Star barista turns global coffee judge

A Manawatu man is jet-setting across the globe for a gig as an international coffee judge.

Over the years, Andrew Feldon has mastered the art of coffee making, decorating, roasting, competing, teaching and now judging at international competitions.

The Levin local first started out as a chef, but quickly realised a path in the coffee industry has more life perks.

Feldon’s career began from the ground up and he taught himself skills via Youtube videos.

He ran a coffee cart in Sanson between 2006-2011, has worked at Palmerston North’s Tomato Cafe and is now based at Ebony in Palmerston North, where he mainly teaches classes and serves coffee featuring intricate designs and patterns.

‘‘I’m a people person and I love serving people.

‘‘That’s the thing about coffee, it brings so many people from countries and cultures together.

‘‘I’m always having interesting conversations.’’

While he is at home behind the machine, Feldon said he prefers his own coffee strong and black, using a chemex, which filters the liquid through thin paper.

Feldon has been competing in regional and national coffee competitions for years.

He has placed and won several latte art competitions and barista competitions throughout the country.

He has been involved in judging in New Zealand and was eventually approached and asked to judge internationally.

‘‘It was a natural step from what I had been doing in the coffee industry in New Zealand.’’

Feldon passed his judging assessments and recently become a certified technical judge in the World Barista Championships and the World Latte Art Championships.

He said his judging will take place around the technical aspects of a great and well-presented steaming cup of coffee.

Feldon will head to South Korea in June 2017 to judge the World Barista Championships.

He said self-funding the trips would be a challenge, but the opportunity to judge was a dream come true.