Vietnam has claimed its first-ever World Cup Tasters Championship title, marking a major milestone for the country’s fast-rising specialty coffee industry and signaling a shift in how Vietnamese coffee is viewed globally.
Le Quang Cuong, known professionally as Nicky, won the 2026 World Cup Tasters Championship (WCTC) on May 9 in Bangkok, defeating 45 competitors from around the world in one of the coffee industry’s most demanding sensory competitions.
The victory is especially significant because 2026 was also Vietnam’s first year participating in the global championship.
Held at Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC), the tournament gathered elite coffee tasters from 46 countries to test their ability to identify subtle flavor differences between coffees under intense time pressure.
Competitors faced a series of “triangulation” tests, where they had to identify the different coffee cup among three samples, two identical and one different, across eight groups.
Winners were determined first by accuracy and then by speed.
In the final round, Quang Cuong correctly identified 7 out of 8 different cups in just 3 minutes and 35 seconds, outperforming the runner-up, who identified 6 out of 8.
Organizers praised the Vietnamese competitor for his exceptional precision, concentration, and sensory control.
The competition tests far more than basic tasting ability.
Participants must evaluate dry aromas, wet aromas, body, texture, acidity, and flavor differences using both smell and taste. Competitors often use loud slurping techniques to spread coffee across the palate and maximize sensory detection.
According to Quang Cuong, one of the biggest challenges is “sensory saturation,” where repeated exposure to aromas causes the brain and nose to become overwhelmed, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish subtle differences between samples.
He admitted the final round included several difficult “traps” designed to confuse contestants.
Despite careful preparation, he misidentified one set due to competition pressure and sensory fatigue.
For Vietnam’s coffee industry, however, the victory carries significance far beyond a single competition.
Quang Cuong said international coffee professionals have long recognized Vietnam mainly for high production volume rather than premium quality or specialty coffee culture.
For years, Vietnam was often seen as lagging behind regional coffee markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia in terms of specialty coffee recognition.
He believes the championship win could help change that perception.
“This result is important for Vietnam’s coffee industry,” he said, adding that stronger international recognition could attract more global buyers and investors seeking high-quality Vietnamese green coffee beans.
Vietnam is currently the world’s second-largest coffee exporter and the largest producer of robusta coffee, but the country has increasingly invested in specialty coffee, modern roasting, and premium café culture in recent years.
The World Cup Tasters Championship, first launched in 2004, is part of the broader World Coffee Championships system, one of the coffee industry’s highest-profile international competition networks.
For Vietnam, the win represents more than just a trophy.
It signals that the country is no longer only competing on quantity, but increasingly on quality, craftsmanship, and global coffee expertise.
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