch the action.

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What are the champs all about?

Competitors for 54 countries battle it out to be crowed the best barista in the world.

Each competitor has 15 minutes to make four espressos, four milk drinks and four original signature drinks.

Judges from around the world evaluate each performance on a range of technical and sensory attributes.

It’s a super intense competition that is over in a flash.

Who is Honoka?

Here’s Honoka’s bio from the official World Barista Champs page:

I am originally from Japan, and I have been living in New Zealand for about 6 years. I first fell in love with coffee in Sydney, Australia where I built a basic knowledge of coffee making. Then I decided to move to New Zealand to develop my coffee skills in 2018, and I started my career at Frank's coffee in Wellington. Since then I have participated in many throwdowns and competitions to keep challenging myself, and to continue to develop my skills as a barista. In 2022, I got top 3 in the meadow fresh NZ Latte art championship at my third attempt, then won the NZ Barista championship in 2023 thanks to the massive support from the New Zealand barista community.

Exciting times

It sure is!

Make sure you tune in today to catch Honoka do her thing.

And follow for updates on Honoka’s instagram.