Pan Wei, competing for China, won the 2026 World Barista Championship in Panama City on Sunday, 25 October, according to the announcement from World Coffee Championships, the body that runs the event. Shing Win of Malaysia finished second and Frederick Ruben of the United Arab Emirates third, the organizer reported. It was the 26th edition of the championship, and the first time its host event, World of Coffee, has been held in Latin America, La Prensa reported on the evening of the final. Pan Wei competes for Parking Coffee, according to Sprudge's preview of the competitors, published by Zac Cadwalader on 22 October.
Who finished in the top six?
Six baristas reached Sunday's final at the Panama Convention Center. World Coffee Championships named them on Saturday, 24 October, and published the final order the next day:
- First: Pan Wei, China
- Second: Shing Win, Malaysia
- Third: Frederick Ruben, United Arab Emirates
- Fourth: Gabrel Tan, Australia
- Fifth: Jane Kawinnart, Thailand
- Sixth: Jill Hoff, Canada
The organizer's results post gave the order of finish and no scores. It did not name the coffee the champion used.
The field was much wider at the start of the week. Sprudge counted 50 national champions from 49 countries and territories in the first round, which ran on Thursday and Friday, and reported that the four days of competition added up to more than 17 hours of routines, all streamed online. On 23 October the organizer named 16 semi-finalists, a list that included baristas from Italy, Mexico, Singapore, Bolivia, Ireland, Japan, Poland, Peru, Hong Kong and the host country. Panama's representative, Benjamín Roque, was one of them, reaching the last 16 before going out, according to a report from the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama, which co-organized the show.
The same 23 October post named the winners of the event's team award, Team Pressure, made up of Keisuke Honma of Japan, Kennedy Owino of Kenya, Jill Hoff of Canada, Michał Ciupiński of Poland and Chiara Nicolini of Peru.
How is the World Barista Championship judged?
Each competitor has 15 minutes to prepare and serve 12 drinks to a panel of certified judges, La Prensa's Katiuska Hernández reported on the morning of the final. The 12 are four espressos, four milk drinks and four original signature drinks. Twelve drinks in 15 minutes works out to one finished drink every 75 seconds, on our arithmetic.
The judges score flavor, cleanliness, creativity, command of technique and the overall presentation, the newspaper reported. It also reported three rule changes for 2026: the water the judges use, the way signature drinks are prepared, and the evaluation procedures, along with set specifications for the grinders competitors may use, which La Prensa described as a way to make conditions the same for everyone.
The final began at 10:20 in the morning and the winner was announced at 4:30 in the afternoon, according to the newspaper's published schedule for the day.
Why was the championship held in Panama?
The Specialty Coffee Association organized the 2026 show with the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama and the Panamanian chamber of commerce, La Prensa reported in its closing story, written by Getzalette Reyes.
Organizers counted about 20,000 visitors over the three days of the show, 23 to 25 October, according to preliminary figures reported by La Prensa, and nearly half of the visitors whose home country was recorded came from abroad, led by Colombia, Costa Rica, the United States and Nicaragua. More than 70% of visitors who reported a hotel stay were international, with an average stay of 6.5 days, the newspaper reported. More than 400 people took part in the barista championship in some capacity across its four days, La Prensa reported.
Ricardo Koyner, president of the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama, said the show was a chance to strengthen the place of Panamanian coffee in international markets, especially its Geisha, La Prensa reported. The chamber's own report quoted Yannis Apostolopoulos, executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association, describing Panama as one of the most recognized coffee origins in the world, and chamber president Aurelio Barría Pino saying the show had shown that the country can draw the world to do business.
The show also raised money after the earthquake that struck Panama on 9 October 2026. The Specialty Coffee Association of Panama and the chamber gave a check for B/.25,000 to the Panamanian Red Cross for families affected by it, drawn from part of the event's income, according to La Prensa. The balboa trades at par with the US dollar.
Who else won a world coffee title in 2026?
The same organizer crowned other world champions earlier in the year. Its news page lists Le Quang Cuong, known as Nicky, of Vietnam as the 2026 World Cup Tasters Champion, crowned in Bangkok in May, and Nas Jaafar as World Brewers Cup Champion and Benjamin Brassart as World Coffee Roasting Champion, both announced on 28 June. The organizer has already said the 2027 World Cup Tasters Championship will be held in Bogotá.
Our recent reports covered two auctions for high-scoring coffees: the Brazilian Geisha that sold for US$200 a pound in Tokyo and the top lot at the Best of Rwanda auction. For how a coffee's quality is scored outside the competition stage, see our explainer on what a cupping score is.
Photograph: Hogar Barista, Unsplash. Espresso running from a machine into a glass; it is not a photograph of the championship.
