Hello Judges Podcast

Part2: Mat North, Nicola P, Will W-B UKBC and beyond

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 16:04:53 GMT

The final installment of our 2-parter about winning UKBC and getting ready for WBC. Mat North is special guest host and asks Me (Will) and Nicola some questions about whats next.

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Part1: How I (finally) won the UK Barista Championship

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 16:06:05 GMT

Part 1 of 2. Special episode on the details of how I won UKBC and my prep for WBC. Questions asked by the public on my instagram.

Part 2 coming soon featuring Mat North!

Please enjoy,

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S3 Ep5: Disqualification (DQ) Special!

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 08:11:17 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Graziano Moroni, Arran Stein, Edita Chodarcevic, Trent Rollings, Mat North, Bryan Serwatka, Nicola Peacock, Serafin Bill, David Leeper, Bank, Sierra Yeo, Daniele Ricci, Joe Sheppard-Brown and Raf Mlodzianowski about their experiences with disqualification.

A great, slightly longer-than-usual episode with loads of stories and watch-outs from every side of the table.

I really enjoyed making this one and hearing everyone's stories.

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

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S3 Ep4: Trent Rollings

Sat, 25 May 2024 00:12:09 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Trent Rollings from Simpler Coffee.

Check out Simpler Coffee at https://www.simpler.coffee/

Trent has been a judge in multiple countries for many years and recently became a WCE rep. In this episode, I manage to pull out some absolute gems of handy knowledge from Trent's brain that would be useful to any competitor.

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

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S3 Ep3: Edita Chodarcevic

Fri, 10 May 2024 16:06:52 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Edita Chodarcevic from SCA UK, WCE and Union Hand Roasted!

Edita has been judging and acting as World Coffee Events rep for a long time, so this episode has a lot of great content about what judges are looking for and a bit of what goes on behind the scenes.

If you've competed in any UK competition, you'll be familiar with Edita.

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

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S3 Ep2: Graziano Moroni

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 03:39:46 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Graziano Moroni from SCA UK.

Graz has a great wealth of competition experience from every side of the table, including loading in and setting up the table!

If you've competed in any UK competition, you'll be familiar with Graz. I really enjoyed getting to hear things about how the competitions run from a new perspective.

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

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S3 Ep1: Roosa Jalonen

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 08:07:49 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Roosa Jalonen who just won the UK Barista Championship!

Roosa works for Forest Green Coffee: https://coffeegreenbeans.com/

Roosa has a fundraiser THIS FRIDAY at Assembly Coffee to help support her run at WBC. Link here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/roosas-wbc-fundraiser-party-tickets-873238589127

If you can't make the event, you can donate here:

https://donorbox.org/roosa-s-wbc-fundraiser

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

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Hello Judges Themetune

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 13:20:54 GMT

This is the intro music to Hello Judges. As featured in most WCE live streams. The original file is named "royaly free mix conti 1". It is a selection of royalty free music from www.bensound.com stitched together by Damien Devenney at LSFX productions.

Please enjoy.

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S2 Ep13: Luca Croce

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 01:00:27 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Luca Croce. A young guy taking the UK competition scene by storm!

Luca works for Goldbox: https://goldboxroastery.co.uk/

I had an awesome time chatting with Luca about how he got into coffee and how he got started in comp (only last year!)

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

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S2 Ep12: Aga Rojewska

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 01:29:15 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Aga Rojewska. If you don't know Aga (where have you been?!) - she has won over 20 competitions including the 2018 World Barista Championship, 2022 World Coffee in Good Spirits, Coffee Masters and lots more. There is no one better to chat to about preparing for and competing in coffee competitions.

Aga also features in the 2020 film Coffee Heroes about her victory at WBC 2018. You can watch it in full, for free, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=6JL2ply05Mw

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

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S2 Ep11: Morgan Eckroth

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 01:55:21 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Morgan Eckroth about how they got to 2nd place in the World Barista Championships last year, as well as Morgan's experience over the years and prep for the upcoming 2024 season.

Morgan is known for Morgan Drinks Coffee on Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram etc, as well as being the digital manager at Onyx Coffee Lab and the 2022 US Barista Champion.

