#aasca

What a weekend for coffee!

The South Australian Barista Competition was held over the weekend, returning to the Royal Adelaide Show.  To start off with I must say how pleased I am that the RAS came to their senses and got AASCA (AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association – the governing body in all things coffee competitions in Australia) back this year for the comps AND placed them inside.  In previous years the competitions were held outside the Jubilee Pavilion in the food court.  Not only did this make it impossible to hear baristas as they went through their drinks, but added some harsh environmental factors for the baristas to deal with when pulling their shots.

Taking place inside the Jubilee Pavilion in an IKEA display kitchen the coffee geeks of SA were put through their places in order to determine who would be representing their state in Melbourne at the Australian Barista Championships in April (I think).  Friday we saw the SA Latte Art Competition and Cupping Competition.  Only two competitors stepped up to the challenge in the cupping, both being former SA Cupping winners, Brian Raslan from Cafe Bourgiourno and Johnny Pisanelli from From Scratch Patisserie (Johnny is a multiple time winner of the comp at state level, and two time winner at the National level), with Johnny walking away with the win.

Next up was the SA Latte Art Competition.  In an EXTREMELY close competition, with only 3 points separating third place and first, Bar Nine barista and former winner Daniel Freer walked away with the trophy, and a nice little spot on Channel 10 news that night.  A Fantastic result for Adelaide specialty coffee as not only were more people exposed to this fantastic art form at the show, but tens of thousands at home as well.  Here’s hoping that translates to more people hunting down their local specialty coffee store.

The following day the Brewer’s cup and Barista Competition were held.  Three competitors took the challenge in the first ever SA Brewer’s Cup Competition – Ian Callahan from Bar Nine, Hamish also from Bar Nine and Ramy from First Pour.  Ramy was visibly nervous but did a great job brewing with his V60.  Both Ian and Hamish used the talk of this year’s crop, the Panama Geisha (from separate farms).  Hamish had his single roasted by Auction Room in Melbourne, with Ian using 5 Senses.  It was a close battle between the two colleagues but in the end Ian walked away the winner.  I loved the ingenuity used by Ian with his brewing method.  The rules of the competition state that one cannot serve a cupping as their alternate brew – so Ian went through the motions of a cupping, however used a syringe to siphon out the brew and place it in cups to serve to the judges.  His logic – whilst cupping his coffee it consistently tasted the best when cupped so he wanted to deliver it in that form.  Fantastic work.  Ever the humble competitor Ian stated after the win that “The coffee won the comp’.  There is a reason why Ian is the foremost authority in coffee in Adelaide.

Finally the main attraction took place from 12:30 – the SA Barista’s Competition.  Contestants have 15 minutes to produce 4 espresso, 4 Cappuccino (sans chocolate) and 4 signature drinks to a panel of 4 Sensory Judges, 2 Technical Judges and a Head Judge.  First off the ranks was Mark Bowler, roaster for the Coffee Barun.  Mark pulled a beautiful routine with some of the finest looking shots of the day.  However he went 34 seconds over the allocated 15 minutes, resulting in harsh down scoring as a penalty.  Had he not gone over, I dare say Mark would have walked away with the win.

Next up saw Ben Allen from A Mother’s Milk take the stage.  I must say he did not look like a first time competitor while going through his routine.  Smooth and calm Ben put an amazing display of coffee making on show that impressed many.  He was followed by First Pour’s Head Barista Mike Wells – a competition veteran who has competed many times in the past few years, coming third and second in the last two comps respectively.  Mike’s routine quite simply blew me away.  I know that he has spent a lot of time with Veneziano’s head roaster (and Australian Barista Champion) Craig Simon over in Melbourne in training for the comp, and it showed.

Donald Wu was the second first time competitor for the day representing the patisserie Muratti.  Again, for a first time competitor Donald handled the pressure extremely well.  Finally Ilia Martini from Bar Nine presented his coffee as the last competitor of the day.  He was far more relaxed for this routine than last year where nerves got the best of him.  Ilia produced some great looking shots, and the coffee was sensational – I had the opportunity to sample his blend.

Ilia ended up taking out third place, with first timer Ben Allen coming second and Mike Wells finally winning the big one and capturing the SA Barista win.  Mike now begins his training for the National competition where he will compete in order to be the barista to represent Australia in the World Barista Championships to be held in Melbourne in May 2013.   

I sincerely hope that the other competitors of this year’s competition make the journey over to Melbourne to take part in the open heats.  Adelaide specialty coffee has grown leaps and bounds in the past two years and it is high time we show the rest of Australia that we have what it takes to be the best specialty coffee state in the country!

Couple of days ago, I went along to this becuase a good friend is competing. Not the barista part, but the coffee tasting part where he was placed 3rd last year, but moved up to 2nd this year. I'm very happy and proud that he is getting better, and perhaps we could be looking at major victories soon.

But I noticed you were standing next to the baristas when they were doing their best to make an impression on the drinking judges. Occasionally you'd check the big spoon thing with the ground in it after the coffee had be extracted. You were taking notes on, err the process in which the coffee was being made.

Believe me when my friend was sipping loudly through his tasting session I did not think about glancing in what I thought might be your general direction. But then again I don't need a 4th galance to make sure I remember the shoulder dark hair, the bright smile and I'm lost for words but something something Rachel Weisz dark eyes.

I think your name might be ... , well there are many girls there and you aren't the only girl judge either. The names are on the website of the competition it's not like I stalked or anything but I don't know which is which. Or You can be Rachel Weisz. I will go with that.

I think what you do is awesome, because I have no clue. But do you like other things? Do you like books? I have read about the, they are quiet good sometimes. Do you like music? I love the sound of some of those too. Do you like cars? I've got one, it's pretty old and noisy, but think of it as an old passenger aeroplane, when air travel was an occasion, and romatic. It is pretty practical, fits picnic baskets and coffee stuff, and it has an unique feature in that it has access to 5 billion square kilometers of open skies.

Do you like Bicycles? I do, and I have one too. I like them, they are efficient, simple, elegent and a sustainable mode of transport. It might use oil and grease here and there but most and the things I use are all bio degradable. There was also at once stage in history that the bike ride was romantic, and an occasion. It probably still is, this most noble of inventions.