The 7th World Coffee Championship 2025

World Coffee Championship Roasting Champion Lee Kwang-ki: "Coffee is My Life... I'm Happiest When Roasting"

Lee Kwang-ki (39), winner of the World Coffee Championship (WCC) roasting division, is sampling coffee bean aroma while roasting.

Lee Kwang-ki's life revolves around coffee. Though his name sounds Korean, he's Vietnamese—known as 'LE QUANG KY' in Vietnam. His Chinese ancestry explains the Korean-style character notation.

Born and raised in Buon Ma Thuot, the capital of Vietnam's largest coffee-producing region Dak Lak, Lee grew up surrounded by coffee. His parents have cultivated a 6,000-pyeong coffee plantation since the 1980s, making the farm his childhood playground.

After majoring in coffee studies at Tay Nguyen University and working as a quality control manager at Sucden Vietnam, Lee came to Korea in 2014. He earned his master's degree in international business at Ajou University in 2016 and now works as an international marketing manager for a Korean SME, handling everything from green bean purchasing to product development.

The Challenge For Lee, the 7th World Coffee Championship held during the '2025 Gyeongchun Line Coffee Festival' was a personal challenge. "I roast daily, but I wanted professional evaluation of my skills," he explains.

The Winning Formula Lee prepared intensively for a month, focusing on expressing the original taste and aroma of green beans. For the Ethiopian Guji Uraga Natural beans, he perfected an 8-minute, 30-second roasting process to highlight tropical fruit, berry, and floral notes. He set the DTR (Development Time Ratio) to 15% for maximum acidity and sweetness.

In the brewing division, Lee created a winning blend: 50% Ethiopian Guji Tero, 30% Kenya Nyeri Mungaria, and 20% Colombia La Luisa Supremo, extracted at 95°C with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio.

The Results At the finals held at 'Landscape with Train' cafe in Seoul, Lee won first place in roasting and second in brewing.

"I'm honored to receive this award," Lee says. "Coffee isn't just a beverage—it's culture. I want to promote Vietnamese coffee culture, from the world's second-largest producer, throughout Korea and globally."

His Mission Through his expertise and passion, Lee aims to bridge Vietnam and Korea through the universal language of coffee, sharing his homeland's rich coffee heritage with the world.

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