SCA Announces Changes to Rules and Regulations

On December 22nd the Specialty Coffee Association released a statement announcing they have updated the rules and regulations for the 2023 Coffee Championships. The WBC, WBrC, Cup Tasters, and Cezve/Ibrik Championships have been affected. 

“The WBC and WBrC updates mark the largest competition changes since before the pandemic, opening up new service possibilities for competitors and major changes in how judges score and evaluate performances.” The statement began. 

The first change to be detailed is, “The WBrC criteria for evaluation have undergone significant changes to refocus the competition on evaluating a competitor’s coffee brewing skills. These changes include expanded categories for barista evaluation as well as the decoupling of the competition's structure from the existing SCA Cupping Form and Protocol.”  

Additional changes of note include introducing a Semi-Finals round into the WBrC format, introducing two new types of scoring scales alongside the traditional 6-point scores in the WBC, and the allowance of plant based milk during the milk beverage course in the WBC. 

While our Australian baristas will sadly miss the opportunity to compete under the new rules and regulations, we hope they are using this time to perfect their routines under the new guidelines in preparation for the 2024 season. 

For the full statement and the link to the new ruleset, visit: https://sca.coffee/sca-news/announcing-the-2023-athens-wcc-rules-regulations