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Re: 2009 Australian Barista, Latte Art and Cup-Tasting championships.
Thanks Peter, you have done (and continue to do) a lot to get the National competition up to world standards. Once again the finals in every section was full of Veneziano faces.
8-)
I had a great time at the Nationals and in the social visits before and after.
First Pour Brissy rocks, it was good fun cupping what felt like 1000 espresso shots of some very serious single origin coffees with one truly amazing pulp dried in particular that would be a standout in any table of coffee. I had hoped off a plane and drove to Veneziano First Pour to get a coffee and left wide-eyed and buzzing, nearly too caffeinated to drive... great coffee, great venue and perfect hospitality. I’ll be back!
Zoe ( from CS sponsor Coffee Hit ) came so close to taking out the Barista title with greatly improving stage presence/performances every day. It’s a tough road to perform 3 times in a row but she did it well. 10 points is such a tiny margin and I’m sure she will be back for revenge next competition season.
Tim really nailed it on the day. That week was the first time I had met him and he comes across as someone you have known all your life. Friendly, happy and a great competitor I’m sure he will do Australia proud at the world championships in April.
Cup Tasting was a blast. In the open heat I stood back from my table and was confident I had 8 out of 8…I was shocked when I didn’t and was just one coffee off making the final. It was great to see Anne, Luca and Nim (all CoffeeSnobs) go through from the open heats to the final. Like all cup tasting competitions it often comes down to the very last cup and Luca was just pipped at the post by Ben who was amazing in the final, 8 out of 8 and very fast he will give them a real shake in Germany in June.
Latte Art was great, Sam was first on stage and the first competition that he had ever seen and performed some excellent work that looked exactly like the submitted photos which scored straight 6’s which was enough to stay on stage for quite a while as the points leader. At 15 years old Sam has plenty of future competition ahead of him and I’m sure he will shake it up with the best of them soon. The eventual two left on stage were Erin and Habib on equal points. Waiting for the count-back I was pacing like an expecting father hoping that our coffee wouldn’t be the thing that stopped Erin winning a trip to the world championships. It took what seemed like an eternity before they announced that Erin had won. I have to say there was plenty of moist eyes in the room as Erin has had a couple of pretty rough competition experiences at past events. Erin told me that later that night that the coffee component scored really high points. (woo hoo!)
Drop-in on Erin at Primary Cafe, Royal Parade, Parkville and order something milky, you will be amazed at the pour.
Looking forward to seeing the Aussie team do well overseas in the coming months, I’m sure there will be a good following from CS’rs everywhere.
There is a fine line between “proud” and “smug”, I hope I don’t cross it.
;D
Originally posted by 192A212A35262E2120100C2E29292A4F0 link=1231997065/57#57 date=1233795232
8-)
I had a great time at the Nationals and in the social visits before and after.
First Pour Brissy rocks, it was good fun cupping what felt like 1000 espresso shots of some very serious single origin coffees with one truly amazing pulp dried in particular that would be a standout in any table of coffee. I had hoped off a plane and drove to Veneziano First Pour to get a coffee and left wide-eyed and buzzing, nearly too caffeinated to drive... great coffee, great venue and perfect hospitality. I’ll be back!
Zoe ( from CS sponsor Coffee Hit ) came so close to taking out the Barista title with greatly improving stage presence/performances every day. It’s a tough road to perform 3 times in a row but she did it well. 10 points is such a tiny margin and I’m sure she will be back for revenge next competition season.
Tim really nailed it on the day. That week was the first time I had met him and he comes across as someone you have known all your life. Friendly, happy and a great competitor I’m sure he will do Australia proud at the world championships in April.
Cup Tasting was a blast. In the open heat I stood back from my table and was confident I had 8 out of 8…I was shocked when I didn’t and was just one coffee off making the final. It was great to see Anne, Luca and Nim (all CoffeeSnobs) go through from the open heats to the final. Like all cup tasting competitions it often comes down to the very last cup and Luca was just pipped at the post by Ben who was amazing in the final, 8 out of 8 and very fast he will give them a real shake in Germany in June.
Latte Art was great, Sam was first on stage and the first competition that he had ever seen and performed some excellent work that looked exactly like the submitted photos which scored straight 6’s which was enough to stay on stage for quite a while as the points leader. At 15 years old Sam has plenty of future competition ahead of him and I’m sure he will shake it up with the best of them soon. The eventual two left on stage were Erin and Habib on equal points. Waiting for the count-back I was pacing like an expecting father hoping that our coffee wouldn’t be the thing that stopped Erin winning a trip to the world championships. It took what seemed like an eternity before they announced that Erin had won. I have to say there was plenty of moist eyes in the room as Erin has had a couple of pretty rough competition experiences at past events. Erin told me that later that night that the coffee component scored really high points. (woo hoo!)
Drop-in on Erin at Primary Cafe, Royal Parade, Parkville and order something milky, you will be amazed at the pour.
Looking forward to seeing the Aussie team do well overseas in the coming months, I’m sure there will be a good following from CS’rs everywhere.
There is a fine line between “proud” and “smug”, I hope I don’t cross it.
;D
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