Campos Coffee has won Champion Australian Roaster at the 2020 Australian International Coffee Awards, in a ceremony held at St Ali Coffee Roasters on 12 March.
Campos Coffee Head Roaster Jamie Djambazov accepted the award.
“It’s an excellent achievement and quite overwhelming,” Jamie tells BeanScene. “At Campos it’s all a team effort, from green bean sourcing to roasting and cupping.
“The time and effort we’ve put in over the years with research and development has paid off. We’ve really focused on how we can do better and receive better results from our roasting and how that translates in espresso and filter coffees.”
Campos also won the in the Champion Direct Trade or Microlot Coffee and Champion Filter Coffee categories. The winning coffee in both categories was the Super Mario Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama.
“It’s an amazing coffee. We purchased it recently from Esmeralda and this particular coffee is sweet, juicy, and has clarity and complexity,” Jamie says.
“It’s so outstanding and overwhelming, and not like any other Geisha natural we’ve had in a long time.”
The Taiwan-based Caffe Artigiano won Champion International Roaster, as well as Champion Espresso and Champion Milk Based Coffee.
New Zealand’s Gourmet Espresso won the Champion Cold Brew Coffee category, an award not handed out in 2019.
The 2020 Australian International Coffee Awards staged by The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV) broke records, with more than 800 entries from 174 exhibitors across Australia and internationally. Gold medals were awarded to 15 entries.
Head Judge for the Australian International Coffee Awards, Melissa Caia, says while there’s been stand out roasters this year claiming the top honours, the field was highly competitive.
“It was terrific to have a notable improvement in the quality of entries. With the significant increase in the number of roasters entering from both Australia and internationally, it’s a true reflection of the international status of the Australian International Coffee Awards,” she says.
RASV CEO Brad Jenkins says the impressive participation this year reflects the high regard that the awards program is held within the Industry:
“To see the record-breaking numbers of Australian entries this year tells us that the Australian International Coffee Awards is benefiting those who take part, and that more and more producers are looking to participate each year. It’s also pleasing to see continued growth and evolution in international exhibitors,” he says.
“While the morning cup of coffee is something we all like to assess, these awards are about more than celebrating a good brew – at its core is supporting our agricultural industries who are able to benchmark their products against each other nationally and internationally.”
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