A Filipina barista based in the UAE has claimed one of the coffee world’s notable international honours, winning the 2026 Lavazza Barista Challenge International Finals while representing her adopted home of more than a decade.
Lablibell Bajarias took the title at the fourth edition of the competition, held at La Centrale Nuvola Lavazza in Turin, Italy, where 20 baristas gathered after earning their respective national titles. South Africa’s Daniel Smith and Japan’s Hiroto Suzuki finished second and third.
Bajarias won with a signature drink she named “Il Bosco” (The Forest), drawing inspiration from Milan’s Bosco Verticale towers and built on the Lavazza Tales of Italy Galleria blend. The creation layered zero-waste dates coffee saccharum, lacto-fermented strawberry, cascara infusion and butter-infused coffee into a single cup, pairing Emirati heritage with Milanese influence. She also took home the Community Prize, decided by votes from the global Lavazza network.
“When my name was announced, I felt an overwhelming mix of gratitude, pride, and disbelief. I felt proud to represent not only myself, but also my team and my country, the UAE,” Bajarias said. “Winning is not the destination, it’s a new beginning to develop my skills and inspire a new generation of baristas.”
Originally from the Philippines, Bajarias began her coffee career 12 years ago at a café in Dubai, learning the trade before testing herself on the competition circuit. She won the UAE National Brewers Cup in 2018 and went on to represent the country at the 2019 World Brewers Cup Championship in Boston. A fourth-place finish at the 2021 UAE Brewers Championship followed, then a pair of runner-up results in 2025 — at the UAE Barista Championship in January and the UAE Coffee in Good Spirits Championship in September. Her win at the 2025 UAE Lavazza Barista Challenge sent her through to the international stage.
For Bajarias, the Turin victory carried meaning for two countries at once — the UAE she has called home for 12 years, and the Philippines where her journey began.
Sara Yousef, Lavazza MEA Marketing Manager, praised the result. “We are absolutely thrilled and immensely proud of Lablibell! Her achievement is a testament to the strength and potential of the UAE’s coffee community,” she said. “This global win reinforces our commitment to nurturing local talent and driving innovation in the region: we are more excited than ever for what the future holds.”
The international finals ran as a three-day programme themed “The Perfect Blend Between Tradition & Innovation,” combining workshops, site visits and team challenges. Competitors were asked to pull a precise Italian espresso using Lavazza’s Tales of Italy blends and to craft an original non-alcoholic, espresso-based drink reflecting their own culture, with an international panel judging both technical execution and sensory creativity.
When she is not competing, Bajarias runs a small café in Ras Al Khaimah, where she continues to experiment with new ideas and mentor other baristas. For her, she says, coffee is less about the drink than about passion, connection and the stories shared over a cup.
