In just 9 years The Barista League has evolved from a small local event in a Swedish town to one of the biggest coffee competitions in the world, with hundreds of teams competing each year to thousands of attendees in 12 countries on 4 continents.

Our competitors are a diverse mix of coffee professionals, current champions and future industry leaders.  Over our history our former competitors have gone from baby baristas to world champions, roastery owners and famous social media influencers.

We have done this by making an event that is accessible, community focused and sustainable, and ensuring that the experience for everyone involved is unparallelled – from the staging, to access to staffing. And we are only just getting started.

Customized Brand Interactions

From the very beginning we have had a close relationship with our partners to ensure that their impact and activation at the event speaks to and succeeds with our market.  We don’t just ‘throw a logo on the wall’ but instead build a custom activation for each of our partners and work with them to ensure they meet the specific marketing and sales needs of that company.

The Trip

The Barista League’s Mystery Coffee Vacation is a champions trip - but not your standard one.  We bring together champions from some of the most interesting progressive coffee markets in the world to create relationships and networks between themselves, our partners, producers and local baristas in Colombia.

The Trip is not just a farm visit but an extensively planned interactive experience with workshops, challenges, and education.  Over the course of a week the teams will compete in a variety of competitions before the final showdown competition at the end of the trip to crown the champion of champions.

DETAILS

MANIZALES, COLOMBIA

Hosted by Café Tio Conejo

15-22 SEPTEMBER 2024

26 champions + partners + media + staff

MEET THE CHAMPIONS

Item 1 of 13

Our 2023 champions are our most diverse set of champions to date. They are active and engaged members of their coffee communities, and we love to see how they interact with and inspire other baristas and coffee professionals via their social media networks.

This year our champions have a whooping
43 000
combined followship on Instagram!

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED

Partnering with us on The Mystery Coffee Vacation is first and foremost a chance to connect and develop a relationship with the industry’s future leaders and through them their markets and followers.  It is also a chance to align with the future of barista competitions and a well-loved, authentic brand of The Barista League.

From joining us on the trip to presenting a lecture or having products used in a competition or custom-built challenge – we will find a way to integrate you into the project that meets your marketing and sales goals.

  • - 30min Workshop or Lecture

    - Provide Hands-On Learning: Include interactive elements, such as Q&A sessions or live demonstrations, to enhance learning and engagement.

    - Drive Conversions: Use the workshop or lecture as an opportunity to present special offers or incentives for attendees to convert into customers.

    - Enhance Credibility: Establish your brand as an authority in the industry by sharing thought leadership and demonstrating expertise.

    - Create Shareable Moments: Design moments within the lecture or workshop that attendees will want to share on social media, amplifying your reach.

    - Foster Community: Create a sense of community among attendees, encouraging networking and collaboration that extends beyond the event.

    - Offer Exclusive Insights: Share exclusive tips, industry trends, and insider knowledge that participants can't easily find elsewhere.

  • - Global Networking: Connect with a diverse group of champions, partners, producers, and local baristas, expanding your professional network globally.

    - Collaborative Opportunities: Explore potential collaborations and partnerships with other champions and industry leaders.

    - Market Insights: Gain valuable insights into progressive coffee markets, helping you stay ahead in the industry.

    - Content Creation: Generate high-quality content for your brand through unique experiences and picturesque settings, ideal for social media and marketing purposes.

    - Brand Alignment: Align your brand with a unique, high-profile event that emphasizes quality, innovation, and community within the coffee industry.

    - Innovation Showcase: Discover the latest trends and innovations in the coffee industry through exclusive interaction with the younger generation of baristas.

  • - Knowledge Exchange: Engage in a knowledge exchange where our team shares best practices and cutting-edge techniques to enhance your coffee production process.

    - Exclusive Networking: Foster deeper connections with our champions, producers, and partners during an intimate and interactive visit to your facility.

    - Highlight Your Innovations: Showcase your unique processes, innovations, and achievements to a select group of industry leaders and influencers.

    - Boost Your Brand: Enhance your brand's visibility and credibility by hosting an exclusive visit from recognized leaders in the coffee industry.

    - Content Creation: Leverage the visit to create compelling content for your marketing and social media, showcasing the interaction and engagement with industry champions.

    - Product Exposure: Increase exposure for your products by allowing our champions to experience and sample them firsthand, leading to potential advocacy and endorsements.

    - Strengthen Relationships: Build stronger relationships with key industry players, enhancing your network and potential for future collaborations.

  • - Brand Exclusivity: Position your brand at the forefront of the event by hosting a unique challenge that highlights your products and values, ensuring exclusive visibility.

    - Targeted Engagement: Design challenges that specifically engage participants with your brand, creating meaningful interactions and deeper brand affinity.

