☕ Barista

A barista is a café professional who makes espresso and milk drinks. The job is big enough to have its own world championship, held every year since 2000, when the first one took place in Monte Carlo.

About 17 baristas turned up. Robert Thoresen of Norway won. Milk drinks in those days were often decorated with etched patterns or topped with a tall heap of foam, and latte art was rare. Later the rules spelled out that milk means cow's milk.

Today a routine lasts 15 minutes. In that time a competitor serves four espressos, four milk-based drinks and four signature drinks. Certified judges score taste, cleanliness, creativity, technical skill and presentation. More than 50 national champions compete each year. The top 15 and one wild-card winner go to the semifinal, and the top six reach the final. The host city changes: Miami in 2001, Tokyo in 2007, Amsterdam in 2018, and Panama City in 2026, where Pan Wei took gold.

In a coffee shop the barista is the central figure, with espresso on one side and milk on the other. Steaming milk is a craft of its own, covered under milk frothing. A sommelier knows wine; a barista knows coffee and how it works with milk. Someone who likes a coffee with milk at home and a competition barista are different things, and the championship shows it.