Matthew Smithies of Five Senses Coffee has won the Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) 2019 Western Region TCX (The Cup Exchange) Cup Tasters Championship.
Ru Teow of Laika Coffee Roasters placed second and Cheng Paul placed third.
The event was held at Howdy Coffee in Bayswater, Western Australia on 20 October.
In the Cup Tasters competition, three cups are placed in a triangle, with two cups being identical coffees and one cup being different. Using their smell, taste, attention and experience, the competitor must identify the odd cup in the triangle as quickly as they can. The winner is the taster who picks out the greatest number of correct coffees in the shortest amount of time.
The Northern and Southern Region Cup Tasters Championships took place earlier in the year, with Callum Jubb of Black Star winning the northern regional and Juwon Jungof Mikro Coffee Roasters winning the southern regional.
The ASCA 2019 Central Region Coffee Championship, including the Central Region Cup Tasters Championship, will take place from 27 to 28 October.
The ASCA 2019 Western Region Barista, Latte Art and Brewers Cup Championships will be held at the Double Shot Coffee Fiesta in South Australia from 3 to 4 November.
Matthew will compete in the ASCA 2019 Australian Cup Tasters Championship at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo in February.