Sunkissed Broadbeach, Gold Coast was again the setting for the 2011 Specialty Coffee Championships over the weekend. 4 competitions have been run and won with the winners representing Australia in June at Bogota, Colombia for the World Barista Championship and Holland for Coffee in Good Spirits, Latte Art and Cup Tasting. Congratulations to the following people: Coffee in Good Spirits
1: Mitch Falkner
2: Emily Ch’ng
Latte Art
1: Kirby Berlin
2: Fiefy
3: Scott Luengen
Cup Tasting
1: Luca Costanzo
2: Ben Bicknell
3: Sam Sgambellone
Barista:
1: Matt Perger
2: Erin Sampson
3: Will Priestley
4: Jean-Paul Sutton
5: Craig Simon
6: Ron Ngo
The Espresso School made the trip up and judged the Barista Championships in the repechage and semi-finals. This year has certainly been the most competitive field of baristas assembled in the last few years. Four of the 6 finalists were competitors who had won the right to compete from repechage and semi-final stages, leaving only 2 state champions making it through to the final on Sunday - QLD and TAS. Big name roasters dominated the competition with the make of the finals consisting of Erin Sampson (VIC - Veneziano Coffee), Craig Simon (VIC - Veneziano Coffee), Matt Perger (VIC - Axil Coffee, Market Lane Coffee), Will Priestley (TAS - Axil Coffee), Jean-Paul Sutton (QLD - Veneziano Coffee) and Ronald Ngo (WA - 5 Senses Coffee).
