I had the extreme privilege of seeing the coffee community rally around Martin Shabaya of Kenya as he became the first African to progress to the semi-final round of the World Barista Championships through the new Wild Card system.
It was truly heartwarming to watch the team from Ecuador and our own Winston Thomas and SA Team help Martin as he prepared for his semi-final round.
He certainly did Kenya and Africa proud. The buzz around the arena from other competitors and judges alike was hugely positive in response to Martin's performance.
Rory Rosenberg also represented Africa on stage, both by being a Durban boy and by using a coffee from Long Miles Coffee Project in Burundi.
And in the Top 6, Kapo Chiu of Hong Kong placed 3rd using an Ethiopian Geisha from the Gesha Village. Kapo is definitely the rock star of the coffee world, we love his swagger.
