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“From being an amateur to opening a coffee shop, and to attending international competitions, each phase makes you grow rapidly and provides the indispensable nutrients.” Berg Wu, graduated from NCU Department of Electrical Engineering, won the 2016 World Barista Championship held in Ireland with his wits and perseverance.

This was the third time that Berg Wu stood out in the Taiwan Barista Championship and represented Taiwan to attend the World Barista Championship. He was ranked seventh in the competition in 2014, and won the championship this year. Coffee-lovers from around the country finally met the champion at the coffee sharing session in Taipei this August. Always wearing a smile on his face, Berg Wu kindly shared with others everything he had been through.

Berg Wu majored in electrical engineering in college, and was good at chemistry. Having interest in culinary arts, he always loves coffee. Despite the fact that he performed well academically, Wu said that he has no much passion for science and engineering. A few years after he graduated, he decided to follow his heart, leaving the well-paid job and pursuing his coffee dream.

From the very beginning, Wu and his wife used a tricycle as their mobile café to spread his idea of coffee, and they owned their brick-and-mortar store later. In their hard early years, there was only an employee in the store considering the operation budget, and they were on duty all year round. Even when there was only a customer in a day, he never thought of giving up, and eventually made it through.

This June, Wu represented Taiwan to attend the competition in Ireland, and he gave himself a challenge by picking the beans that were much harder to deal with in order to bring out the abundant layers of coffee. He went to Panama to pick the beans by himself, and developed a connection with the beans by learning the process of their growth. In the competition, all the bittersweet of life was mixed into a cup of espresso, and it was about how creative the coffee was that gave the judges more room of imagination.

“There are so many excellent competitors in the international competition, and it is all about the details.” Wu said that everything from personal skills to team cooperation, and to emotional management were quite essential. Wu is grateful for having a trustworthy team, which is able to stand out from other “big” teams. The key is his original “Handle Cooling” skill, which was developed by his keeping trying to handle the taste. He not only brought the skill of barista to another level, but also improved the service quality of coffee.