Highlights from World of Coffee Jakarta
Here’s a recap of our favorite sights from the recent World of Coffee Jakarta event—including the winners of the 2025 World Brewers Cup.
BY TIGGER CHATURABUL
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Featured image by Bhavi Patel
What. A. Show. There are many distinctions that set World of Coffee Jakarta apart, such as being the first World of Coffee (WoC) trade show in a producing country, the second-ever WoC in an Asian country, the first to feature a Producer Village, and more. But at the event, which took place May 15-17, the feature that shined the brightest was Indonesia’s national pride.
Right from the get-go, the graphic design elements of WoC Jakarta highlighted the colorful beauty of Indonesian ikat textile weaving, setting the stage for a rich, cultural experience. Many vendors and attendees alike wore batik clothing, adding to the vibrancy of the show floor.
As soon as you walked into the main hall, you were greeted by live jazzy Indonesian tunes and Sumatran folk music from the Roemah Koffie booth, the smells of coffee and tantalizing Balinese satay from the upstairs food court, and decorative details of plants and parasols: a true sensory spectacle.
This event was perhaps the most packed WoC I have ever experienced, with every inch of the four large halls teeming with local and foreign visitors all clamoring to taste coffee, talk to vendors, take photos with coffee superstars, and queue up for hours just to buy beans and merchandise. Everyone was constantly filming on their phones, trying to capture the incredible vibe, full of curiosity for what the coffee industry had to offer.
WoC Jakarta was also one of the most consumer-friendly trade shows I’ve ever visited, with vendors prepared to offer exclusive or newly launched products for sale right at the booth. Needless to say, I went home with a lot of souvenirs and spent millions of Indonesian rupiah over three days (I’ll worry about the conversion rate later). With their arms laden with shopping bags, most attendees kept their reusable tasting cups on lanyards around their neck, ready to receive a sip of an anaerobic natural from West Java or a washed Gesha from Panama. The coffees on showcase ranged from instant sachets to Cup of Excellence auction lots to the most exclusive nano-lots of excelsa, a variety of Coffea liberica.
Was it overwhelming? Very. Was it exciting? Absolutely. Indonesia took their responsibility of being a host country very seriously, and their efforts to showcase their culture really stood out, compared to my past WoC experiences. From my conversations with local exhibitors and attendees, the thing they were collectively most excited about was the chance to show the world what Indonesia had to offer.
Coming from a mixed Western and Southeast Asian background myself, I’ve experienced coffee from different angles. The consuming countries have dominated the conversation for so long, and I’m delighted that Indonesia pulled out all the stops to show just how much this region is capable of in terms of diversity, innovation, and community.
Highlights from the Event
Producer Village
The new Producer Village was a highly anticipated area, not only featuring farmers who traveled from various regions of Indonesia to talk about their work in Jakarta, but also an interactive exhibition tunnel with live coffee seedlings and saplings. Trays of coffee beans, from fully dried natural cherries to washed and honey parchment beans, were laid out for visitors to run their hands through.
Rainforest Alliance Booth
The Rainforest Alliance booth got extra points for hauling in a large, six-foot mature coffee tree full of fruit! Sitting in its own pot, the tree painted a very clear picture of how difficult it is to selectively harvest ripe cherries that grow alongside green and medium-ripe fruits between bushy leaves and branches. The tree would be going home to the highest bidder. Imagine attempting that in Europe.
World Brewers Cup Competition
After three days of intense competition, with a record-breaking 50 national champions and 88 qualified judges for the 2025 World Brewers Cup, the top six were as follows.
1st place: George Jinyang Peng, Captain George Coffee Roasters, China
2nd place: Bayu Prawiro, Common Grounds, Indonesia
3rd place: Carlos Escobar, Differente Coffee, Colombia
4th place: Elysia Tan, Independent, Singapore
5th place: Andrea Batacchi, Independent, Italy
6th place: Justin Bull, Helm Coffee Roasters, United States
Many congratulations to George for being the second representative from China to take home the prize, after Jian Ning Du in 2019. While most of the top six finalists showcased coffee from Panama and Colombia onstage, it’s worth mentioning that Elysia from Singapore and Bayu from Indonesia both used blends that included liberica and excelsa coffees from Indonesia, making the 2025 World Brewers Cup a validating moment for the country to achieve more acclaim on the world stage while on home turf.
