Why Did a WBC Champion Coffee Star Shake Milk Tea at the Festival?

Boram Julio Um, the 2023 World Barista Champion and founder of Brazil's Um Coffee Co., served as a one-day store manager at Gu Ming's pop-up stall during the Good-Me Coffee Festival in Shanghai, shaking milk tea for customers. The milk tea brand's second Shanghai appearance also sold specialty coffee, drawing queues for both the drinks and the champion behind the bar.

The pairing stirred discussion online because Boram is also one of the coffee masters collaborating with Luckin, and commenters joked that he had been poached by a rival. For the wider coffee industry, the scene shows how barista fame and cross-brand tie-ins now pull crowds at festivals, even when the product on the menu is milk tea.

A heavy rain brought a unique touch of African coffee estate charm to the coffee festival, and among the many stalls that insisted on staying open, the coffee pop-up stall of the milk tea brand Gu Ming unexpectedly became the center of attention. In addition to the high-value-for-money specialty coffees that drew passersby to check in, the one-day store manager standing behind the bar also attracted a crowd—he is Boram Julio Um, 2023 WBC World Barista Champion, founder of the Brazilian coffee brand Um Coffee Co., and one of the chief coffee masters collaborating with Luckin. The sight of this highly popular champion shaking milk tea for customers surprised many, with some in the comments even calling out to Luckin, "Your handsome guy has been poached by Gu Ming." So why exactly did this coffee industry star appear at the Gu Ming stall? Let's revisit the lively scene together.

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Yesterday's heavy rain instantly let visitors heading to the coffee festival experience the charm of African coffee estates without going abroad, enjoying this unique coffee feast in the rain and mud. And among the many stalls that insisted on staying open, the stall of Gu Ming, a milk tea brand that crashed the coffee festival, drew quite a few customers queuing up for food.

It is understood that this is Gu Ming's second time entering Shanghai after the co-branded pop-up store in June this year, but unlike last time, this "Gu Ming Coffee" pop-up store not only sells pearl milk tea, but also brings coffee lovers eye-catching specialty coffee and other products, attracting many passersby to check in and try them.

Some consumers said that compared with the coffees of certain brands that cost forty or fifty yuan, the coffee drinks launched by Gu Ming are more cost-effective, so since Gu Ming Coffee opened its stall, the drinks at its stall have become hot items. Some users said that if you go too late, you can't buy coffee and can only buy milk tea.

However, the users queuing up for food yesterday were not simply there for Gu Ming's drinks. They gathered in front of the stall to take photos and check in mostly because of the handsome one-day store manager standing behind the bar, Boram Julio Um.

Perhaps some people only noticed his looks when they saw this one-day store manager, but in fact he is a world champion of no small fame in the coffee world. It is reported that Boram is the 2023 WBC World Barista Champion, the Brazilian Barista Champion, and also the founder of the Brazilian coffee brand Um Coffee Co.

In addition, he is also the sixth chief coffee master with whom Luckin established a partnership in November 2023. At that time, when Boram joined Luckin's "WBC Champion Team," it attracted much attention and discussion among many coffee lovers, and many joked that Luckin seemed to want to monopolize the WBC champion seats.

Because of his own strength, handsome looks, and labels such as Luckin champion spokesperson, Boram has extremely high popularity in China's coffee circle. In front of the Um Coffee Co. stall, fans who come because of his fame can always be seen taking photos with him, comparable to a star-chasing scene.

But when he appeared at the Gu Ming Coffee bar and shook milk tea for customers placing orders, many people said the scene was too unexpected: "Isn't this darn guy one of our Luckin people?", "Poached by Gu Ming?", "Isn't this the guy I see every day at work? When did he switch jobs?" In the comments, some netizens even called out to Luckin, "Your handsome guy has been poached by Gu Ming."

Aside from the joking, fans who know Boram said that this highly popular handsome man seems to have taken a liking to Chinese milk tea recently. Previously, some netizens noticed him holding a milk tea cup at certain events. And at this coffee festival, milk teas given to him by fans could often be seen at the Um Coffee Co. stall where Boram was.

Perhaps precisely because of this, Gu Ming invited Boram to serve as the stall's one-day store manager, and also made good use of his handsome appearance and relatively high popularity to strongly attract a wave of looks-focused visitors to come watch and queue up to buy pearl milk tea shaken by a coffee champion.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.