In an exclusive and relaxed behind-the-scenes conversation, we sat down with Martin Woelfl, the 2024 World Brewers Cup Champion, to revisit his winning routine and the extraordinary journey that led to the stage in Chicago. Martin shared not only his brewing approach but also the emotions, decisions, and risks that shaped his championship experience.
Brewing as Performance: More Than Just Coffee
From the start, Martin approached the competition like a performance — blending technical mastery with storytelling. “I never wanted to just stand still. I wanted the judges to feel like guests in my pop-up café,” he explains. Every action on stage, from grinding fresh to brewing in real time, was intentional. Unlike many competitors, Martin ground his coffee live on stage, becoming the first to win the title doing so — a bold move that introduced both risk and reward.
Trust and Risk: Sourcing a Coffee Without Tasting It
Martin’s coffee came from Lost Origin in Panama, and the road to securing just three kilos of it was an adventure in itself. Due to tight timelines, he never cupped the coffee at origin. Instead, he relied entirely on trust — having friends hand-carry the beans across continents to arrive just in time for practice and competition.
“It was a big risk, but I wanted to go all in this year,” he recalls. “If you take every step with intention, sometimes you get lucky — and that luck rewards preparation.”
Precision Under Pressure
Martin’s championship routine revolved around six innovations in brewing, each thoughtfully highlighted during his performance. Among them:
- Grinding on stage for optimal freshness and control
- Custom water recipe using Apex Water concentrates to tailor mineral content to his coffee
- Melodrip tool to ensure even extraction
- A structured flavour memory system, helping him recall complex descriptors under pressure
He even tailored his music to help control pacing and mental focus, crafting a playlist with sonic cues for different segments of his routine — an idea that might soon be shared as a Spotify playlist for fellow competitors and baristas.
Meditation, Visualization, and Resilience
Coming second-to-last in Athens the year before became a pivotal learning moment. Martin shifted his mental game by incorporating meditation and visualization, which helped him stay focused even after a rocky start in the finals. “The first sentence of my routine went wrong,” he admits. “But I had trained myself to let go and stay in the moment.”
His final presentation, which nearly hit the 10-minute time limit exactly, ended with satisfaction: “You call ‘time,’ and suddenly it’s like you lose 20 kilos. You’ve done everything you could. Now, you just wait.”
The Takeaway for Home Brewers
While the competition setting is high-stakes, Martin’s advice is surprisingly approachable: “Control what you can. Practice your recipes. And treat your guests — or judges — like they’re in your café.”
And for those eager to replicate his brew, we’ve documented Martin’s full OREA V4 Winning Recipe on our YouTube channel and in our detailed brew guide
