CIC All Star: Ivan Bilousov

Please tell us a little about yourself:

Hi! My name is Ivan Bilousov.

I’m the 2025 Ukrainian Cezve/Ibrik Vice Champion and the 2024 Ukrainian Champion. In 2024, I also placed third at the world competition in Copenhagen, and I’m really happy to be on the WCC Dubai stage as an All Star this year.

I’m from Ukraine and I work as a Head Barista at IDEALIST COFFEE & CO — a large coffee company where we roast specialty coffee, work with partners, and run 12 coffee shops in our capital city, Kyiv.

I’ve been in love with cezve since childhood. For Ukrainians, it’s a very authentic and meaningful brewing method. Almost in every home we have a cezve, and it’s often connected with family, warmth, and a feeling of home.

My goal is to popularize cezve/ibrik in my country and around the world, and to show that coffee brewed in cezve can taste truly amazing. I really enjoy explaining complex things in a simple, friendly way — without snobbery — and breaking coffee myths. I hope I’m doing that well, and I’m excited to continue this bright journey.

What are three fun facts about you?

I came to coffee completely by accident, when I was a student. I started working as a barista, and I was really inspired by the people around me — colleagues who supported me and helped me grow. That’s how I began to dive deeper into coffee and move toward developing coffee culture.

At the Ukrainian Cezve/Ibrik Championship in 2024, we had a record number of competitors — 16 participants. For us, that really shows how much we love this coffee and this brewing method.

I don’t have a driver’s license for a car, but I do have a license to drive a train. I graduated from college as a train driver. Could I ever imagine that ten years later we would start a small coffee revolution? Today, you can buy drip coffee on Ukrainian Railways trains and enjoy a good filter coffee without even leaving your compartment.

Why is CIC special to you?

Ibrik is not just coffee for me — it’s my life.

My friends often say that when they think about cezve in Ukraine, they think about me. These words mean a lot to me and give me motivation to keep moving in the right direction.

Everything started with a simple home ritual with my grandmother at our house. She passed her love for cezve on to me. Later, when I saw first cezve/ibrik competitions on stage, I realized that I had something to share and something to show. That’s why I worked toward stepping onto this stage for five years — and now I’m here.

Ukraine has a very rich coffee heritage. Crimean Tatars traditionally brew cezve on sand, sharing warmth, patience, and love through this method. We are proud of our culture and at the same time, we deeply respect a lot of countries that also consider cezve/ibrik their national coffee.

Coffee connects people. It open space for self-expression. Through coffee, we can show hospitality, creativity, performance, and professionalism.

Cezve coffee is my whole life, and I truly hope these words inspire you to brew and enjoy coffee made in cezve/ibrik.

What are your interests outside of coffee?

At the moment, I’m studying in a master’s program at Chernivtsi National University, focusing on food technology with a specialization in products made from subtropical raw materials — tea, coffee, and cocoa. I believe this will open new opportunities for developing coffee science in Ukraine. I’m very grateful to the Ukrainian SCA National Coordinator, Khrystyna Havrysh, for this amazing opportunity.

Outside of studying and growing as a coffee professional, I really enjoy swimming and skiing. In my free time, I try to travel around Ukraine and host open cezve workshops in different cities across the country.

And I truly love music. I listen to it all the time — it feels like an engine that keeps pushing me forward, helping me grow and improve.