UNITED KINGDOM 27th June 2010

In another suspense-filled competition, Hector Gonzalez of Guatemala came through to beat the 37 other contestants and prove his supreme coffee tasting expertise, becoming the 2010 World Cup Tasters Champion at the finals during the SCAE Event at Caffè Culture in London in late June.

In a tense final few cups, he defeated Irish runner-up David Walsh in the exacting competition, by achieving a perfect score of eight correctly identified cups in the time of 4:11.

David Walsh achieved six cups in the final, while Gyoung Jin of South Korea came third, with five correct identifications, and Greece's Tasos Moshopoulos achieved three correct identifications.

Following the Championship final, the speciality coffees from all over the world that had been used in the contest were presented to the audience for sampling, this year including a wide range of the some of the best coffees from El Salvador, Thailand, Rwanda, Brazil, Indonesia, Kenya, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico and Puerto Rico. (To download the special guide to all of the coffees used at the 7th SCAE World Cup Tasters Championship, click here).   

Pictured (above): World Cup Tasters finalists (l-r) David Walsh, Hector Gonzalez, Gyoung Jin and Tasos Moshopoulos; (left) Champion Hector Gonzalez with his trophy (Photos by Tony Pike).