2026 World Latte Art Champion Bala (Taiwan) and Jacky Chang (Malaysia)
World of Coffee 2026 was quite literally everything—a three-day bacchanal of coffee culture, coffee business, and coffee innovation, in the sunny center of San Diego. The vibes? Immaculate. The coffee? Delicious. Our team covered the event from top to bottom all weekend long, from curated guides to immersive live social media coverage. But now it’s our chance to look back, reflect on the show, and share some of our favorite moments.
Sprudge Media Network’s coverage of the 2026 World of Coffee is presented by La Marzocco, Dona, Hollander Chocolate and Califia Farms.
This year’s recap coverage is happening on the Coffee Sprudgecast, a curated podcast experienced hosted by Sprudge co-founders Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen. This week’s episode is a smorgasbord of highlights from across the days of WOC, featuring in no particular order such incredible moments as…
- Outrageous parties hosted by Califia, La Marzocco, Cafe Imports and more
- The triumphant victory of Taiwan’s mononymous coffee champion, Bala, your *new* 2026 World Latte Art Champion!
- An incredible on-the-floor interview with team at Acaia, whose new Horizon post-extraction pressure modulation device was our favorite debut from the show. Special thanks to Natalie Tieu.
- A visit to the deeply memorable FRINJ coffee farm right there on the show floor.
- Utterly delicious sips and delights from Blueprint Coffee, Pacific Barista Series x Kafiex, Huckleberry Roasters x La Marzocco, Hollander Chocolate x Lamplighter Coffee, Regalia Coffee Roasters, PERC Coffee and more.
All this and much more from WOC, and we’re just getting started. We’ll have more coverage from the showfloor in the coming days right here on Sprudge, and in upcoming episodes of the Sprudgecast. For now, listen to this episode, brew up something delicious, and let’s dive in.
Listen to the whole episode right here:
This episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast is sponsored by Baratza, Dripos, DONA, noissue, Ceado, Pacific Barista Series, and La Marzocco.
