The MONIN Coffee Cup 2025 Australian champion has been crowned following an action-packed event at Toby’s Estate, Fitzroy, on 21 May, with Ona Coffee Sydney’s Vlatislav ‘Vlasto’ Bartoska securing a place in the APAC finals in September.
The six finalists were required to use a minimum 10 millilitres of MONIN product and 30 millilitres (+/- 5 millilitres) of espresso in their signature beverage, which was then presented to a panel of judges consisting of 2023 champion Danny Wilson, 2024 MONIN Cup champion Jonathan Nati, and MONIN Brand Manager Danielle Wilson.
Vlasto wowed the judges with the presentation of his Tiramisu 2.0 mocktail, which was inspired by the desire to recapture past moments.
“I wanted to replicate those moments from my childhood, like sitting down at a family gathering when tiramisu was brought to the table,” Vlasto tells BeanScene.
“My partner was the one who gave me the idea. She asked me ‘why does a drink have to be a drink, and a dessert have to be a dessert?’.
“It took me a long time to start building the recipe, and I think I went through 25 to 30 variations. One issue I had was the colour wasn’t very nice, so I clarified to it make it nice and pink, like a raspberry, to elevate it.”
Vlasto emerged victorious from an incredibly competitive field that saw The Coffee Commune’s Juliette Robin as runner-up with The Butterfly & The Sakura, and TWR Crown’s Rinzin Norbu finish third with The Ritual.
Toby’s Estate Brisbane’s Anthony Leung’s Snow White-themed Grimhilde’s Vanity was also well received by the engaged audience, as was competition debutant Natasha Nell’s (Stories) Japan-inspired Blooming Sakura. Code Black Coffee’s Louis Xu also impressed with his Flor de la Acidez.
MONIN Brand Ambassador Danni Choy says the incredible community that came out to support the event and its competitors was the highlight of the night.
“I feel like as someone who has worked in the coffee industry for such a long time, you end up falling in love with it because of the community,” she says.
“As brands try to integrate themselves into that community, they need to realise the reason why everyone is there is to build friends and watch each other grow together. I think MONIN as a company is doing a great job at nurturing that.
“We were all thoroughly impressed with the creativity and the difference in variation among the competitors’ techniques and drinks. Vlasto had a very different approach to the competition, he was very clear and calm, and he really impressed the judges.”
Now, Vlasto can set his sights on Kuala Lumpur ahead of representing Australia on the world stage. With the 2025 MONIN Coffee Cup Grand Final taking place in September, he has time to further refine his already exceptional skills.
“I’ve been competing for so many years and this is my first time ever winning. It is going to be such an honour to represent Australia,” he says.
“I come from Slovakia, which is a small country, so it’s unbelievable to be able to represent MONIN and Australia on the world stage.”
The 2025 MONIN Coffee Creativity Cup will take place in Kuala Lumpur on September 9, with a theme of ‘An alchemy of flavours’.
