BY MELINA DEVONEY
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Photos courtesy of Eline Ferket unless otherwise noted
What to know:
- In March of 2025, Eline Ferket won The Barista League Europe with her teammate Luisa Leitner
- Eline went on to compete in the Austrian Brewers Cup in April of 2026, which she won using a natural Geisha from Finca Lérida
- As she prepares for the World Brewers Cup in June, Eline shares her hopes for the future, including aspirations to eventually host competition master classes or workshops
In the few months since The Barista League (TBL) 2025 winners returned from their Mystery Coffee Vacation in Veracruz, Mexico, TBL Europe co-champion Eline Ferket has already added another trophy to her case. I simply had to call her to hear what she’s been up to.
Last February, Eline headed pretty much straight from Veracruz to Panama. There, she spent two weeks visiting farms in search of coffee to compete with at the World Brewers Cup starting June 25.
“I went together with my new coach, and it was also a time to get to know each other better, bond, taste coffee and calibrate,” Eline says. “That was one of the most amazing experiences that I had: going on my own competition sourcing trip and seeing up close all of the farms and the producers.”
Coffee farming in Panama was very different from El Equimite in Mexico: “Every experience is very eye-opening,” Eline says. “You learn (that) the diversity in coffee is just immense.”
It was Eline’s first time in Panama and her first time visiting farmers to elect and develop a competition coffee. Her resolution going into the trip was to be introduced to new coffees, approaches, and ideas. “I was trying to be very open, to be surprised, and maybe find something even better that I don’t even know of yet,” she says.
Eline ended up buying a natural Geisha from Finca Lérida and used it to win the Austrian Brewers Cup this April.
Now, she’s well into preparing for the world stage. Even as a decorated competitor, every competition brings new nerves, challenges, and teachings. “It never gets less intense and scary,” Eline says.
After several years of placing highly in Brewers Cups, Eline’s nailed down an approach that surely works. This year, her national win boosted her confidence in her inner voice—and the voices of a very select few people—to create her own coffee recipe and routine instead of reciting information told to her by others. By trusting in one’s own process, “you can present something on stage that’s really you, and that comes across (to the judges),” Eline says.
On stage, she could stand behind every word as she described her sourcing and brewing processes. “That’s usually rewarded in competitions like Brewers Cup, but also the Barista League,” Eline explains. “(My TBL Europe teammate) Luisa and I were up there having fun and being ourselves, and we didn’t think that that would matter so much, but that’s what came across as something really positive for the judges.”
Eline is vying to be a finalist in the World Brewers Cup. Afterwards, she’s looking forward to a new realm of possibilities—and to take her skills around the world.
“I’d love to, at some point, host some competition master classes or workshops,” Eline says.
Although she’ll take a short hiatus from competition after this summer’s World Brewers Cup to develop other corners of her career, “I’m definitely not done,” Eline says. “I’m quite sure I’ll compete again at some point, ’cause I really love doing it. I’m excited to see the perspective of a judge or a coach.”
Melina Devoney (she/her) is a barista and freelance writer in Los Angeles zeroed in on coffee and agriculture. She aims to amplify the voices of farmers and a diversity of perspectives within the coffee industry, and she’s happiest when running on wooded trails and dancing at concerts.
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