Local coffee roaster provides half the finalists in the Australian Barista Championship.

Local West End coffee roaster Veneziano Coffee had not one, not two, but three out of six finalists in the 2011 Australian Barista Championship.

The annual event, organised by the AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association (AASCA), saw top baristas from every state compete in the 2011 Detpak Australian Barista Championship that took place at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from 28 to 30January.

The Friday (28 January) was an open heat for baristas who competed in the state competitions but did not take out the state championships. Twelve entrants were whittled down to a top five who joined the state winners in the semi-finals on the Saturday (29 January). The semis on Saturday saw the top six baristas in Australia named with three out of the six from the Veneziano Coffee stable of award winning baristas.

Erin Sampson, Veneziano’s client relationship manager, was ecstatic with her second place. One of the few women competing in the competition, It was only Sampson’s second attempt at the title and she is keen to compete again this year. Erin is an accomplished barista and is certainly used to performing under pressure. She was the 2009 Australian Latte Art Champion, and went on to win third in theworld.

Queensland Barista Champion and Veneziano’s state manager for Queensland, Jean Paul Sutton, placed fourth. JP has been with Veneziano Coffee since it opened in West End, Brisbane in 2009 and is a huge supporter of the Queensland coffee scene.

Craig Simon, Veneziano Coffee’s production manager, was equally thrilled by his fifth place achievement. This was Craig’s second time competing in the competition and he was excited to make the Australian finals. “We were all very excited to make the semi-finals but when all three of us got through to the finals we couldn’t believe it", said Craig.

All three plan on competing again next year and have already begun preparations, which will include going to coffee origin countries and meeting the producers of their competition coffees.

As Craig Dickson, owner and CEO of Veneziano Coffee says, “we feel very strongly about supporting our baristas as we feel this is the best way to stay at the cutting edge of the coffee industry”.

“More and more this is about understanding the importance of terroir when choosing coffees and this means travelling to the coffee countries to see exactly how they are grown, harvested and processed,” he adds.

Additional information:

Veneziano Coffee specialtyroasters, First Pour caf, home of Australian barista and latte art champions, recipient of countless awards and proud supplier to over 500 of Australia’s best cafes. Located: 22 Bond Street Abbotsford, VIC 3069 and Montague Rd, West End, QLD.