‘The Gathering’ of WA’s Coffee Community held the State AASCA Championships over the past weekend was a pleasing success, setting an exciting start for the eventful year ahead and opening positive communication channels between WA businesses.

A line up of highly skilled professional baristas showcased their polished craft to a panel of distinguished judges including head judge, Ben Bicknell (Five Senses Coffee Roasters) who awarded competitors for:

Barista
1st Charles, 5Senses Coffee (pictured)
2nd Nicholas, Precision Coffee
3rd Caitlin, Milk’d

Latte Art
1st Rie, Gloria Jean’s Coffees
2nd Gihoon, Small Print
3rd Daniel, Di Bella

Cup Tasting
1st Ru, Small Print
2nd Jeremy, 5Senses Coffee
3rd Jonno, Dimattina Coffee

The winners of each competition received a prestigious trophy while the runners up received medals and an opportunity to compete at a national level.

The specialty coffee industry’s competitions are accredited by AASCA (AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association) and are the most elite accolades awarded in the Australian coffee scene.  They recognise industry leadership and excellence, both for individual baristas as well as the café or roaster they work for. The WA AASCA Championships are a platform for competitors to work towards the national event, and then move onto representing Australia in the international arena at the World Barista Championships 2014 in Italy.

Café Culture, who hosted ‘The Gathering’ at the Foyer of Brookfield Place, was backed by a host of dedicated sponsors, judges and competitors.  The very supportive sponsors over the weekend consisted of  Nuovo Simonelli from Espresso Mechanics, Pura Milk from Lion Dairy, Just Coffee Insurance, Chux, Small Print, Dukes Coffee Roasters, Pullman Tampers, DaVinci Gourmet, 5Senses Coffee, James Squire, Cafetto, North Bridge Barista Academy and Typika Artisan Roasters. These sponsors played an integral part for the Barista Championships, Latte Art Championships, and Cup Tasting Championships, to successfully run.

I was really impressed with the comradeship of different coffee business’s in WA contributing within ‘The Gathering’ and am excited to hear the announcement of the Coffee in Good Spirits and Brewers cup being held at Typika in March and furthermore the opportunity in November for all to be apart of the event again. If you are not already a FB friend of WA AASCA Championships please send a request to become part of an amazing community and be updated on the progress and details. Photos will be available to view on the Café Culture web site shortly.