13 finalists to vie for top spot in Foodco Barista Championships
The Grand Finals will be on 4-5 June.
From a total of 300 contestants, only 13 finalists will be competing in the Grand Final of the seventh annual Foodco Barista Championships. It will be held at the Foodco Training Academy in Double Bay, Sydney on 4 and 5 June 2013.
The finalists will be competing for the titles of 2013 Muffin Break Barista Champion, 2013 Jamaica Blue Barista Champion and 2013 Dreamy Donuts Barista Champion.
Each finalist will be serving a total of 12 cups of coffee—four espressos, four cappuccinos, and four cups of an espresso-based Signature Beverage. Finalists are only given 15 minutes to serve these before the expert panel of judges.
Judges will be scoring the cups of coffee served based on flavour, volume, and appearance, as well as customer service and technical skills.
“The best advice I can give to the finalists is to practice, practice and practice some more! It’s important to show your creativity and find a way to ‘wow’ the judges with your personality and technique. Just like a typical work-day, it’s about premium-quality coffee and service to match,” said Michael Byrne, Melbourne International Coffee Expo- National Coffee Chain winner, and reigning Muffin Break Barista Champion.
Winners will each receive an Apple Mini iPad, a state-of-the-art coffee machine and grinder, and a mentorship from qualified industry experts in the lead-up to next year’s prestigious M.I.C.E competition.
The finalists are Laura Boevinik, Amber Dunstan, Brooke Caroll, Melissa Hall, Stevie-Rae Burgoyne, Vishal Dhiman, Chris Grierson, Anita Bosma, Jana Ligrov, Dominique Pastor, Ivy Chen, Susan Lam, and Phoebe Yee.
