NEWS

DANIEL SHADBOLT OF VENEZIANO WINS AUSTRALIAN COFFEE ROASTING CHAMPIONSHIP

The 2022 World Coffee Roasting Championship will be hosted at World of Coffee in Milan.

Daniel Shadbolt of Veneziano Coffee Roasters has won the 2020 ASCA AMC Australian Coffee Roasting Championship, held on 5 and 6 February at Criteria Coffee in Port Melbourne.

“To come out on top is a dream come true for me. Certainly a pinnacle in my career and something that I’ve strived for to be the best that I can be,” Daniel says.

Josh Xue of Campos Coffee placed second and Nawar Adra of Stitch Coffee placed third in the competition.

Daniel, who previously placed third in the 2019 Australian Coffee Roasting Championship, is still shocked to have claimed the title.

“Having competed in the 2019 Roasting Championship really put me in a great mind frame and gave me an idea of how to approach this recent competition,” he says.

The competition was delayed several times due to COVID-19. The event was open for competitors only but live streamed for viewers to join in on the action.

AMC Australian Roasting Championship finalists were presented with four anonymous coffees, one for a single origin and three to be used in a blend.

Daniel’s single origin was a washed Ethiopian coffee and his blend consisted of washed coffees from Burundi and Mexico, and a natural coffee from Costa Rica.

All coffees were roasted in a Diedrich IR2 five kilogram coffee roaster before being assessed, graded and judged for sensory assessment.

“At Veneziano, we only use Diedrich coffee roasting equipment, and we have machines that range from five kilograms to 280 kilograms. I’ve been working with these machines for almost seven years now, so my experience behind those specific machines certainly helped in my preparation for the competition,” Daniel says.

He says the most difficult part of competing was the physical preparation.

“Preparation for me was quite difficult, as the separation from the business thanks to COVID-19 made it hard to roast on the specific competition machines. Lack of cupping made it a challenge to maintain that practice leading up to the competition,” he says.

Daniel says it was his meticulous organisational skills that contributed to the win, and even received a few comments from judges that he was the most organised on the day.

He adds that the victory signifies reaching a milestone in his roasting experience.

“I started at Veneziano seven years ago in a production roasting role, so just building on my knowledge and experience over the years has culminated in me being able to represent not only the industry but Veneziano as a company,” he says.

Daniel will represent Australia in the 2022 World Coffee Roasting Championship, taking place in Milan, Italy from 23 to 25 June at the 2022 World of Coffee.

To prepare, Jack Allisey of Veneziano Coffee Roasters, 2017 Australian Roasting Champion and the first Australian to compete in the World Roasting Championship, will be Daniel’s judge.

“He’s had experience on the world stage and is a very accomplished roaster with a huge wealth of knowledge behind him. I’ll also be working with Pete Licata, the 2013 World Barista Champion,” Daniel says.

“I’ve got a great team behind me, and I hope to learn from both of their experience. Now my attention shifts from Team Veneziano to Team Australia.”

CAFETTO, BRITA NAMED WORLD COFFEE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIED SPONSORS

The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has announced new qualified sponsors for the upcoming World Coffee Championships (WCC) seasons.

Cleaning specialist manufacturer Cafetto has been named the Qualified Cleaning sponsor for the World Barista Championship, World Brewers Cup, and World Cup Tasters Championship.

“Cafetto is a collective of people passionate about coffee. We work closely with industry leaders in the pursuit of brewing perfection through clean equipment. Of course, the art of the barista is crucial to this endeavour. It fills our hearts with joy to assist in promoting their craft by bringing together the world’s best to showcase their skills,” says Christopher Short, Managing Director of Cafetto.

BRITA is the Qualified Water Filtration sponsor for the World Brewers Cup and World Cup Tasters Championship.

“We are very pleased to continue our long and successful partnership with the SCA. After all – a cup of coffee is 98 per cent water, so the right type of H20 is vital. BRITA looks forward to sharing its water filtration expertise with the specialty coffee community,” says Thomas Hörning, Director Strategic Marketing Professional Filter with BRITA.

Sage has also been named the Qualified Brewer sponsor for the World Cup Tasters Championship, and Breville is the Exclusive Coffee Brewer sponsor for the World Brewers Cup.

