The 2026 World Cup Tasters Championship took place from May 7 to May 9 in Thailand, bringing together 46 national champions from around the world to compete in one of the coffee industry’s most demanding sensory contests.
Le Quang Cuong, 37, earned the right to represent Vietnam after winning the country’s inaugural national coffee tasting championship held in Ho Chi Minh City in April.
Vietnam's contestant in one round of the competition (Photo: Organisers).
Speaking to Dantri/Dtinews, Cuong said the competition gathered champions from member countries of the World Coffee Championships system.
“This year’s competition featured 46 contestants, all national champions,” he said. “At national level, contestants are often familiar with their own coffee varieties. At world level, organisers combine coffees from across the globe to make the challenge much harder and identify the person with the sharpest sensory abilities.”
In the opening round, contestants competed individually to identify the odd cup out from eight sets of coffee triangles, each containing two identical cups and one different sample. Competitors had a maximum of eight minutes to complete the challenge.
Ranking was determined first by the number of correct answers, then by completion time.
Contestants taking part in this year's competition (Photo: Provided by the interviewee).
Cuong described this year’s contest as exceptionally competitive. In the qualifying round alone, 17 contestants correctly identified all eight cups, but only 16 advanced to the quarter-finals based on speed.
“Being slower by just a few seconds meant elimination,” he said.
The competition then progressed through the top 16, top eight and final rounds, with the tasting challenges becoming increasingly difficult as flavour differences between samples narrowed.
Contestants used a professional tasting technique involving forceful slurping to maximise coffee contact with taste receptors on the tongue and palate while analysing flavour intensity and subtle sensory differences.
Cuong maintained strong performances throughout the tournament, finishing third out of 46 competitors in the preliminary round, sixth in the quarter-finals and second in the semi-finals.
In the final, the Vietnamese representative correctly identified seven out of eight different coffee samples in three minutes and 35 seconds.
The representative from Vietnam won the title (Photo: Provided by the interviewee).
He praised the contestant from Switzerland for strong sensory skills. The Swiss competitor finished runner-up after correctly identifying six out of eight samples in two minutes and 34 seconds.
Although Cuong ranked third overall in speed behind contestants from Japan and Switzerland, he achieved the highest number of correct answers, securing the world title.
Cuong said he spent six months preparing for the competition, training continuously from December last year while maintaining a mindset focused on learning rather than winning.
He explained that tasting endurance varies greatly between individuals and requires years of disciplined practice. Without consistent training, a competitor’s sense of smell can become overwhelmed after only a few rounds, making accurate judgement difficult.
Organisers also introduced unexpected sensory “traps” during the contest to test concentration and consistency.
“If you do not practise every day, it is very difficult to achieve good results,” he said.
Cuong compared distinguishing coffee flavours to recognising subtle differences between bottled waters, with some tasting sweeter or smoother than others. The challenge, he said, lies in detecting increasingly similar flavour profiles.
For the new champion, the most meaningful aspect of the competition was not only winning the trophy but representing Vietnam internationally. He hopes the victory will help draw greater global attention to Vietnam’s coffee industry.
Vietnam’s biggest strength remains its robusta coffee beans, he said, but improving quality alongside production volume will be crucial for the industry’s future.
Vietnamese robusta beans are attracting growing international interest, particularly as global arabica supplies face shortages.
“I think this will be a memorable milestone for Vietnam’s coffee community and provide motivation for future contestants,” Cuong said.
Founded in 2004, the World Cup Tasters Championship is one of the world’s leading coffee tasting competitions. This year marked the first time Vietnam entered the contest and won the championship title.
