[O]nce again a group of coffee’s heaviest hitters and best minds converged on a capital that has made itself one of the worlds great coffee centers, Seoul. More than most other conferences, the World Coffee Leaders Forum dives into what is happening in Asia, the fastest growing coffee and potentially biggest coffee market in the world. An entire day was devoted to the burgeoning markets of Malaysia, India, and China and the established Japanese and Korean coffee scenes, which are really the drivers of the region’s coffee explosion.
Along with this look at Asia, the forum gave participants the chance to hone their technical skills with the help of coffee luminaries like Stefanos Domatiotis, this year’s World Brewers Cup Champion in the photo above, and Hidenori Izaki, the World Barista Cup Champion. Business and origin session rounded out the forum.
While all of this education was happening, the Seoul International Café Show was taking place, drawing in tens of thousands of Korean coffee enthusiasts. Coffee cultures develop organically, but often the big push to a greater level of enthusiasm and expertise is an event that can bring in the best of the best.
—Photo courtesy World Coffee Leaders Forum.
