Another Successful Year
59 regional championships, 56 national championships, 4,445 competitors, and 21,203 spectators worldwide: the 2022 World AeroPress Championship season was a smashing success! The season culminated in a three-day extravaganza of training, competing and celebrating in Vancouver, Canada at the 2022 world final. The first in-person World AeroPress Championship since 2019, the event brought together hundreds of people for competition and camaraderie in a hockey-themed love letter to the host country.
@aeropress Let’s go!!! ☕️🇨🇦🏆💪 Curious to know what exactly “WAC” is??! @cc.campbell shares with us her travel vlog from the recent exciting World AeroPress Championship event in Vancouver, where we gathered to enjoy the international coffee community in its finest form!!! 🥳😉👏💪👍 #aeropress #coffeecommunity #coffeetiktok #coffeelover #aeropresscoffee #coffeefriends #travelvlogger #coffeevlog #coffeeunitespeople ♬ original sound - AeroPress
An overview of the event courtesy of Caitlin Campbell.
Day One: Learning and Training
The first day focused on education and conditioning, with a slate of sessions featuring huge specialty coffee stars including 2010 World Barista Champion Michael Phillips, 2019 WAC Champion Wendelien van Bunnik, 2020 Canadian Barista Champion Jill Hoff, 4x WBC Finalist Ben Put, and 2017 US Brewers Cup Champion Dylan Siemens. The training session that capped off the first day was open to the coffee-loving public while competitors practiced their recipes with the official championship coffee. 
Competitors focus hard while brewing during Day Two of the competition. Photo courtesy of WAC.
Day Two: The Competition
The competition day started off like a typical AeroPress Championship, but then served up a huge twist in the form of a brand-new coffee in the semi-final round. The remaining competitors had just forty minutes to dial in this new coffee, forcing them to dig deep and think on the fly. After a fierce battle, Jibbi Little of Australia emerged victorious. Simon Derutter of Belgium took second place, and Jennifer Rui Ping Ho of Singapore placed third.
Left to right: 1st place winner Jibbi Little of Australia, 2nd place winner Simon Derutter of Belgium, and 3rd place winner Jennifer Rui Ping Ho of Singapore raise their trophies in triumph. Photo courtesy of WAC.
Day Three: Cafe Takeover
After two intense days, competitors still weren't ready to stop brewing. They showed up in cafes around Vancouver in a citywide takeover, brewing their special recipes and giving cafe patrons a taste of the competition.
A Chat with 2022 World AeroPress Champion Jibbi Little
After the dust settled, we spoke with brand-new World AeroPress Champion Jibbi Little about her incredible win, the inspiration behind her recipe, and the importance of finding your "soul mate" grind size.
2022 World AeroPress Champion Jibbi Little. Photo courtesy of WAC.
AeroPress: Please talk about the decisions you made in your winning recipe. Were there particular challenges to overcome? What was your reasoning behind your winning recipe?
JL: The winning recipe focuses on minimizing bad qualities. I try to minimize bitterness, astringency and dryness. I’m looking for the most delicious cup with the cleanest finish. So I started by removing the coffee chaffs from the grind (this is especially important for washed coffee). I also used a stainless steel reusable ice ball to stop the extraction as soon as possible and to get a better round-out in acidity and texture. The ice chilling ball helps to cool down the temperature as quickly as possible, which brightens the cup and opens it up for a fruity character and clean finish. And to aim for the most sweetness in the cup, I recommend finding the right grind size for the particular beans.
The three finalists compete at the 2022 World AeroPress Championship. Photo courtesy of WAC.
The challenge is that in 5 minutes, all competitors have to grind the coffee on stage. In Australia, we ground the coffee backstage, so we had much more time on the stage. I spent 3 hours in my practice stage, and then repeated the whole process in 5 minutes. However, with a 5 minute timeframe, I ended up using 2 grinders. I used the Timemore for the very coarse grind to remove the coffee chaff, and then another grinder, the Kinu M47, to get the right grind size for brewing. In Australia, I used both the Kinu M47 and the Comandante for the grind size to get more complex, as I had much more time to do so.
AeroPress: How did you get involved in the World AeroPress Championship?
JL: I was the winner of the National Australian AeroPress Championship, so I had to represent Australia. And I wanted to win a World title by myself.
The colorful, hockey-themed 2022 World AeroPress Championship logo. Image courtesy of WAC.
AeroPress: What was your favorite part of the World Final in Vancouver?
JL: The coffee used in the first round changed from the practice round but it was the same coffee (a washed process coffee), which meant that the brewer needed to know everything about coffee from the roast degree, roast date, defects, CO2 and brewing recipe. We all needed to find the right grind size to suit all the factors that changed from roast to roast. And especially in the final round, with a big surprise: a different coffee process (natural) was being used.
Note: The practice round used a washed coffee roasted on November 17th, while the first and second rounds used a washed coffee roasted on November 18th. In the final round, a natural process coffee was used.
AeroPress: What is your background in coffee?
JL: I have been a barista for 10 years, with 5 years as a brewer and roaster, so a total of 15 years. I also have 15 years on the latte art scene as well.
AeroPress: What was the inspiration behind your recipe?
JL: I use the inverted method with bypass. So I needed a coffee concentrate with a nice acidity, sweetness, and complexity without bitterness or harsh flavors. My inspiration is using cold ice chilling to round out all attributes in the cup. I picked the Kinu M47 grinder for the flavor difference, while most people used the Comandante C40 grinder. I find that the Kinu M47 gives "red and purple" flavor notes in the coffee (such as cherry, lavender, red plum, and strawberry), while the Comandante tends to produce "yellow" flavor notes (such as mango, melon, mandarin, papaya and tropical notes).
AeroPress: Do you have any tips or advice for people who are just beginning to use AeroPress coffee makers?
JL: Well, my method seems to be a complicated one. However, I think it is necessary for a world competition. So for home brewers, I recommend using my recipe and one grinder to cut out those complicated methods. Focusing on finding the right grind size is the key.
AeroPress: What is your favorite coffee to use with your AeroPress coffee maker?
JL: Colombian washed coffees are easy to work with.
AeroPress: How would you describe your grind size in general (not in reference to a specific grinder)?
JL: Grind size is a soulmate, we have to find the right partner to suit that particular coffee, and then you will find real happiness...a delicious coffee!
Congratulations to Jibbi on her win, and thanks to everyone who participated and who made the event such a huge success! To try all three winners' recipes, visit our World AeroPress Championship recipe page!
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