The London Coffee Festival 2015 will host a new fast paced, multi-disciplinary barista competition, which will see 20 of the world’s top baristas compete head-to-head for the prestigious Coffee Master title and a £5,000 cash prize.
From established coffee champions to total newcomers, the competition has attracted coffee industry talent from across the globe. Sixteen international contenders (plus four wild cards) have been selected from as far as Australia and Indonesia to Italy, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Belgium and the UK, based on the level of creativity, passion, skill and personality evident in their signature drink video submitted online.
Baristas unleashed their creative juices to produce an impressive array of videos. German barista Patrik Rolf Karlsson has spent the last two years eating flowers in order to understand the floral notes in coffee. UK contender Sonali Tailor makes a Panama natural cold brew with strawberry and chilli dust, avocado foam, topped with free range smoked bacon, while Raimonds Zadvornovs from Latvia takes viewers on a journey to collect water from Latvian springs which he infuses with the healing powers of Juniper needles.
The contender line-up at Coffee Masters will make for an exciting competition where the likes of UK Brewers Cup Champion James Bailey, Australian Barista Champion Craig Simon and World Coffee in Good Spirits Champion Matt Perger will compete head-to-head.
Judges: key industry figureheads
Alongside a global line-up of contenders, the competition will be judged by a panel of key industry figureheads: Andrew Tolley (co-founder of Taylor Street Baristas and Harris + Hoole), GwilymDavies (World Barista Champion 2009), Anette Moldvaer (Square Mile Coffee Roasters co-owner), Anne Lunell (co-founder of Koppi Coffee Roasters) and Salvatore Malatesta (director of Melbourne’s coffee institution St ALi).
World-class baristas in unique one-on-one competition
The engaging knockout format will see baristas compete one-on-one across a broad range of disciplines – Cupping, Brewing, Latte Art, The Order, The Signature Drink and The Espresso Blend.
Coffee Masters has been designed and conceptualised by the team at Allegra Events in close collaboration with coffee creative duo DunneFrankowski. The competition aims to provide the audience with a front row seat to witness world-class baristas competing in a unique, vibrant and highly entertaining one-on-one battle competition.
Ludovic Rossignol, Head of Events said: “The main idea behind Coffee Masters was to create an entertaining yet educational barista competition that fitted with the general feel of The London Coffee Festival. We wanted the competition to showcase the expertise, craftsmanship and dedication needed to work in some of the best coffee shops in the world. For our audience we wanted to deliver an event that was enjoyable, inclusive and interesting to watch whether you know very little about coffee or have been working in the industry for 20 years.”
Equipment, coffee, ingredients
Faema will be bringing their E61 Legend as the machine of choice for Coffee Masters. On the coffee front, Volcano Coffee Works will provide the coffees to be exclusively used across all disciplines. The Order Discipline, which sees baristas compete head-to-head to deliver 10 espresso-based drinks against the clock, will be presented by Alpro, where ingredients such as Hazelnut or Soy milk will be included to represent the growing need for dairy free alternatives on any leading café menu. In addition, Mahlkönig has joined as the official grinder provider with the EK43 and the K30 Twin, which will be available on stage for the baristas. Water filtration will be powered by Brita Professional for both the brew and espresso bars.
All contenders’ signature drink videos will be available on The London Coffee Festival website from Feb 4th, 8pm. For more information click here
Coffee Masters will be held at The London Coffee Festival 2015 at The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, from April 30 – May 3, 2015.
The entrance can be found at 15 Hanbury Street, The Old Truman Brewery, London E1 6QR.
MEET THE CONTENDERS
Cosmin Mihailov, UK, Colonna & Smalls
Competition background:
2012 Latte Art UKBC
2013 2nd place Barista Championship Barmaniada (Romania)
Davide Berti, Italy, La Chichera Café
Competition background:
2008 5th place Trismoka Barista Challenge (regional championship)
2010 5th place Trismoka Barista Challenge (regional championship)
2011 2nd place Trismoka Barista Challenge (regional championship) and qualified for National Barista Championship final
2011 5th place Italian Barista Championship
2011 3rd place Milan Coffee Excellence (regional championship) and qualified for National Barista Championship
2012 11th place Italian Barista Championship
2012 9th place Italian Cup Tasters Championship
2013 1st place Pulicaff Barista Challenge (regional championship) and qualified for National Barista Championship
James Bailey, UK, Workshop Coffee Co.
