BeanScene Magazine

Creating a routine for a national barista competition is one thing; improving on that and shipping it all to Colombia is just ridiculous. Competing at the worlds is going to be a totally different ball game and there’s a lot of planning to be done.

In the coming months, I will be ruthless in my preparations for the World Barista Championship (WBC). I have some big shoes to fill and want to represent the Australian specialty coffee industry to the absolute best of my ability. Here are some of my thoughts, concerns and strategies while preparing to represent Australia in Bogota come June.



Let’s start with coffee. My blend(s) for the WBC will have to be more than just delicious. It needs to be versatile, easy to use, readily available and the most amazing thing you’ve ever tasted – all at once. This is no easy task. In my opinion, there is one aspect to truly great coffee that is more important than the roast, extraction and barista combined. This is the quality of the green beans. The best roaster/barista in the world couldn’t make a good cup of coffee from bad quality green.

First on my list was Fleur Studd of Melbourne Coffee Merchants. The quality of green she is importing has been amazing and I am confident that she will find something special for me to take to Colombia. So far, I have been to a few cuppings where we tasted the latest arrivals from Brazil, Tanzania and Bolivia. Some of these coffees are very promising and I can’t wait to throw them in the roaster.

That brings me to roasting. I recently started roasting with David Makin and Zoe Delany for Axil Coffee Roasters. The majority of my blend for the Australian Final was roasted at Axil and I feel confident roasting my WBC coffees with them. Over the next few months I will be working with Zoe to find a roast profile that makes my chosen coffees sing through the espresso machine. I am really looking forward to this part of my preparations; the satisfaction from sourcing, roasting and extracting a coffee with your own hands is something special.


One concern about brewing coffee in Bogota is elevation. Bogota is the world’s third highest capital city, sitting at 2600 metres above sea level. Water will boil at 91.3 degrees Celsius and as you know, water temperature is kind of a big deal when it comes to brewing coffee. Another factor that changes rather drastically is air pressure. There is a lot of debate as to how this will affect the espressos at WBC, most of it being speculation. I’ll be taking matters into my own hands by attempting to recreate these conditions atop Mt Buller. Once I am happy with my coffee, I’ll be taking a little road trip with an espresso machine and pulling some shots up there. It’s not quite at 2600 metres, but we can hopefully get an idea of how things will change in Bogota and adjust accordingly.



Signature beverages are always a lot of work. Espresso and food just don’t seem to like each other. This is a portion of the competition I always struggle with; coming up with an exciting, never before seen drink that also tastes great is exceptionally hard. At the moment, I have no ideas. This isn’t because I’m lazy, it’s because I haven’t tasted my blend yet!  A lot of points are allocated towards the “synergy” between signature drink and coffee, so I want to create a drink that is inspired by the coffee – not a premeditated method or idea.

Once I have tasted the coffee, I will focus on one or two of its flavours and devise a drink from there. I will try to get in contact with as many chefs, cocktail barmen and people-who-deal-with-tasty-things as I can. Hopefully, I will gain some interesting and unique methods to apply to the signature drink and wow the judges in Colombia.

Speaking of Colombia, it’s kind of far away. This gets me thinking about luggage. I reckon the table setting I used for the Australian Finals was pretty cool, but I can’t take it to Colombia. It is far, far too heavy. The excess luggage for a short trip to the Gold Coast wasn’t pretty, and I can’t imagine how much it would be for an international flight. This is not to mention all the other equipment and trappings of a barista competitor’s routine. Glassware could break, excess luggage could cripple me and customs might not let certain materials into the country, such as milk.

Finding good milk will be difficult in Bogota. Although high altitude dairies are known to produce better milk, I don’t know where to look. This is a big unknown that really scares me. For peace of mind, I will have to find a milk that suits my coffee and travel with it to Colombia. Hopefully customs is okay with it, or I could find myself running around every supermarket in Bogota tasting their milk selections two days before the WBC.

Training will be the biggest part of my preparations for worlds. I’ll start off doing what’s known as a technical routine. Just the basics: making four espressos, four cappuccinos and four “signature drinks” without talking or using ingredients. This is to get me practising good habits and developing muscle memories for the way I’ll be making my drinks. Next, will be routines using my chosen coffee. This is where I’ll get to know it in all situations. Short shots, long shots, five days from roast, 10 days from roast, high dose, low dose, etc. This stage of preparation can be really gruelling, as you need to stay motivated about your coffee choice. After drinking it 100 times it’s hard to remind yourself how amazing it is.

Closer to June I will add in my script for the judges, put the finishing touches on my signature drink and devise a playlist which matches my routine. No matter how much planning I do, it seems as though those last few weeks are always insane. Luckily, I have an amazing team helping me out; the generosity of everyone in the specialty coffee industry never ceases to amaze me.



Over the next few months I will be madly preparing for the WBC, helping Zoe and Dave open Axil Coffee Roasters and drinking as much coffee as humanly possible. At time of writing, I am packing for a short trip to North America. Some very exciting things are happening in the world of specialty coffee over there and I need to check it out. Hopefully I’ll return home with a head full of ideas and ready to take on the world.