A coffee cart operator has beaten out baristas from all over the world to become the 2009 World Barista Champion.

In a fairytale twist to an already interesting story, the United Kingdom’s Gwilym Davies took home the top prize Sunday afternoon in Atlanta at the 2009 World Barista Championships. You may remember hearing about Davies back when he won his home country’s title. He operates a coffee cart near Whitechapel and Old Street in London where locals take the Tube miles out of their way just to sample his work.

In Atlanta, Davies beat out five other world class baristas, each of them champions in their home countries. According to the World Championship blog, “Gwilym is a chilled out British dude who lives on a boat in London with his dog…This is not really his thing, this convention center/hi-how-are-ya/badge wearing/smack talking/trade show thing. You can tell. He is here for one reason, it seems, and that’s to have a good old time with his pals and maybe talk some coffee talk with like-minded people.”

But this chilled out British dude did manage to bring the heat by pouring a single-origin espresso from a small town in Colombia that he said had a flavor like hot buttered toast covered in blackberry jam with other flavors of toffee and black current running through it.

He followed it up with a 16-ingredient signature drink that was apparently one of the most impressive showings ever at this competition. Included in the drink were four ingredients representing the sweetness Davies finds in coffee, four representing coffee’s texture (such as butter), four to represent the fruitiness he finds in coffee, and finally, four to showcase the flavors found in coffee like hints of orange and nuts.

Why? Because “I just want to have fun,” he said. Sounds good to me.

Breaking the rules, but taking home the prize

In the end, Davies went 13 seconds over the 15-minute time limit finishing the mega-ingredient drink.

“I’d rather give (the judges) the drink I want to give them and come in a little late,” he explained.

Coming in second was Canada’s Sammy Piccolo. Piccolo is a two-time world finalist from Vancouver, BC, and was also World Latte Art Champion at one point. His signature coffee consisted of four shots of espresso whipped up in a thermal blender with homemade crème fraiche that had been infused with grapefruit juice.

Winning this competition is becoming somewhat of a theme for our friends across the pond. Last year, Ireland’s Steven Morrissey took home the big prize and the year before that, UK champion James Hoffmann won in 2007. The contest will come home for them next year when London plays host to the 11th annual World Barista Championship.

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