THE JUDGES

DAVID TAYLOR

David Taylor is the weekly food columnist for the Sunday Territorian’s Frontier liftout and has been drinking coffee since the 80s.

The qualified chef lives and breathes food and thinks nothing is better in life than “a cabernet sauvignon, a decent cup of coffee and a well-finished jus and friendship”.

He said the coffee scene had improved in Darwin in recent years.

“It sort of suffered for a while but places like the Roma Bar had a good cuppa,” he said.

LUCY ADAM

Lucy Adam is a born-andbred local and has seen first hand Darwin’s coffee scene flourish.

The Aussie rules player drinks two or three coffees a day.

“I started drinking coffee in uni and I grew a love for really good coffees and the tastes and strengths of different coffees,” she said.

“It has changed dramatically. I think the fact that you’ve got coffee shops in suburban areas goes to show that Darwin is mimicking Melbourne and Sydney.”

MARK ERASMUS

Mark Erasmus took up coffee drinking after he moved to Australia from Ireland eight years ago.

He said the quality of coffee was far better than coffee in Ireland. His passion has quickly grown and he now drinks two to three espressos a day.

“I can’t function without it,” he said.

“I like the caffeine hit and that boost it gives you in the morning. You could say I’m a coffee addict.”

He has been working in the food industry for more than 10 years and teaches students how to make everything from coffee, food and alcoholic drinks at a hospitality college.