Alan Bruce of Flight Coffee Roasters in Auckland has won the 2020 New Zealand Cup Tasters Championship, held at Ozone Coffee Roasters in Auckland on 28 February.
In the final round, Alan scored 7/8 correct cups in 2.13 minutes.
First-time competitors Eric Sugandi of Flight Coffee placed second and Renee Cooper of Sublime Coffee in Nelson placed third. Woohyung Lee of Camper Coffee in Auckland rounded out the final four.
This marks Alan’s second consecutive win at the championship. At the 2019 World Cup Tasters Championship, he narrowly missed out on making it to this final round, placing fifth in the competition.
The 2020 New Zealand Latte Art Championship was held the day after Cup Tasters, where defending champion Hoony Chae of Mojo Coffee also reclaimed his title.
Dennis Hsueh of Grey Street Kitchen placed second and Leo Li of Newbie Café placed third in the competition, held at La Marzocco Auckland.
Alan and Hoony will represent NZ at the World Coffee Championships in Poland in June.
The New Zealand Specialty Coffee Association’s next event will be a Coffee in Good Spirits Throwdown in Wellington on 2 April. Then, the 2020 NZ Barista Championship will take place from 4 to 5 April.
For more information, visit nzcra.org.nz
Image: Kristaps Selga, World Coffee Events