    - Showcase Innovation: Demonstrate your brand’s innovative spirit by crafting creative and exciting challenges that reflect your brand’s uniqueness and expertise.

    - Increase Brand Loyalty: Foster a sense of loyalty and connection among participants as they engage with your brand in an immersive and competitive environment.

    - Amplify Brand Awareness: Gain global exposure as the challenges, and the ultimate crowning of the champions, will be highlighted across various media platforms and social channels.

    - Real-World Application: Allow competitors to experience and apply your brand’s products or services in practical, hands-on scenarios, showcasing their quality and effectiveness.

    - Network with Industry Leaders: Build relationships with top industry professionals and champions, expanding your network and influence within the coffee community.

    - Customisable Challenges: Tailor the challenges to align with your brand’s goals, whether it’s promoting a new product, highlighting sustainability efforts, or showcasing technological advancements.

  • - Logo & Brand Recognition: Placement of Logo on website, social media, official merch, banners, etc.

    - Content: Photos and videos from the event.

    - Social Media Coverage & Tagging: UGC (user generated content) from our 24 champions tagging them in posts . Posts and tags from TBL and Tio Conejo Instagram & social media accounts.

    - Brand Alignment with Tio Conejo & The Barista League.

MEET SOME OF OUR FORMER CHAMPIONS

KAT

Winner of The Barista League Kansas City 2022.
At the time of last year’s trip her Instagram @roasterkat had around 10,000 followers – now she has grown that account and brand to over 50,000 followers and is doing brand collaborations and consulting with companies all over the world.
As a direct result of her experience on the 2023 Mystery Coffee Vacation, she has decided to launch a business running tours to coffee producing countries, leveraging her network of roasters and companies to develop a better more connected buying relationship with American coffee roasters.

“The Mystery Coffee Vacation was a singular and spectacular experience. This opportunity to travel to origin with coffee people from around the world has not only given me a deeper appreciation for the global coffee industry, but also provided direct and meaningful connections to the beautiful people who share my passions, excitement, and love for coffee. I can’t imagine not having gone.”

DAN FELLOWS

Competitor, Berlin 2017

Now a two time, World Coffee In Good Spirits Champion, Brand Ambassador and UK Barista Champion, Dan Fellows has been a long time friend of The Barista League competing for the first time in 2017 in Berlin.

BLAZEJ

Winner of The Barista League Copenhagen 2022.
Blazej is a former competitor who goes way back with The Barista League. He placed 2nd place in 2017 in Copenhagen and then won in Copenhagen in 2022.  He is the head roaster at Prolog Coffee Roasters in Copenhagen, a beloved independent roastery that has exploded from a single café to a thriving roastery. They are considered one of the most important and exciting roasters in Scandinavia today.
In 2024 he placed third in Nordic’s Best Roaster competition just behind Tim Wendelboe and Good Life Coffee and ahead of luminary coffee roasters like Drop Coffee and Solberg & Hansen.

MORGAN EKROTH

Competitor, The Barista League: Portland 2018.
Morgan competed for the first time way back in 2018 when she was a baby barista in Portland, OR. 6 years later she is a US barista champion and with millions of views and followers across her various social media and video accounts she is one of the world’s biggest coffee influencers.

VISIBILITY AND REACH

During our trip, we are joined by media representatives from some of the most well-known coffee publications, to capture all the best parts of the Mystery Coffee Vacation.

Our champions are active and engaged members of the coffee community, who were very active on their social medias sharing their experience of the Mystery Coffee Vacation with thousands of their followers.

In addition The Mystery Coffee Vacation attracted some big names in the industry, who were happy to share their experience of it with their followers as well.

During Mystery Coffee Vacation 2023 we were joined by:

DIEGO CAMPOS (26 000 Instagram followers)
PASIÓN DEL BARISTA CAFÉ (14 500 Instagram followers)
YOLINA RAMIREZ (8 500 Instagram followers)
GANJA PARAISO (6 000 Instagram followers)
WILTON BENITEZ (6 000 Instagram followers)
EL DEL CAFÉ (4 500 Instagram followers)

TESTIMONIALS

What our previous champions had to say about their experience of the Mystery Coffee Vacation.

“Everything was just perfect. I have never attended such a well organized event. You are the best!”

“I had a wonderful time and so many experiences to grow out of my comfort zone. My heart is still full.“

“Thank you so much for the fantastic, incredible, memorable experience. I will always hold this trip dear to my heart, and will remember it fondly as some of the best memories I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. :) Thank you for all your hard work, support, and kindness in making this happen. Words cannot convey my appreciation enough.”

“This was an experience that has shaped me and that will have an immeasurable, positive effect on my career. “

“I wouldn’t have been able to plan a trip like that!”