The final took place at the Victoria Arduino London Experience Lab in Camden Town, where finalists were tasked with serving four espressos, four milky beverages and four signature drinks within 15 minutes.
Yejin Kang is a barista at a BM client site in London. Her signature drink was Harmony which combined flavours including meringue, lemon zest, tonka bean and espresso shot. Justin Gironella came in second place and Dom Perry finished third.
Adrian Steenkamp, coffee brand manager at BM, said: “Yejin presented herself throughout the heats very professionally and demonstrated her skills, knowledge and understanding of the coffee she presented and the taste profiles across the drinks.
“Not only did she present each drink correctly, but her excellent technical skills were also noticed by the judges and her signature drink blew all the judges away. All our finalists did an amazing job and should be so proud of what they achieved.”
The competition is based on the format of the UK Barista Championship, testing coffee knowledge, grinding skills, coffee machine use and milk preparation techniques. These challenges in turn finesse the service of BM’s baristas.
Kang commented: “Since this was my first time participating in the barista championship, I was incredibly nervous and tense throughout the preparation period. However, thanks to the support and help of many people, I was able to continue.
“This challenge was a significant and motivating step forward in my career as a barista. I would like to express my gratitude to BM for organising this event, and I want to say thank you to our managers Milda and Verdiana, our head chef Gareth and all my team for their support.”