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.
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. The specific theme and goals of the trip can be tailored to the host partner and location of the trip.
2025 DETAILS
24 champions + partners + media + staff = Approx 30 people
Timing Preference: Oct-Dec 2024
Trip Length: Approx. 5 days excluding travel.
Activities can include: Farm Visits, Competitions, Education, Networking events, Tourism Activities, Non-Coffee activities.
MEET THE 2024 CHAMPIONS
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JONAS & METTE
from the team Über milk? Über team, Copenhagen, Denmark. Winners of The Barista League: Gothenburg
JONAS works at La Cabra.
METTE (@tool.box.ma) works at La Cabra. -
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ANNA & EDGAR
from the team Los Monos Capuccinos, Mexico City, Mexico.
ANNA (@anitabow_) works at Etrusca and also is:
- Catador Q Grader
- 5to Lugar CMAL 2022
- 6to Lugar CMAL 2023
EDGAR (@edgar_cinto) works at Etrusca and also is:
- 4th 21' - 3rd 22' & 24' MBC -
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OLIVER & ANDRÉ
from the team Los Dos Del Bigote, Berlin, Germany.
OLIVER (@seekind.coffee) works with roasted coffee at Kaffee Korrekte and also is a multiple SCA Competition Participant (Finals).
ANDRÉ (@hilden__) works with roasted coffee at Kaffee Korrekte, and also is:
- SCA German Coffee Roasting Champion 2022
- SCA German Coffee Roasting Champion 2023 (6th at Worlds)
- Brewers Cup Finalist -
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JANE & JAKUB
from the team Für Immer(sion), Warsaw, Poland.
JANE (@jlbrewing) is a green coffee buyer and roaster at Nordbeans.
JAKUB (@jakubsmolka) works as head of coffee at Nordbeans and is a co-founder of Advance.coffee. -
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OSCAR & PAULO
from the team Team Barista Sweep 2.0, Denver, USA.
OSCAR (@olparcelcoffee) works at Parcel Coffee Co and also is:
- runner up of The Barista League: Portland 2020.
PAULO (@traettal) is the director of Training for Seattle Barista Academy and also is:
- an authorized trainer for the Specialty Coffee Association. -
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ANDRES & DIEGO
from the team Los Cafeteros del Barrio, Brooklyn, USA.
ANDREAS creates video and photo content for various coffee businesses, like Coffee Project NY and Today's Brew.
DIEGO works as a trainer at Strumpton Coffee Roasters. -
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SIMEN & ANTON
from the team Schizophrenic Parrot, Barcelona, Spain.
SIMEN (@selvestesimen) works with roasted coffee at Dyade Coffee, and also is:
- Finalists of World Brewers Cup.
- Runner up at The Barista League: Oslo.
- 3rd place winner at Aeropress France.
ANTON (@antonsoderman) is the owner of Papegøye coffeeshop in Oslo, and also is a winner of:
- World kokekaffe championship
- Norwegian Aeropress Championship
- Norwegian Cup-tasters
- Norwegian Latte art competition
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. Today Kat is working with the Swiss based, producer platform Algrano.
“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.
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.
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Bring The Barista League + our worldwide champions to you to learn more about your country, business and people. Work with us to plan the theme and goals of the trip and create an unforgettable and impactful experience for the next generation of coffee leaders, buyers, roasters and champions.
The Barista League will finance the transport of all participants to the Main Airport of your country.
Responsibilities:
Travel and Accommodation for all attendees in country for the trip.
Food and Drinks for all participants for the trip.
The costs of these items can be offset with partnerships of other in-country organizations.
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- 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.
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 the trip, we had 26 tags on posts and 148 tags on stories on Instagram.
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!”