A Packed Food Court
The food court was a nice touch, with over a dozen stalls offering dumplings, sandwiches, barbecue, dessert, and pastries to hungry, over-caffeinated guests. It was a flavorful upgrade from normal convention center kiosk fare or the emergency banana stash.
Syrups Showcasing Asian Flavors
Flavor syrups in various Asian tastes were a delight: Think pink guava and pandan from Davinci, or mango sticky rice and jasmine flower pulp from Dripp. I had a pink guava and blood orange soda, an oat milk and espresso mocktail, and a mango sticky rice espresso tonic, all of which really pushed the boundaries of beverage creativity!
Your Favorite Coffee Celebrities
Mikael Jasin, the 2024 World Barista Champion from Indonesia, was on display everywhere. As the brand ambassador and chief of coffee innovation for local coffee chain Fore Coffee, Mikael literally has a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself at most of the brand’s 200+ locations around the country. His face was also plastered across multiple LED screens and posters announcing his various guest shifts throughout the World of Coffee expo days. Everywhere he went, people stopped to ask for photos and autographs, conveying a level of celebrity that most baristas and coffee drinkers can hardly comprehend.
And it wasn’t only Mikael. Coffee superstars like 2024 World Brewers Cup champion Martin Wölfl from Austria, 2022 champ Sherry Hsu from Taiwan, and 2018 champ Emi Fukahori from Japan constantly found themselves in the spotlight, with hundreds of fans eager to finally see their role models in real life AND get to try their coffees. It’s always fun to see coffee professionals so highly revered and celebrated for their craft.
Kopi Luwak (Without the Luwak)
Heritage met innovation with many local exhibitors excitedly serving Indonesia’s infamous kopi luwak, but without the luwak. Using enzyme-producing microbes taken from luwak civet poop, then isolated and multiplied in labs, coffee beans and cherries can now be fermented with the same luwak microbes without the abuse and exploitation of animals. It’s also a lot more hygienic.
An Omakase-Style Coffee Experience
Last but not least, one of my favorite parts of WoC Jakarta was the omakase chef’s table coffee experience, delivered in impressively constructed private rooms in the middle of the busy show floor. In these intimate 30-minute sessions, which held only four to six guests at a time, we were served multiple courses of coffee and food pairings: a truly unique experience more akin to a fine dining than a trade expo showcase.
At the 32do booth, we sipped on a Colombian Sudan Rume (a rare varietal originally found in Sudan, and now cultivated in Colombia) pourover, and tasted an affogato made from freeze-distilled milk and Cerro Azul Gesha espresso, paired with fruits flown in from Japan and South Korea. After six nearly full-sized coffees in rapid succession, we came out of the session absolutely buzzing with caffeine and amazement.
These coffee omakases deserve an article of their own, but it was incredible to see the diversity of coffee experiences available to attendees of WoC Jakarta in 2025.
Product Highlights
There were a number of cool products that caught my eye:
- The MHW-3Bomber Eggonaut Dripper, which comes in its own crossbody carrying case
- The Consumable Sensory Kit by Scentible
- The Harmony Cup by Origami x Ryan Wibawa
- The Solo Dripper by Mazelab, launched in 2024 and used by George Peng winning the 2025 World Brewers Cup.
- The Aeresso Go Tasting Cup by Icosa Brewhouse x Stronghold Roasters
Indonesia in the Spotlight
A beautiful showcase of Indonesian pride and a shared love for coffee and innovation, WoC Jakarta was a true playground for coffee people: a wild ride full of shows, experiences, and flavors that were nothing short of magical, raising the bar for WoC events around the world to come!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tigger Chaturabul (she/her) tried to be a barista for two years until she realized she was better suited behind the business than behind the bar. She now runs her own copywriting and design studio, Curious Typhoon Studio, that serves F&B and other small businesses in Hong Kong. Her free-range creative lifestyle allows her to spend all her time in coffee shops everywhere.
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Source: Barista Magazine