The People Behind UAC 2024: Thank You to Our Coffee Community

A competition depends on far more than what happens in front of the judges. As 2024 drew to a close, our Espresso Academic team looked back at UAC with gratitude for the competitors, sponsors, judges and supporters who helped bring it together.

The final-round recap, shared in November, brought together Latte Art, Cup Tasters and Brewers Cup competition at Espresso Academic Thailand. It named Um Paul, Tetsu Kasuya, Tay Ekameth, Yasuo Suzuki and Oui You Bin among the judges involved in the event.

Among the results we celebrated was Sophon Khunphet’s Cup Tasters win. Our original announcement recorded eight correct selections in 1 minute and 14 seconds, a memorable combination of accuracy and speed. His prizes included a voucher for further EA and SCA Sensory Intermediate learning.

In Latte Art, the Best and Brightest team, Thamanoon Sakulyen and Wiwat Ekor, took the championship after progressing through ranking, Smackdown and the final four. Wikrom Kradumporm won the Brewers Cup title, later collecting his Mahlkönig EK OMNIA grinder at the school. Their prize packages also included opportunities for further Barista and Brewing Intermediate learning.

The competitors’ reflections mattered too. Vipu Buapradit of Pradit Home Cafe described tackling unfamiliar rules, learning to stay composed and discovering what he could do beyond his everyday café work. His account thanked fellow competitors, judges and the organising team for the experience and encouragement.

Tunl Brew Whale’s first-round account offered another view of learning under pressure. He described noticing a temperature mistake, tasting the brew and adjusting his approach during the round. When sharing that account, our team also thanked ODZ for supporting UAC 2024 with a specially designed dripper accessory. His original reflection gives readers a closer look at the decisions behind a competition cup. His later accounts follow the rematch and second round, including his approach to an unfamiliar coffee and adapting paper placement to a different dripper. Our accompanying acknowledgment thanked Bean Importer and SCITH for supplying the competition’s brewing water.

Our December thank-you album recognised the support behind that stage. The featured artwork acknowledges Boncafé, while the event’s wider thank-you list included MunMun, MunMun Kitchen Club, The Summer Coffee Company, Meka.Coffee and many other partners. Visual, sensory and technical judges each brought their expertise to the competition, alongside the work of the organising team.

The event recap also highlighted prizes that included equipment and opportunities for further EA and SCA learning. For us, that connection between competition and continued education is part of what makes UAC meaningful.

Learning was another part of the UAC experience. In a year-end reflection, coffee-event host MC Cáo thanked Natt and Espresso Academic for an opportunity to expand his coffee knowledge. His original post shared participation certificates recording completion of UAC 2024 masterclasses in Latte Art, Brewers Cup and Cup Tasters, alongside his reflections on continuing to learn from people across the coffee community.

Thank you to everyone who competed, helped, encouraged and shared their time with us. Browse the original appreciation album below, or follow the final-round recap to revisit the competition.

The original source post is preserved below.