Dan Fellows’ first attempt at the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship (CIGS) in 2012 left him feeling as though he had something to prove.
“[I] finished fourth after having issues with an AeroPress in the finals round,” Dan says. “As I did not feel I delivered my best possible performance that year, this has always left me with a feeling of having unfinished business with CIGS. Becoming World Champion very much feels like redemption.”
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Dreams played a large role in Irvine Quek Siew Lhek’s World Latte Art Championship (WLAC) performance, from his goal of earning Malaysia its first coffee championship trophy to his dream of being alone on a deserted island, which inspired his island animal designs. He has always dreamed big.
“I actually had a hidden message to deliver in my story and routine. What I said to the judges and audience was ‘I had a dream’, and I presented all the animals I saw in my dream,” Irvine says.
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Jenny Willits is comfortable working on big marketing campaigns for iconic brands with huge budgets. She recalls working on an award-winning TV commercial for Lion Nathan’s Boag’s Draught, “From the Pure Water of Tasmania”, at Publicis Mojo. She’s worked on a global print campaign for Ericsson telecommunications with a budget in excess of £1 million ($1.7 million) and a two-week shoot in South Africa, and the list of high-end brands rolls on: Nescafé, Kahlúa, Ballantine’s whisky, Kellogg’s, and Foxtel.
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There were moments in Peru I didn’t lift my camera. I needed to remember the beauty and vividness of the austere peaks and earnest valleys without social construct. Peru is genuine, friendly, and unspoilt, a magnificent land where the nationality and culture is as vibrant as the colours woven into the traditional clothing.
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Weddings are a big occasion in anyone’s life. Tradition stipulates that a bride must wear something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.
The 2019 Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) might not be a wedding per se, but it’s definitely a celebration that will unite the coffee industry and see family members travel from far and wide to attend. Read more
There are some magical coffee moments you never forget. For Dinner By Heston Blumenthal’s Chef Director Ashley Palmer-Watts, that moment was five years ago when he, two chefs, and a maître d’ climbed Africa’s highest mountain peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. Read more
Every Tuesday, Dirk Sickmueller, General Manager of premier export company Taylor Winch (Coffee) in Nairobi, goes to auction. Rather than a vision of excited bankers yelling out figures and gesticulating wildly like a scene from The Wolf of Wall Street, green bean buyers and local roasters bunker down in a theatre-style auction hall.
The scene appears more subdued thanks to the digital platform the Nairobi Coffee Exchange implemented 20 years back, which only a few months ago had an upgrade to include a web camera and TV screens so that farmers in certain coffee growing regions can watch the bidding action unfold. Prices are displayed on a large digital screen. The numbers fly back and forth, with the final print, or best bid, confirmed or noted to a particular buyer. Read more
Cow number 125 is always first to Stanvale Farm’s milk station each morning. Number 6389 is always one of the last.
“Cows are more intelligent than people give them credit for,” says Dairy Farmer Gordon Lockett. “They’re creatures of habit. They’re instinctive animals that understand routine and like consistency.” Read more
Prior to 2015, Colombia produced coffees for quantity, not quality. All of the country’s coffees were washed processed due to a restriction imposed by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) to promote only cultivars that focused on volume. The aim was “balanced, elegant, and clean” coffee, not exotic.
“The Federation checks every lot that leaves Colombia. If the coffees were found to be anything other than washed processed, it would be rejected,” coffee importing business Cofinet Co-founder and Director Carlos Arcila says. Read more
The end of July saw two returning champions crowned at great competitions held in Auckland.
L’affare Melrose hosted a record number of 34 coffee cuppers for the New Zealand Cup Tasters Championship. With standing room only, the talented cuppers eventually whittled down to the final round.
Impressively, this was the first time that all four finalists scored eight out of eight cups correctly in the open round. This included Takahito Koyanagi of Toasted Espresso in Auckland, 2016 NZ Cup Tasters Champion; Woo Hyung Lee of Camper Coffee who entered at the last minute; May Chan of Story Coffee in Auckland; and Stu Hargie, representing Jacobs Douwe Egberts and 2011 NZ Cup Taster Champion. Read more