Coffee live: The Cape Town Barista Championships

Joanne Berry competed this morning in the first round of the Cape Town Barista Championships, held this year at The Table Bay Hotel.  Jo was the first competitor up on stage, and appeared collected despite working under the pressure of a time constraint for the set. In 15 minutes she had to prepare four espressos, four cappuccinos and four signature drinks, all the while entertaining the audience and explaining her actions and choices to the judges. Quite a challenge!

Joanne used a specially roasted blend of 60% Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira Da Grama and 40% Guatemala Las Nubes. The Cachoeira is 100% pulped natural yellow bourbon and comes from Sul de Minas, in Mogiana, Brazil. Jo chose this coffee for its creamy mouth-feel and caramel finish. She remains adamant that she detects notes of dark chocolate in the blend, although not everyone seems to pick this up.

The Guatemala Las Nubes is from the Chiquimula region of that country. The farm from which this coffee originates was a winner in the 2001 Cup of Excellence. By combining these two coffees, Jo has created and used one of the world’s finest blends.

Her signature drink was inspired by the 1:1 milk to espresso ratio of the Gibraltar drink, as it complemented the flavour and style of the roast. Infused in the drink were hints of chilli (Jo says she grew up on chilli and hot foods), cinnamon and a strong dash of orange. If you like the sound of this perhaps we can persuade Jo to serve it in Origin…

BUT WHY DID ORIGIN ENTER ONLY ONE BARISTA?

Origin has trained over 400 baristas since opening. But because we are NOT primarily a café, most of the people we have trained work all over Cape Town, South Africa and the world. Luyolo, one of our other top baristas, is now working at the Roundhouse and is busy settling in there (pop in to experience the wonder of his flat whites and latte art). Jose, our South African barista champ of 2008, is still struggling to establish is formal status as a South African citizen. Origin is still building their crew of professional baristas- call us if you are interested in joining our team or taking a home barista course!