Ten of the world’s best baristas are set to compete in the fourth edition of Barista & Farmer from 1 to 10 June in Colombia.
The international talent event is dedicated to the promotion of specialty coffee in the world’s third largest coffee producing country.
Seven-time Italian Barista Champion Francesco Sanapo in collaboration with Italian Exhibition Group, Sigep, and the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA), will host the event.
The 10 finalists, chosen from 250 professionals, will live like producers on Colombian coffee farms in the Meta and Huila regions. They include Finca La Cabaña in San Augustin; Finca el Paraiso in Vereda Cristo Rey; and Finca Bellavista, Finca Santana el Bolson and Finca el Mirador in the municipality of Pitalito.
Cocaine producers previously owned the land until the Colombian government confiscated the Southern Colombian farms and donated them to small producers.
“Common characteristics of the chosen plantations are the excellence and quality of the coffee they produce, together with the great passion of the producers who work in full respect of the farmers and their families, the protection of the surrounding area and the environment,” says Barista & Farmer organisers.
The 10 barista competitors will have the chance to discover the entire coffee processing cycle through the use of different technologies, tasting experiences and various consumption opportunities. They will pick cherries, harvest beans, use depulping machines, conduct various processing methods, and roast coffee.
The baristas will also participate in competitions and theoretical lessons in the Barista & Farmer Academy where they will learn the latest production techniques and, for the first time, create a personalised blend. Baristas will also participate in the SCA Coffee Skills Program and learn about agronomy, botany, raw coffee, roasting, and extraction methods.
Numerous teachers will lead the baristas through educational sessions, including World Coffee Events’ Sonja Grant and Scot Conary, and 2018 Australian Coffee Roasting Champion Ben Toovey of Genovese Coffee.
Among this year’s new features, the competitors will engage in activities dedicated to the discovery of Colombian culture through traditional dance, painting, sports lessons, cooking and guided tours.
This year’s finalists are Sara Ricci of Italy, Diego Campos of Colombia, Iuliia Dziadevych of Ukraine, Matija Matijaško of Croatia, Daniel Munari of Brazil, Victoria Rovenskaya of Russia, Vala Stefansdottir of Iceland, David Lau-Cong Yuan of China, Rie Hasuda Moore of Japan, and Glenn Bailey of Australia, a coffee training specialist for Grinders Coffee Roasters.
“I can’t wait to immerse myself in the complex production process and to [better understand] what happens during every step, to ensure I always choose high quality coffee.”
For more information and to watch Barista & Farmer, visit www.baristafarmer.com
