Melbourne Coffee Week is official underway, with the first of the week-long celebration of coffee events starting with the Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) Coffee In Good Spirits Championship (CIGS).
From 6 – 10pm on 10 March, the coffee community is invited upstairs to the Panama Dining Room in Melbourne’s Fitzroy to see baristas creating coffee based cocktails, while enjoying a drink themselves.
The barista meets barkeep competition, thanks to Galliano, will act as a warm up event for the Melbourne Coffee Week launch party.
This upscale cocktail bar will provide the backdrop for Australia’s coffee cocktail masters, as they compete for the chance to represent the country on the world stage. The party is open to the public.
The CIGS competition highlights mycologist’s skills as they create drinks where coffee and alcohol par together in perfect harmony – such as the Irish coffee.
During the preliminary round, competitors produce four drinks – two identical hot/warm coffee and alcohol-based designer drinks, and two identical cold coffee and alcohol-based designer drinks.
The six competitors with the highest preliminary round scores will compete in the final round. The final round requires competitors to produce two Irish Coffees and two coffee-and-alcohol-based signature drinks. The highest scoring final round competitor will be named the Australian Coffee in Good Spirits Champion.
The 2016 World Coffee In Good Spirits Championship is talking place at Hotelex in Shanghai, China from 29 March – 1 April. The World Latte Art Championship and World Cup Tasters Championship will take place alongside the event.
Melbourne Coffee Week is making its debut in 2016 from 10 – 19 March 2016. The week will see venues around Melbourne host special coffee events to grow the city’s awareness of the richness of its coffee industry. All events will be listed on www.melbournecoffeeweek.com.au