Competition background:
2012 2nd place UKBC, Best Espresso, Best Signature Drink
2012 1st place UK Brewers Cup
2012 5th place World Brewers Cup
2013 2nd place UK Brewers Cup
2013 1st place London Latte Art Smackdown
Jolie Beckett, Australia, Mantle Group
Competition background:
2014 4th place State Barista Championship
2011 3rd place State Cup Tasters
Golden Bean Coffee Roasters Competition awarded silver for filter, single origin espresso and blend in milk based.
Sensory Judge at regional, state and national barista competitions including the Indonesian Barista Championship.
Matt Perger, Australia, ST. ALi & Sensory Lab
Competition background:
2012 World Brewers Cup Champion
2013 2nd place World Barista Championship
2011 3rd place World Barista Championship
2014 World Coffee in Good Spirits Champion
Patrik Karlsson, Germany, Five Elephant
Competition background:
2013 4th place Swedish Brewers Cup Champion
2012 4th place Swedish Latte Art Championship
2014 3rd place Sweden Barista Championship
Raimonds Zadvornovs, Latvia, King Coffee Service SIA
Competition background:
2014 Winner Sanremo Opera Cup – Latvian Barista Championship Classics
2014 Winner Cappuccino Wars – Cappuccino Order Challenge
Craig Simon, Australia, Think Tank Coffee
Competition background:
2014 4th place World Barista Championship Rimini
2014 Australian Barista Champion
2014 Victorian Barista Champion
2013 2nd place Australian Barista Championship
2012 Australian WBC Competitor Vienna
2012 Australian Barista Champion
2012 Victorian Barista Champion
2012 3rd place Australian Cupping Championship
2012 Victorian Cupping Champion
2011 5th place Australian Barista Championship
Pete Garcia, UK, Square Mile Coffee Roasters
Competition background:
2014 3rd place UK AeroPress Championship
Gayan Munaweera, UK, UCC Coffee
Competition background:
Four times competitor Costa Coffee Barista of the Year
Two times competitor UKBC
Tom Booth, UK, BHS
Competition background:
2008 entrant UK Barista Championship
2010 entrant UK Barista Championship
2012 entrant UK Barista Championship
2012 Best Signature Drink North heat UKBC
2015 Tech Judge UK Barista Championship
Luke Kristofski, UK, Caravan King’s Cross
Competition background:
Newcomer
Simone König, Germany, self-employed barista trainer, co-founder & coffee consultant at Good Spirits Beverages GmbH
Competition background:
2011 & 2013 6th place German Barista Championship
2014 4th place German Cupping Championship
Slawek Saran, Poland, Forum
Competition background:
2007, 2008, 2012, 2014 finalist Polish Barista Championship
2008 Polish Barista Champion (16th WBC)
2013 2nd place Polish Brewers Cup
James West, United Kingdom, Union Hand Roasted
Competition background:
2014 23rd place UKBC Superheat
2015 21st UKBC regional heat
Valentine Wanders, Belgium, De Superette owned by Kobe Desramaults
Competition background:
2014 & 2015 Judge Belgium Barista Championship
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 entrant Belgian Cupping Championship
2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 entrant Belgian AeroPress Championship
2012 2nd place Belgium Barista Championship
2013 4th place Belgium Barista Championship
2014 1st place Le Café du Sablon AeroPress
2014 3rd place Le Café du Sablon Latte Art
Ben Morrow, Australia, ST. ALi (Wild Card)
Competition background:
2012 & 2013 Repechage winner, Australian Latte Art Championship,
2013 2nd place Australian Latte Art Championship
2014 Winner Victorian Latte Art Championship
2014 4th place Australian Latte art Championship
2014 2nd place Pura Smackdown Series
2014 1st place Breville Latte Art championship
2014 1stplace Commonfolk Coffee Latte Art Smackdown
Sonali Tailor, UK, Bewleys Coffee Ltd /Grumpy Mule (Wild Card)
Competition background:
Newc
Nathanael Charis, Indonesia, Morning Glory Coffee (Wild Card)
Competition background:
2014 entrant Indonesia Barista Championship
Yuko Inoue, UK, Timberyard UK (Wild Card)
Competition background:
Newcomer