Cream Supplies

The 2010 World Aeropress Championships (WAC) will be held on June 23rd and June 24th, 2010 in London. The championships will coincide with the World Barista Championships (WBC).  There are 6 rounds of 4 competitors each. Twenty four competitors have 5 minutes of prep time and 3 minutes of comp time in each round of competition.

Alex Rushmer, a Masterchef UK finalist, coffee enthusiast, and writer for  food writer for Just Cook It and The Experimental Kitchen will be one of the judges. Mike White, formally of Gimme Coffee in NYC and author of Shot Zombies, one of only 2 coffee blogs on the internet, will be another judge.  Head judge is Tim Wendelboe from Norway.  Other sensory judges are as follows:

• Anette Moldvaer – Square Mile Coffee Roasters, UK
• Paul Stack – Marco Über Project, Ireland
• Luis Fernando Velez – Amor Perfecto Cafe, Colombia

The trophies for first, second and third place winners were all signed by Alan Adler himself and are in the style of 70’s wine goblets in beautiful clear bronze.

More information can be found at http://worldaeropresschampionship.wordpress.com/

As an official sponsor of the SCAE 2010, Cream Supplies is pleased to be part of the World Barista Championship (WBC).  Baristas from over 50 countries will be competing for the coveted title of World Barista Champion.  The WBC focuses on promoting excellence in coffee, advancing the barista profession, and engaging a worldwide audience with an annual championship event. As part of this championship, Baristas each prepare 4 espressos, 4 cappuccinos, and 4 original signature drinks in a contest set to music.  WBC Certified Judges from around the world will review each performance on the served beverages  according to taste, and the cleanliness, creativity, technical skill, and overall presentation by each Barista. The Baristas will be able to showcase their creativity and coffee experience and knowledge in the signature beverage part of the competition.

As part of this year’s event, the 2009-2010 National Champions of over 50 countries will be showcased in the 3-day competition.
Dates: June 23rd, 2010 – June 24th, 2010

You can find out more at http://www.caffeculture.com/page.cfm/link=191

While we have been exhibiting at Hotelympia we were able to see John Gordon, of Gorilla Tampers take the crown as UK Barista Champion and will now go on to represent the UK in the World Championships in June.

We congratulated him, along with the 5 runners up, with a mypressi TWIST handheld coffee machine.

As the official sponsor of the SCAE World Championships, London 2010 we look forward to meeting John and his fellow competitors again in June and we wish him every success in respresenting the UK!

For more information about the World Championships visit http://www.scae.com/

After a close contest between the best 20 baristas in the UK, Australian-born John Gordon triumphed as UK Barista Champion at the Hotelympia show in London at the beginning of March.

John Gordon, of Gorilla Tampers and London-based Square Mile Coffee, achieved 687 points in the final, and also took best espresso, best cappuccino and best signature drink prizes at the Championship.

The runner-up, with 675.5 points, was Dale Harris of First Choice Coffee, and the judges awarded 651.5 points to Neil Le Bihan of Exchange Coffee in Lewisham Market, London, to give him third place.

John Gordon will now join the winners of the Cup Tasting, Latte Art and Coffee in Good Spirits Championships in representing the UK at the WBC and the SCAE World Championships in London June 23-25.

Pictured in the winners’ circle are John Gordon (second from right), Dale Harris (far right) and Neil Le Bihan (far left)

The top twenty baristas (espresso coffee makers) in Britain will be heading for the UK barista championship in London this coming weekend. The champion British barista will go forward to the world finals in June, which for the first time are also being held in the UK.

With café culture now a firm fixture in every British high street, it is become recognised that making espresso-based drinks is an art – it is a skill comparable at the very least to that of a cocktail barman, and there are now 53 separate national barista championships across the world. Curiously, the countries which might be expected to do best in espresso, such as Italy and America, rarely figure high in the world placings – but Britain has done very well, and of the last three world champions, two were from London and the third was a Dubliner based in London. It is now said, with some justification, that London is the new coffee capital of the world.

In competition, baristas have to serve perfect espressos, perfect cappuccinos, and impress a judging panel with a ‘signature drink’, a non-alcoholic coffee cocktail of their own devising.

Baristas from coffee shops all around the UK entered for this year’s contest, and those who will compete next week at the Hotelympia trade show are the twenty highest-scoring entrants.

The line-up is:

1 : Neil Le Bihan of Exchange Coffee, London
2 : James Phillips of Dose Espresso. London
3 : Dale Harris of First Choice, London
4 : Will Corby of Black Mountains Coffee, Wales
5 : John Gordon of Gorilla Tampers, London
6 : Jonathan Sharp of Kilimanjaro Coffee, Edinburgh
7 : Estelle Bright of Kaffeine, London
8 : Jose Melium of Jika Jika, Bath
9 : Scott Griffiths of Monmouth Coffee, London
10 : Megan Barker of Artisan Roast, Edinburgh
11 : Trevor Hyam of The Plan Café, Wales
12 : Carl Fleischer of the Opposite Café, Leeds
13 : Nancy Scott of Coffee #1, Bristol
14 : Gordon Howell of Café Harlequin, York
15 : Lynsey Harley of Drury, London
16 : Steve Dyson of Cafe2U, Barnsley
17 : Gary Whiteley of Blakeley’s Coffee House, Halifax
18 : Liina Nutman of Coffee #1, Chepstow
19 : Simone Guerini-Rocco of Peros, High Wycombe
20 : David Jones of the Nathan Outlaw Seafood & Grill, Wadebridge

The semi-finals will be held at the Hotelympia trade show at Excel on Sunday 28th February. The Final will be at the same venue the following day, March 1st.

It has been a very busy time recently on the competition scene with the regional heats of the UKBC in Scotland and the South West. The Scottish heat of the SCAE UK Barista Championship was hosted by Matthew Algie in Glasgow and was won by Jonathan Sharp owner of the Kilimanjaro Coffee House in Edinburgh, he made his coffees from a single origin coffee from Gerbicho Rogicha in Sidamo, Ethiopia. The heat was held on Tuesday 26th January, at the Centre of Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow.

The South West heat winner was Jose Melium of Jika Jika Ltd of Bath, the heat was held during the Expowest Exhibition in Exeter during 3rd and 4th February. Jose won through with his espresso being made from a single origin washed coffee from Finca Los Altos, Nicaragua. Our next two regional heats are the Midland/North being held on the 16/17th February in Sheffield the host being Miko and the final regional heat is the South East which will be held on the 19/20th of February in London, Square Mile Coffee are the hosts.

Also in Exeter were the competitions to find out who will represent the United
Kingdom at the World Championships which is taking place in London at Caffe
Culture during June. Our Latte Art Champion is Neil Le Bihan of Exchange
Coffee, who will practice for the World Championship in Lewisham Market,
London.

Edmund Buston of Clifton Coffee, Bristol won the Coffee in Good Spirits for the second year in a row, this year at the World Championship, Ed hopes to go one better than last year when he came 2nd in the world. The Cup Taster Champion is Paul Stephens of Redroaster Coffee, Brighton. All of the coffee for the cup tasting was supplied by James Gourmet Coffee and were brewed using BUNN filter machines and airpots. The other world championship the SCAEUK will be entering is the Ibrik competition; we will find out who is our champion is in April.

All the results and photos of the different competitions can be seen at www.scaeuk.com