Ciro is wishing our local champs all the best as they prepare to travel to Berlin, Germany to represent South Africa at the 2019 World Coffee Championships (WCC) World of Coffee event, taking place from 6-8 June 2019.
South African Latte Art Champion Christopher Abrahams and Thabang Maluleka South African Cup Tasters champion will be competing among over eighty competitors who will showcase their skills across four different skill-based competitions including the World Latte Art Championship, World Cup Tasters Championship, World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship and the Cezve/Ibrik Championship.
This is not Christopher’s first time competing on the world’s stage, having competed in the 2018 World Coffee Champions held in Brazil last year, after being crowned the SCASA Latte Art Champion 2018. At the World Latte Art Championship, Christopher will focus on his artistic expression in milk based drinks, beginning by producing a single creative latte pattern at the Art Bar before moving to the main stage to create two identical free pour, and two identical designer lattes. Christopher believes that great latte art comes from hard work, perfecting every sequence of a specific design and to continuously search for creativity through the use of different techniques and inspiration.
The World Cup Tasters Championship awards the professional coffee taster who demonstrates speed, skill, and accuracy in distinguishing the taste differences in specialty coffees. Using his skills of smell, taste, attention, and experience, Thabang will need to swiftly identify the odd cup out of three cups placed in a triangle, with a total of eight triangles placed in each round. We are sure that our budding coffee specialist will swiftly differentiate between the distinct taste characteristics delivered by the various coffees of the world.
Joining Christopher and Thabang on this incredible journey is Tim Krynauw, who will use his past experience as a regional barista champion, coffee excellence ambassador and current Ciro KZN sales consultant as a world certified technical judge in assessing and scoring the baristas.
