2011 AASCA Australian Specialty Coffee Championships on the Gold Coast
The crema of the coffee crop were on the Gold Coast at the end of January to see who would emerge as Australia's best and be our representative for the world title.
Twenty-year old Matt Perger was named the Detpak National Barista Champion at the 2011 Australian Specialty Coffee Championships that took place at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from 28 to 30 January.
The annual event, organised by the Australasian Specialty Coffee Association (AASCA), saw top baristas from every state compete in the Detpak Australian Barista Championship, AASCA’s Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, National Foods/Dairy Farmers Australian Latte Art Championship and the Detpak Australian Cup Tasting Championship.
Matt will go on to compete in the World Barista Championship in Bogota, Colombia this June. The annual international event, founded by the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe and the Specialty Coffee Association of America, will welcome national finalists to determine who will take the global titles. While Australia has excelled in this competition over the last few years, so far the country has only produced one global champion, Paul Bassett in 2003.
“At these competitions, the camaraderie between baristas is really extraordinary, everyone’s a team,” says Matt of this year’s national event. “At the world level, we’re really seeing Australia dominating the global coffee scene.”
Erin Sampson, who currently works as an Account Manager at Veneziano, came in a close second. This is Erin’s second time competing in the Detpak National Barista Championship, although she’s no stranger to success, having been named the 2009 national latte art champion and going on to win third in the world.
“It’s a little disappointing getting so close,” she says. “But I’m excited at the same time to come in second. It was a crazy competition, with so many fantastic people. With every step I’m surprised to come across so many great people.”
Meanwhile, this year’s National Foods/Dairy Farmers Australian Latte Art champion, Kirby Berlin; Detpak Cup Tasting Champion and BeanScene columnist, Luca Constanzo and; the AASCA Coffee in Good Spirits Champion, Mitch Faulkner, will all go to Maastricht, the Netherlands, this June for the International Specialty Coffee Championship.
This might be the last year that the finalists from the latte art, cocktail, and barista championships will compete at separate events, as next year’s rules will see the three combined into a single event. This is also the first year the World Barista Competition will be held in a coffee-producing nation.
“With every year, we’re seeing the quality of our competitors improve, as Australia is taking its place as one of the world’s leading coffee nations,” says Bill Comley, AASCA President.
“These competitions lets us stay really close to the grassroots side of the industry,” adds Zoe Detmold from Detpak, the competition’s primary sponsor. “We like how they’re striving for excellence and quality and that’s what we’re all about.”
The event was held over three days in conjunction with the Gold Coast Food and Wine Show. The competitions all started with a repechage or open round that gave finalists from state competitions a second chance to compete in the semi-finals against state winners.
In the Detpak Australian Barista Championship round, competitors have 15 minutes to produce four espressos, four cappuccinos and four signature drinks. While two judges observe the technical skills of the barista, four judges taste the final product and assign points based on flavour profile, balance and texture.
In AASCA’s Coffee in Good Spirits Competition, baristas have eight minutes to produce two industry standard Irish Coffees and two designer beverages.
As for the National Foods/Dairy Farmers Australian Latte Art Championship, this was the first year the competition followed new international regulations. While they competed under the old rules at the state level, these new rules had to be applied at the national level so that the artist could qualify for the international competition.
In the new format, competitors are judged over three rounds. In the first round they have 10 minutes to produce a designer beverage that is photographed. The photographs are then given to the panel of judges who rank the beverages as they see fit, with no information on the competitors. In the second round they have six minutes on stage to produce two lattes and two designer beverages judged by two visual and one technical judge. In the final round the contestants have eight minutes to produce two latte macchiatos, two lattes and two designer beverages.
What caused a stir among the crowd was the new “wheel of art” that spins showing various designs of latte art and macchiato. When the wheel lands, the contestants have to reproduce two of each. For the final designer beverage they can pour the design of their choice, however another wheel decides the shape of the cup.
For the Detpak Australian Cup Tasting Championship, competitors go head-to- head in a timed match that sees contestants taste eight groups of three cups of coffee. In each group, the taster has to put forward the coffee they think is different than the other two. In the event that more than one competitor reaches the top score, then the time determines the winner.