Check out Morgan's youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@morgandrinkscoffee

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

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S2 Ep10: Stevo Kühn

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 10:26:41 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Stevo about the competition scene in South Africa, his experience at WBC and more!

Check out Stevo's training school Urban Brew Baritsa Academy:

https://ub-baristaacademy.com/

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

Quick shout out to 2019 WBC routine from Mathieu Theis. Link below:

World Barista Championship 2019 finalist - Mathieu Theis - Switzerland

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S2 Ep9: Stephen Houston

Sun, 22 Oct 2023 15:18:02 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Stephen about his competition history (and success!) across Brewers, Aeropress and Roasting.

Check out Stephen's roastery Lucid:

https://www.lucidcoffeeroasters.com/

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S2 Ep8: Boram Um

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 06:54:31 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Boram Um about winning WBC in Athens this year and how he got there. I try and get into some of the nerdy nitty gritty about technique, prep time and more.

Apologies due to lag in our connection there is a bit of over-lap in our dialogue.

Check out Boram's family business:

https://www.umcoffeeco.com.br/

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

PS - yet ANOTHER shout-out for Dale Harris' 2017 world championship-winning routine, watch below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW3a6QKpjLg

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S2 Ep7: Wendelien Van Bunnik

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 00:00:02 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Wendelien Van Bunnik about competing, MC'ing and forming a community of like-minded people who have got your back.

Wendelien is an independent trainer, consultant, MC, and founder of the happy coffee network.

https://wendelienvanbunnik.com/

https://thehappycoffeenetwork.com/join/

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

PS - if you've ever wondered what animal world barista champion Pete Licata would be, watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mVZ8xVUD2k

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S2 Ep6: Zoe Williams

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 00:39:45 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Zoe Williams about competing in UK Barista Championship for the first time and coming 2nd!

Zoe works for Clifton Coffee in Bristol.

https://cliftoncoffee.co.uk/

Got any suggestions, any questions? Email me at hellojudgespodcast@gmail.com

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S2 Ep5: Midori Fujimoto

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 10:37:15 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Midori Fujimoto about winning the UK Cup Tasters Championships and preparing for the world championships in Greece.

Midori works for Ozone Coffee and is the face of HasBean's In My Mug subscription.

https://ozonecoffee.co.uk/

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S2 Ep4: Ben Put

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 16:35:40 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Ben Put about winning the Canadian Barista Championships and preparing for WBC in Greece.

Ben is the co-founder of Monogram Coffee in Calgary, Alberta, Canada:

https://monogramcoffee.com/

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S2 Ep3: Janis Podins

Thu, 08 Jun 2023 14:56:45 GMT

In this episode, I chat with Janis Podins about winning coffee masters as well as other comps and competition culture at Coffee Collective.

Janis has competed so many times, with great success across multiple competitions so has a lot of experience to draw some helpful nuggets from.

Janis works for Coffee Collective in Denmark:

https://coffeecollective.dk/shop/

The pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

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S2 Ep2: Kaapo Paavolainen

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 16:03:44 GMT

In this episode, I chat with reigning Finnish Barista Champion Kaapo Paavolainen about competing at WBC in Milan as well as his new project One Day Competitors.

There are lots of great insights for both Barista and Brewers competitions be learned from this episode, I hope you enjoy it.

Kaapo is the founder of One Day Coffee in Helsinki:

https://onedaycoffee.co/

Ther cermaic pots are for your used spoons, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and please enjoy.

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S2 Ep1: Ian Kissick

Fri, 12 May 2023 03:27:08 GMT

Back by popular demand...

Welcome to Series 2 of Hello Judges!

In this episode, I chat with Ian Kissick about his recent win UK Barista Championships and how he is preparing for WBC.

There are lots of prep and organization tips forto be learned from this episode, I think you'll get a lot out of it

Ian is the founder of Formative Coffee in London:

https://formative.coffee/

You can pre-order his UKBC winning coffee at a really sensible price here:

https://formative.coffee/products/wilton-benitez-pink-bourbon

and contribute to the fund raiser to get him, all his gear and his team to Athens for WBC:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-compete-at-the-world-barista-championship

As always, stir 5 times to the bottom of the cup to homogenize the layers and please enjoy.

