Dialling in Success: How Carlos Escobar Secured 3rd Place at the 2025 World Brewers Cup

The World Brewers Cup was an incredibly busy event for our team, with 88% of competitors using APAX LAB for their water recipes!

While we’ve supported many competitors in perfecting their water over the past few months, our co-founder Simon Gautherin was fully dedicated to coaching his long-time friend and collaborator, Carlos Escobar from Differente Coffee in Colombia. Carlos is deeply connected to the origins of APAX LAB—the TONIK profile was inspired by the water Carlos used during the World Championship in 2021, and JAMM was developed specifically for his National Championship in 2022.

Carlos and Simon have followed the same structured approach to dialling in coffee recipes for competition since 2019. Remarkably, this methodology has consistently secured Carlos among the top finalists every time he’s competed!

Their method is straightforward and effective:

Step 1: Selection of coffee and roast profile.

Step 2: Adjustment and refinement of the brewing technique and recipe.

Step 3: Final fine-tuning exclusively through mineral content adjustments in the water. 

Why focus on water at this critical stage? Because mineral content in water is the most precise, replicable, and impactful variable. On competition day, if the coffee changes even slightly, it can easily and quickly be rectified by making subtle mineral adjustments.

 

What "ingredients" did we work with this year?

Coffee Selection:

Carlos chose a Natural Maracaturra from Peñas Blancas, fermented using Mossto. This coffee naturally showcases vibrant tropical fruit notes, particularly yellow and orange, along with bright acidity.

Minerals Used:

• TONIK: Enhances brightness, vibrancy, complex acidity, and mouthwatering qualities. Since the coffee naturally has pronounced acidity, TONIK was carefully dosed to avoid creating imbalance when the coffee cooled, due to its high Magnesium and Sodium levels.
• JAMM: Delivers sweetness, body, and roundness. While it slightly tones down the Maracaturra’s acidity, it significantly boosts fullness and richness. Excessive JAMM can lead to astringency when cold, due to the higher proportions of Calcium and Bicarbonate.
• LYLAC: Our secret weapon for unmatched aftertaste length. With no Calcium and the presence of Sulfate, LYLAC contributes a uniquely silky, elegant mouthfeel, floral nuances, and a lingering finish. However, too much can thin out the coffee’s body.
• KONFLUX: Our newest mineral profile, developed to harmonise the cup. KONFLUX balances acidity, adds a coating texture and lingering sweetness, without altering the coffee’s inherent flavour profile. It’s particularly effective with clean coffees that require added structure and sweetness while preserving their delicate tropical and citrus notes.

Water Recipes & Fine-tuning

Below you’ll find the detailed water recipe logs from Carlos’s practice sessions:

Notice how these final 15 recipes involved adjustments exclusively to the water composition. Initially, the base water scored approximately a 7 internally. By strategically adjusting minerals, we could confidently achieve a 10.

Why rely solely on water adjustments?

There are various paths to reach a top-quality brew, but water is the variable we trust the most. It is precise, predictable, and consistently impactful. Tiny tweaks have substantial effects, and our detailed logs reflect this predictability. Out of all our adjustments, we only once made a cup worse than the previous one. A clear understanding of mineral composition allows us to predict outcomes methodically, rather than gamble with uncertain changes.

The process feels more akin to cooking rather than relying purely on metrics or formulas. We blend experience, intuition, and careful tasting—like seasoning food—to achieve optimal results.

Why APAX LAB instead of individual minerals?

For years, our team confidently worked with up to 12 individual minerals. However, we've learned that sometimes less is more. Having too many options can create decision paralysis and complicate analysis unnecessarily. APAX LAB was created to simplify and speed up decision-making, eliminating the need for every user to have deep, technical knowledge about individual ions and minerals.

Moving Forward

This year marks the 6th year of Carlos and Simon’s partnership—with Carlos behind the wheel and Simon guiding the engineering—and not once have they missed a podium finish using this method. Sharing APAX LAB and our precise methodology might seem like giving away our biggest competitive advantage. Yet, we genuinely believe it empowers thousands of people worldwide to consistently brew better coffee with ease.

This openness also pushes us beyond our comfort zone, challenging us to discover the next breakthrough in coffee. And we can confidently say, we’ve already found our next innovation… stay tuned!