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On a trip to Moscow, Russia, in September of 2011, Alejandro pals around with the Barista Champion of Italy, Francesco Sanapo. Suplicy (Brazil). All of those cafés are focused on quality, and they believe in their convictions. SA: Do you think you will compete in barista competitions again? AM: In the future, I would like to compete in the Cup Tasters Championship. I really enjoy cupping sessions so much, and I'm sure I would enjoy a cupping competition. SA: From your experiences as the WBC Champ, what are some of the biggest challenges you see facing the specialty coffee industry SA: What are your plans now that your year as the WBC Champ has ended? AM: It was great year full of new opportunities and a lot of fantastic places and remarkable people, and now it is time to take on the challenges that face a barista from a producing country. SA: What have you learned about yourself from your experience and travel as the WBC Champ? AM: I've discovered that the specialty coffee community is full of progressive people who are getting deeper into how to handle coffee, and I'm still learning a lot. In the future I want to be one of the ones to help the specialty coffee community and make it grow more and more. SA: What advice do you have for the baristas competing on the WBC level? AM: The WBC is the opportunity to show our potential as baristas, and also to share something new, something special, like a new way to prepare coffee, a new variety, a new process, etc. They have to he opportunity to show the world who they are. The WBC title is a big achievement and a big responsibility. My advice for the winner is that he must be committed to the role of being the world coffee ambassador and be proud to share his knowledge with the world. SA: You must have visited a lot of cafés around the world this past year—what were some of your favorites, and why? AM: MOMOs (Korea), Coffee Libre (Korea), Cafes El Magnifico (Spain), Strangers Reunion (Singapore), Coffee Lab (Brazil), Alejandro gets pointers on green coff ee sorting from Tim Chapdelaine of Cafe Imports, and Fernando Oliveira of Agricafe on a source trip to Brazil in July 2011. today? AM: Quality is the biggest challenge. The coffee industry is growing with more information and new projects; more people are interested in coffee, and so they make a bigger market. Maintaining or raising quality is the challenge that we must keep in mind. The challenge is the same for me: as a barista, I must try to get more people into the specialty coffee industry and make it bigger. Also, I must get more information from the farms to the last link in the coffee chain—the consumers! My job is not to just give them a good cup of coffee, but also the experience of all who came before me in the quality chain. Side Bar text at le pictured here is lorem ipsum lorem ipsm lorem ipsum On a trip to Moscow, Russia, in September of 2011, Alejandro dances with 2011 Barista Champion of Spain, Javier Garcia; Drago Lakic of Soyuz Coff ee; Pete Licata, 2011 Barista Champion of the U.S.; and traditional dancers from Greece.