About 70 top baristas to compete; winners to represent Korea in Tokyo and Bogota next year

The 2025 Korea Coffee Championship [Exporum]
The 2025 Korea Coffee Championship [Exporum]

The 2027 Korea Coffee Championship — the national selection event for the World Coffee Championships — will be held at the 25th Seoul Cafe Show, opening Wednesday at COEX in Samsung-dong, Seoul.

The competition features two categories: the Korea National Barista Championship (KNBC) and the Korea Brewers Cup (KBrC). About 70 baristas from across the country, chosen through preliminary rounds, will take part, with more than 100 judges overseeing the competition. The event will be staged on a specially built arena in Hall D of the Seoul Cafe Show.

The championship is organized by Exporum, the organizer of the Seoul Cafe Show, and sanctioned by the Specialty Coffee Association Korea Chapter (SCA Korea). Title sponsors are Purpleland, a food and beverage company, and Copea, a specialty roasting firm.

The Korea Brewers Cup will hold its main rounds Wednesday and Thursday, its semifinal Friday and its final Saturday. The Korea National Barista Championship will run preliminary rounds Wednesday and Thursday, followed by the final on Friday, with overall results announced Saturday. The two category winners will represent South Korea at next year's world championships — the World Barista Championship (WBC) in Tokyo in April and the World Brewers Cup (WBrC) in Bogota, Colombia, in September.

"This competition will be more than a stage for testing technical skills — it will serve as a gateway connecting the passion and creativity of Korean baristas to the world stage," an SCA Korea official said.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Cafe Show draws about 130,000 visitors annually, according to organizers. It runs Wednesday through Saturday at the full COEX complex in Samsung-dong, Seoul. Tickets are available through the event's official website and online channels including Naver.


andy@heraldcorp.com