Nuno Park, Director of Fragment Coffee Roasters, has won the 2022 Central Region Cup Tasters Championship for the second time.
Nuno scored a perfect eight out of eight triangulation sets of coffees guessed correctly in the fastest time of six minutes and 13 seconds. Nuno says he is overjoyed to claim the title once again after winning the 2019 Central Region Cup Tasters Championship.
“I’m really humbled by the win this time. I keep watching the videos of the competition over and over, I still can’t believe it,” says Nuno.
“It wasn’t until I was handed the trophy that I realised I had won.”
Andy Cheng placed second with eight out of eight triangulation sets of coffees correct and Tay Carmin placed third with seven out of eight triangulation sets of coffees correct.
Despite his victory, Nuno faced many difficult challenges in the lead up to the competition.
“I had been preparing for this year’s Cup Tasters since the end of last year, when suddenly I was diagnosed with multiple levels of cervical disc herniation, which I’m still suffering from,” he says.
“I’m not allowed to keep my chin down for long to cup coffee or look at my phone. It’s made me very sad and annoyed over the last five months. Every second I’ve been concentrating on my neck, head, shoulders and the endless irritation and pain.”
Nuno had planned to end his coffee competition journey if he didn’t make it through to the final, as he believes his taste sensitivity will weaken as he gets older.
“I was desperate to get some positivity back into my life. I was seeing the bottom of my career and life in the wake of COVID-19, but I knew the more difficulties I faced, the more I would appreciate the wins. [I call] this Central Region Cup Tasters my ‘rise and fall’, personally,” says Nuno.
Nuno says he trained like he was competing at the World Cup Tasters Final, readying himself to take a calm and steady approach.
“I mentally prepared myself to go through each triangulation, just as I’d trained, and ended up finding the competition not too difficult. The only challenge I faced was the second triangulation set of coffees, which I spent more than three minutes on,” he says.
Nuno says the message he wants to deliver is that age and talent does not matter when it comes to competing in coffee competitions, as long as you remain committed.
“Just keep it up and practice like the other world champions. Under whatever circumstances you face, you are the same as the people who win. Believe in yourself as much as you trained but don’t lose objectiveness. Next time will be your time to shine, and if not, another next time,” he says.
After an exhausting weekend which took place at Grinders Coffee in Leichhardt from 20 to 22 May, Nuno celebrated his second Central Region Cup Tasters win with dinner with his wife.
Minas Hill was appointed this year’s official Australian Green Bean partner for the competition, providing all the Cup Taster competition coffees.
Other Central Region Coffee Champions include Angus Mackie, who now holds the title of the Vitasoy Central Region Barista Champion, while Isaac Kim placed second and Zhuolu Xie placed third.
Sasa Sestic won the 2022 Central Region Brewers Cup Championship, while Pirada Tungbenjaphol placed second and Rawirat Techasitthenet placed third.
Read more comp news: https://www.beanscenemag.com.au/june-kim-wins-2022-central-region-latte-art-championship/
