through the World Coffee Championships
While the World Coffee Championship, produced by the for-profit branch of the nonprofit Specialty Coffee Association, remains embroiled in the controversy it sparked over the renaming of Taiwan as Chinese Taipei, scheduled events are continuing. And the newest one is 2026 World Cup Tasters Championship.
During the weekend on the Asian stop of the World of Coffee tour, more than 40 domestic cup tasters descended on Bangkok, Thailand to drink, slurp, triangulate, diversify and, hopefully, find that red dot. This year’s squad included competitors from all six inhabited continents. (Come on, Antarctica, let’s get over it.) Over the course of four rounds in three days, the field was whittled down: from 46 to 16 in the quarterfinals, eight in the semifinals, and then to just four in Sunday’s final.
However, as is the case with competitions, there can only be one winner. Without further ado, here are the results of the 2026 World Cup Taster Championships held at World of Coffee Bangkok.
Master: Le Quang Cuong (Nicky) – Vietnam
Runner-up: Catherine Queiroz – Switzerland
Third: Mehmet Sogan – United States
Fourth: Mizuki Tagami – Japan
Congratulations to all Finalists!
