Barista from El Salvador is world champion

The 2011 World Barrista Championships were held June 2-5 in Bogota, Colombia. The winner this year was Alejandro Mendez from El Salvador. With a polished presentation featuring coffees grown in El Salvador, he brewed and poured sophisticated coffee drinks for a panel of judges You can watch his winning presentation here.

Competitors at the annual championship must prepare four espressos, four cappuccinos and four original signature drinks in a 15-minute performance set to music. They are then judged not only on the taste of the beverages, but also on cleanliness, creativity, technical skill and overall presentation. In the final championship round, Mendez competed with other finalists from the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain and Japan. (Learn more).


El Salvador Barista Champion 2011 Alejandro Mendez from World Coffee Events on Vimeo.

Comments

RateSivar said…
Hi Tim,

Saludos from San Salvador! As a fellow expat, Wisconsinite, and long time reader of your blog, I wanted to share my new website with you, and ask for your valuable input!

It's called RateSivar -- http://www.ratesivar.com --, and it's El Salvador's first website for restaurant/nightlife reviews. We have about 150 places uploaded so far and more on the way.

I'm sure you've been to most of these places. We'd love to have you create a "food critic" username and review your favorites and not-so-favorites.

Travelers and international professionals have been waiting for a website like this for a long time and it's finally here! Now we (the people that know the city) need to start offering our suggestions.

Thanks so much! I look forward to reading your reviews!

Holly