Netherlands win for London Coffee Masters
Image: London Coffee Festival
Judged by a panel of industry figureheads, the fast-paced knockout battle format of London Coffee Masters 2019 saw 16 baristas showcase their skills head-to-head across a broad range of disciplines.
The disciplines include: Cupping, Brewing, Latte Art, The Order, The Signature Drink, Origin, The Mystery Round and The Espresso Blend.
This year, The Netherland’s Rob Clarijs was crowned Coffee Master at The London Coffee Festival.
At last year’s LCF, Clarijs came second and made history with the highest ever score for a signature drink. This year he wowed judges across all eight disciplines, including his signature drink – a milk-clarified coffee with Bobby’s Dry gin and a lemon zest twist; which scored a perfect 30/30 in the final.
Speaking about his triumph, Rob said: “This was my fourth time entering the Coffee Masters, so to win feels absolutely incredible. Each year it’s a really fun process and I’ve always had a fantastic time taking part, but making it to the final takes a lot of hard work – there are a lot of brilliant baristas out there!”
Faema provided the machinery – its new E17E machine created especially for baristas – while Mahlkönig provided the grinders with a choice of its EK43s or E65s.
The Roasting Party presented nine single origin coffees from across the globe to put the baristas to the test, while they had a choice of dairy milk from Brades Milk, or a range of alternative milks specially created for Baristas from Alpro For Professionals.
The New York Coffee Masters takes place October 11-19. See our full roundup of the London Coffee Festival in May’s issue of Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
