MELBOURNE, Australia – The first round of the World Barista Championship ended today at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibiton Center. Once again the World Coffee Championships have confirmed the high level of preparation of its competitors.
We followed the barista competitions live by observing the creations of competitors such as Benjamin Put (Canada), Santhosh (India), Lee Hee Wei (Singapore), Denis Kramar (Czech Republic), Zoe Lai (Taiwan), Abdullah Almasan ( Saudi Arabia), Simon SunLei (China), Rui Pedrosa (Portugal), Mithilesh Vazalwar (India), Claire Wallace (UK), Anthony Douglas (Australia), Junior Vargas Otero (Austria).
Matteo Pavoni, the best Italian barista in charge and owner of the Peacocks Coffee roasting company, walked the stage in Melbourne for the first time and presented his coffee beverages for the competition to the judges.
The World Barista Championship in Melbourne
Matteo Pavoni focused on the importance of roasting and degassing time (the process in which the accumulation of carbon dioxide in roasted coffee is released over a period of time) and their influence on the taste and flavor of the coffee.
In fact, thanks to a collaboration with Oregon University, Matteo Pavoni has discovered more than 800 compounds that are directly linked to the taste and flavour of coffee.
For the creation of his coffee drink, Matteo Pavoni chose a coffee roasted seven days before the competition.
The coffee is from Ecuador with sweet scents that recall red fruits. The taste of dark chocolate in Pavoni’s drink also plays an important role thanks to a compound discovered by Pavoni himself in one of his experiments.
Tomorrow the second part of the first round of the competition will take place and the names of those who will access the semifinals of the World Barista Championship will be announced.
What’s more: tomorrow the Melbourne stage will also see the start of the World Brewers Cup competitions. Giacomo Vannelli, the representative of Italy, will be competitor number six. His appearence on the stage is scheduled for 11.10 am in Australia ( 03:10 am Italian time).
To see the complete competition schedule click here.
To follow the competitions in streaming just click here.
