And the Winner is...

What a weekend it was. The Melbourne International Coffee Expo was host to the 2012 AASCA Australian Barista Championships. With each state’s representatives fighting it out for the top spot, the nervous and anxious tension stayed in the air well into the time the results were being announced. With hearts racing, dreams on the line and the chance of glory imminent, the following results were announced:

Barista Championship:

1^st Craig Simon (VIC)

2^nd Will Priestly (TAS)

3^rd Janelle Kingsley (QLD)

4^th Jonny Pisanelli (SA)

5^th Matt Troughton (QLD)

6^th John Paul Sutton (QLD)

Latte Art:

1^st Scott Luengen (QLD)

2^nd Angus Mackie

3^rd Jen Marks

4^th Daniel Freer

5^th David Smith

6^th Adrian Zwicker (QLD)

7^th Ben Morrow

8^th Kaya Mc Carthy

Brewers Cup:

1^st Matt Perger

2^nd Dan Ye

3^rd Josh Tarlo

4^th Kelsey Carr (QLD)

5^th Andy Easthope

6^th Eileen Kenny

Cup Taster

1^st Fred Lullfitz (QLD)

2^nd Jonny Pissanelli

3^rd Craig Simons

So what’s next? The champions of the Barista, Brewer’s Cup and Cup Taster will be heading to Vienna, Austria in 36 days (June 12^th-15^th), and the Latte Art Champion representing in Seoul, South Korea on the 1^st-4^th of November.

I would just like to take this opportunity to say, not only a massive congratulations to all competitors and champions, but also a huge well done to our Queenslanders. Scott and Fred are the first latte art and cup taster champions, respectively, that Queensland has ever had. It also marks the first time that three Queenslanders have been in the final six of the barista category. Just goes to prove how the coffee scene has progressed and improved over the past few years!

Can’t wait for the World Barista Competition, only 36 days and counting – surely our champions, after the hype of winning has worn off, will be training like crazy do Australia proud. Best of luck boys!

Finals Day - Barista Comp

Live stream all the action from the Barista Comp from the link here!


It's finals day so the competition is heating up. Six Barista finalists - three of which are Queenslanders. Six latte art finalists - with our state champion Scott Luengen the only Queenslander left, and the brewers, cupping and coffee in good spirits are all being live streamed! 


Enjoy. The results will be posted tomorrow so stay tuned!

Australian Barista Championships

The best baristas of Australia will be in Melbourne today for the start of the Australian Barista Competition to compete for the champion title. The Melbourne International Coffee Expo, for the first time, will be host to the event organized by the AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association (AASCA).

Categories of the event are:

• ·       Barista
• ·       Brewers Cup
• ·       Cup Tasting
• ·       Latte Art
• ·       Coffee Roasting
• ·       Coffee in Good Spirits
• ·       Ibrik

The winner of each category receives the prestigious Australian champion title, as well as a full-paid trip to the respective world championships in Vienna, Austria (June 12^th-15^th) or Seoul, South Korea (November, 1^st-4^th).

The event has expanded exponentially in size from last year’s on the Gold Coast, with the venue hosting hundreds of stalls of coffee related products. Quite literally, to fully appreciate each stall, it would take you two days to cover it end to end!

So who’s competing in the event? Today, Friday the 4^th, is the last chance qualifiers for competitors in the barista and latte art categories who competed in the state qualifiers but did not take out first place. As for Saturday and Sunday, these are when the rounds start to heat up with semi-final and final rounds back to back.

The most prestigious title is that for the barista category. In 15 minutes competitors must make four espresso, four cappuccino and 4 signature drinks for the judges, as well as talk the judges and audience through the beans, drinks and any other aspects the competitor wishes to discuss. Each competitor has two technical judges watching the use of the grinder and coffee machine, checking wastage, timing shots, measuring tamping ability and overall cleanliness of the work station. Add on to this four sensory judges to taste the coffee as well as a head judge, and you’ve got a lot of people judging you in a 15-minute time frame!

Queensland will be sending their share of contenders after the state qualifiers in November last year produced four state champions. Matt Troughton and Kelsey Carr, (Dandelion and Driftwood) are the respective barista and brewers representatives, Scott Luengen (Cup Coffee) the latte art specialist, and Fred Lullfitz (Di Bella) the cup tasting champion.

With the event still in the early stages, I’ll be anxiously awaiting the results of the semi – and finals respectively. Stay tuned people, the 2012 best baristas are going to battle it out so we know where to go for our best coffees in Australia. I can only hope Queensland makes it to the top!