Maastricht is an elegant city, located in the far east of The Netherlands. Boasting 5 Michelin-starred restaurants, it extended extraordinary hospitality to the international coffee community for 3 action packed days. The cafes were all in party mode, welcoming visitors with good coffee and service. We attended the welcome reception in the historic Town Hall to announce the Awards for Coffee Excellence, a party to raise funds for Coffee Kids and an impressive barista afterparty on the final evening.
We were in Amsterdam just before World of Coffee, and stumbled upon SOK Espresso Lab, a popup cafe, so named after Sander, Onno and Kees, the three baristas who designed the space for sharing and learning in the lead-up to the World Barista Championships. Kirby Berlin, our Australian latte art champion was practising her pours and welcomed us with a pair of matching tulips.
With the main Barista championship event in Bogota, Colombia that year, in Maastricht we were to witness the Brewers Cup, Cezve/Ibrik, Cup Tasters and Latte Art Championships.
Our 2011 Australian champions who travelled to either Maastricht or Bogota to compete with the world’s best were …
- Matt Perger (Barista)
- Kirby Berlin (Latte Art)
- Luca Costanzo (Cup Tasters and Brewers Cup)
- Mitch Faulkner (Coffee In Good Spirits)
- Andy Freeman (Cezve/Ibrik)
Australian Latte Art champion, Kirby Berlin was knocked out of her competition (with an impressive score none the less) before the final round. However, Australians Luca Costanzo and Andy Freeman both made it to the finals, with Luca ranking 3rd in the Brewers Cup and Andy, 5th in the Cezve/Ibrik Championship. Luca showed his diversity by also representing Australia in the World Cup Tasting Championship.
The 2011 world champions competing in either Maastricht or Bogota were …
- Barista – Alejandro Mendez , El Salvador
- Latte Art – Chris Loukakis, Greece
- Cup Tasters – Kyriakos Ouzounide, Greece
- Coffee in Good Spirits – Phillip Leytes, Russia
- Cezve/Ibrik – Bae Jin-Seol, South Korea
- Brewers Cup – Keith O’Sullivan, Ireland
With Greece taking out two of the five championship titles, Greece won Best Coffee Nation. Upon the announcement of the result, you could hear the excitement from afar and it went on for hours!
Hosted by Australia’s Natvia, the Sweet Fantasy barista afterparty was a fitting finale. Shrouded in fantasy and fun, this was certainly a party to remember.
For Paul and I, World of Coffee was time to catch up with coffee friends, make new ones and learn about the latest trends and developments in the coffee industry. Syphons and other brewing devices, on-demand grinders, multi-boiler espresso machines, cold drip towers and a myriad of domestic coffee making devices were all on show, some for the first time.
