Alejandro Mendez from El Salvador is the 2011 World Barista Champion

Congratulations to Alejandro who put in a stunning performance to fend off stiff competition from 5 other top baristas to be crowned World Barista Champion of 2011

Watch online here

Alejandro partnered with Steve Leighton of Has Bean coffee roasters to produce the award winning roast of Ernesto Menendez's Finca La Illusion - grown on the slopes of the Sanata Ana volcano in El Salvador

Here's Steve's tasting notes from his website
http://www.hasbean.co.uk/pages/El-Sa...-Number-1.html

The other finalists who represented their countries and did themselves proud are;
2. Pete Licata - USA
3. Matt Perger - Australia
4. Javier Garcia - Spain
5. Miki Suzuki - Japan (#1 female barista)
6. John Gordon - UK

The trend is that people/judge are stressing more and more the front process of coffee - The farming, harvesting and processing. Just like Alejandro who's from a El Salavador, closely coneected with his local farms, make the (exotic) signature drink from coffee flower, coffee cherry without skin, still with mucilage, and just from cascara ( dried cherries without the beans)etc.