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Ep7: Dan Fellows

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 03:18:20 GMT

In the FINAL episode of Hello Judges, I chat with Dan Fellows about his extensive history and success across both Coffee in Good Spirits as well as the UK Barista Championships.

We chat broader about the competitions in general and speculate on what the new rule changes mean for WBC.

There are lots of pro tips for both competitions to be learned from this episode.

Dan is a drinks consultant and has an awesome Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@DANFELLOWScoffeecocktails/videos

Follow him on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/danfellows1

He also works as consultant and brand rep for @slayerespresso @monin_uk and @baxterstorey

Check out my blog about my finals routine and scoresheet in UKBC2022:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/blogs/news/ukbc-routine-and-scoresheet-breakdown

As always, this podcast is brought to you by Taylors of Harrogate:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/

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Ep6: Sierra Yeo

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 01:03:26 GMT

I chat with Sierra about winning the UK Brewers cup and how she prepared for the world championships back in September.

Sierra learned a lot in a very short space of time - being a first time competitor. There are lots of good insights to be learned from this episode.

Sierra works for the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

Check them out at https://www.zhaw.ch/en/university/

Check out my blog about my finals routine and scoresheet in UKBC2022:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/blogs/news/ukbc-routine-and-scoresheet-breakdown

As always, this podcast is brought to you by Taylors of Harrogate:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/

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Ep5: Diana Johnston Ledezma

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 01:01:49 GMT

I chat with Diana about her experience in competition including a mad few years where she entered all the competitions! Now a Head Judge, Diana talks about encouraging new competitors to get started.

Diana is the founder of Sense It London.

Check them out at https://senseitlondon.com

Check out my blog about my finals routine and scoresheet in UKBC2022:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/blogs/news/ukbc-routine-and-scoresheet-breakdown

As always, this podcast is brought to you by Taylors of Harrogate:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/

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Ep4: David Jameson

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 02:02:08 GMT

I chat with David Jameson about his experience across Coffee in Good Spirits and as a WCE judge. This is a great episode which covers a lot of ground!

Dave is the founder of, and this episode is sponsored by Danelaw Coffee.

Check them out at https://danelaw.coffee

Check out my blog about my finals routine and scoresheet in UKBC2022:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/blogs/news/ukbc-routine-and-scoresheet-breakdown

As always, this podcast is brought to you by Taylors of Harrogate:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/

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Ep3: Claire Wallace

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 03:57:22 GMT

I chat with Claire Wallace about her experience competing in the Barista championships, including winning the UK this year and placing 3rd in the world!

Claire works for, and this episode is sponsored by Assembly Coffee.

Check them out at https://assemblycoffee.co.uk/

Check out my blog about my finals routine and scoresheet in UKBC2022:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/blogs/news/ukbc-routine-and-scoresheet-breakdown

As always, this podcast is brought to you by Taylors of Harrogate:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep2: Paul Ross

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 01:54:13 GMT

I chat with Paul Ross about his experience competing in competitions and how he got into it.

Paul talks about wider views on the competitions, including some takes on the recent WBC.

Paul founded, and this episode is sponsored by Special Guests.

Check them out at https://specialguestscoffee.com/

Check out my blog about my finals routine and scoresheet in UKBC2022:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/blogs/news/ukbc-routine-and-scoresheet-breakdown

As always, this podcast is brought to you by Taylors of Harrogate:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep1: Mat North

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 04:21:16 GMT

In this Episode, I chat with Mat North about judging competitions and how he got into it.

Mat responds to the accusation of his focus and attention frightening competitors, his thoughts on what needs to change and what he loves about the competitions.

Mat North works for, and this episode is sponsored by Raw Material.

Check them out at https://www.rawmaterial.coffee/

Check out my blog about my finals routine and scoresheet in UKBC2022:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/blogs/news/ukbc-routine-and-scoresheet-breakdown

As always, this podcast is brought to you by Taylors of Harrogate:

https://discover.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello Judges Podcast Trailer

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 08:14:15 GMT

Hello Judges! Welcome to the Coffee Competition Podcast with Will Woodhouse-Banks.