Léo Moço
Brazil
Café do Moço
Please tell us a little about yourself:
I’m 39 years old and I have been part of the coffee industry for nearly 15 years. Me and my wife have a coffee shop with a roastery (Café do Moço) in Curitiba.
How did you get started in coffee?:
I’m a nutritionist and IT analyst but quit everything to work with specialty coffee in 2005. I started living on a coffee farm for three months and since that time I haven’t stopped learning. For two years, I dedicated myself to study coffee roasting, and in 2009 I launched my coffee roastery, Café do Moço. In 2014, myself and my wife opened our first coffee shop, the Barista Coffee Bar. Today I’m focused on working with small farmers to improve their coffees, always trying to increase the specialty coffee market in Brazil.
Please list the coffee competitions you have participated in, what year they took place, and your results:
Regional Rio de Janeiro Barista Championship 2007 – 1st
Regional Rio de Janeiro Barista Championship 2008 – 1st
Regional Rio de Janeiro Barista Championship 2009 – 3rd
Brazilian Barista Cup 2008 – 1st
Brazilian Barista Cup 2009 – 2nd
Brazilian Barista Cup 2010 – 1st
Brazilian Barista Cup 2011 – 3rd
Brazilian National Brewers Cup 2012 – 2nd
Brazilian National Brewers Cup 2014 – 2nd
Brazilian National Brewers Cup 2016 – 3rd
Brazilian National Brewers Cup 2018 – 1st
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2005 – 21st
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2006 – 6th
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2007 – 8th
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2008 – 5th
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2009 – 10th
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2011 – 5th
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2012 – 6th
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2013 – 1st
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2014 – 3rd
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2015 – 1st
Brazilian National Barista Championship 2016 – 1st
Brazilian National Cup Tasters 2018 – 9th
Brazilian National Coffee Roaster Championship 2018 – 5th
World Barista Championship 2014 – 49th, Round One
World Barista Championship 2016 – 42nd, Round One
World Barista Championship 2017 – 31st, Round One
What are you excited to do while you are in Brazil?:
As the Brazilian coffee embassador in the World Brewers Cup I want to take this chance to show as many people as possible how Brazil is improving in the Specialty Coffee Market, producing complex and amazing coffees, developing everybody in the coffee chain.
What coffee-producing country most interests or excites you?:
Ethiopia
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?:
Providing Brazilian ultra specialty coffee for all the baristas in the world.
Is there anyone you would like to thank or recognize, or who helped you to prepare for the competition?:
My wife, Estela Cotes
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