“It’s a tricky subject to comment on succinctly. When I competed in 2007 I used the sponsored grinder, which seemed to shock a lot of people. I didn’t really have a job at that time, and I simply couldn’t afford to ship a grinder across the world. As such, I actually like the idea of a level playing field.

Barista competition isn’t about replicating the cafe, or the real world. It is a game, sport if you will, based on making coffee. The competition has a positive impact on many aspects of speciality coffee, and if this decision helps make the competition more sustainable then I am for it.

I understand that people will be frustrated, that they feel that this will deprive them of the ability to serve what they want – but that could be said about everything from the machine to the water. I hope this doesn’t put people off competing – it would be a shame for them to miss out on all of the benefits of competition.”

 

James 在2007年的比赛用磨其实就是举办方的磨豆机，谈到WBC他更加倾向于把它看作是一场体育竞技项目，比赛现场所要展现的就是咖啡师日常工作的技能，参赛者的注意力理所应当的要放在技术层面上，对于机器的过分探求可能是偏离比赛初衷的。

  

当然，James也提到了搬一台专业的磨豆机到比赛现场真的是一件很麻烦的事情。所以，到2016届WBC时，Mahlkonig公司会在比赛场放置30台K30 Vario 供选手们使用，选手们可能就无需费心要运输设备到比赛地了。而且，Matt也指出对于专业的咖啡师来说，适应K30并不是难事。

 

相较而言，"Milk Course"的变动是影响更加深远的，某种程度上讲，它可能会影响到未来精品咖啡的发展。

 

 

  

WBC的比赛内容主要是由三个部分组成的：Espresso，Cappuccino 和 Signaturecoffee 即浓缩咖啡、卡布奇诺和创意咖啡。以往对于卡布奇诺的要求是相当严格的，单份的浓缩咖啡和打发牛奶混合，奶泡的厚度不低于一厘米，容器的大小也被限定在150～180ml之间。怎样在如此严格的要求之下做出美味而又凸显出咖啡风味的饮品一直以来都是参赛者的巨大挑战。新的变动把"cappuccino course"替换成了"milk coffee course"，对于奶泡的厚度不再做硬性的要求，而且容器的大小也放宽到了30～240ml。

关于milkcoffee course的变动，WCE上的解释是：

  

After fifteen years of focusing on a single definition of a milk drink on the WBC stage, we think it’s time to open up the milk beverage course to something that better represents where we are today as an industry: open-minded to anything new and delicious.

 

在整个咖啡产业当中，牛奶跟咖啡的混合无疑是最被大众接受和喜爱的。但是在WBC的舞台上，对牛奶咖啡的限定已经有十五年了。所以，从下届开始WBC的比赛将接受各国选手们在奶咖上的自主想法。

 

"I’m also looking forward to seeing new combinations of milk and coffee being explored."Matt 谈到牛奶咖啡上的变动时，也表达了对未来咖啡师们创造力的期待，但是更多的可能也是对咖啡行业的一些隐忧。

 

"The freedom to choose the volume of the drink will promote laziness and could result in the stagnation of Roasting and Barista technique."

 

对咖啡和牛奶比例的放松很有可能会让咖啡师和烘焙师懈怠下来。目前，很多的咖啡烘焙都会存在风味发展不够的问题，许多人会把浅度烘焙和风味发展弄混淆。以往对于固定比例的卡布奇诺，若是咖啡豆的风味发展不够就会导致饮品寡淡，平衡感弱的问题，从而促使烘焙师向完整发展风味的方向来改善，而现在只需要在混合时减少牛奶的比例就能掩盖掉咖啡豆的发展不完全。显然，这一点对于广大咖啡师和烘焙师技艺的提升是没有好处