These sponsors have signed multi-year agreements to support the strategic growth of the competitions, and dedicate time and resources to ensure that every world

Cafetto is a Qualified Sponsor of this year’s World Coffee Championships.

championship competitor is using the same high-quality equipment.

Manufacturers submit their equipment and products for performance testing in order to be eligible for qualified sponsorship. Testing for this round of the WCC Qualified Sponsorships took place in Milan, Italy, in October 2021.

For more information, visit sca.coffee

LOCALE COFFEE ROASTERS FUELS AUSTRALIA’S WINTER OLYMPIANS

Between 24 January and 23 February, Locale Coffee Roasters State Manager Jacob King worked as Australia’s Winter Olympic team resident barista.

Jacob made coffees for Australian athletes, coaches and support staff in a permanent café established in the Australian headquarters in the Beijing athlete village.

“When I became a barista, I didn’t really think that one day I’d be walking with the Australian team in an Olympic opening ceremony,” Jacob says.

Locale freighted 100 kilograms of coffee beans, two Mazzer Major V grinders and two yellow La Marzocco Linea Minis to Beijing ahead of Jacob’s arrival.

“Once I arrived, we just set up the café and it was go time. The winter team is 46 athletes, plus the Australian Olympic people and support staff, and by lunchtime I would see everyone at least once. Some people would come by three or four times a day,” Jacob says.

“It was just me, so sometimes I’d be working 16-hour days. It was worth it though because the atmosphere was just electric.

“Athletes would go out to compete, then come straight back to the café wearing a medal around their neck and the entire place would just go nuts, everyone jumping up and down and cheering.”

The on-site café was inside the Winter Olympic ‘closed loop’, a carefully guarded bubble designed to prevent COVID-19 penetrating athletes’ accommodation and competition spaces.

“Luckily, I was in the closed loop so I could cheer Australia on at a few events. Everyone really became one big team – I even got the proper Olympic kit,” Jacob says.

The coffees were provided free to the Australian team, so members of other teams were not allowed into the café.

Unfortunately, says Jacob, the lure of authentic Australian coffee meant he had to be on guard against international interlopers.

“There were a lot of people from other teams trying to sneak into the café. Uniform jackets were swapped, underthe-table deals were offered, people snuck under tent sides – Australian coffee has that international reputation,” he says.

As for the coffees themselves, Jacob says the Olympians have “fairly standard” tastes.

“We weren’t sure what the athletes would want, so I stocked up on a lot of milk alternatives and extra options before I left Australia. Mostly though, everyone wanted classic coffees – I made a lot of long blacks and flat whites,” says Jacob.

The 100 kilograms of coffee beans provided by Locale, a mix of its Original Gangsta and MVP blend, was just enough to last the entire period. The espresso machines couldn’t be plumbed due to water quality issues, so Jacob filled the machines by hand with bottled water.

“I’d say I made around 150 coffees a day, every day for four weeks. So that’s about... you can do the maths on that,” he says.

Jacob King was the Australian Olympic team barista at Beijing.

One of the two Linea Minis Jacob used was gratefully autographed by the entire Australian Olympic Team. Locale plans to auction the machine and donate a portion of the funds to those affected by recent floods. Follow @localeespresso for updates.

COFFEE MACHINE TECHNOLOGIES OPENS NEW MELBOURNE SHOWROOM

Coffee Machine Technologies (CMT) has opened a new store showroom in the heart of Carlton on Lygon Street in Melbourne.

The retail-based venue, which debuted on 7 February, replaces the Docklands showroom it operated for 12 years.

“Because this is a retail-based showroom, we’re displaying a variety of commercial and domestic machines for the domestic market, as after the pandemic, people have grown accustomed to making a coffee at home,” says Managing Director John Colangeli.

The showroom will be accompanied by a café, serving coffee and cannoli.

“We want to bring Italy back to Carlton by creating a nostalgic, oldItalian feel, with lightbox displays of Italian actors from the 60s and Italian music played in the background of the showroom,” he says.

CMT has a large inventory of coffee equipment available, including leading brands such as Fiorenzato, Elektra, La Marzocco, Tech Bar, Viper, Brugnetti, and Orchestrale, to name a few.

CMT offers nationwide services, repairs, customisation, and machine refurbishments.

For more information, visit coffeemachinetechnologies.com.au

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