Taking their best shot at a top brew
The hiss of steam wands and aroma of coffee filled the air as nine baristas battled it out for the top national title.
The Meadowfresh New Zealand Barista Championships were held in Upper Hutt at the weekend and, after two days of intense competition, Aucklander John Gordon was crowned best barista.
But it wasn’t until he hit his 20s that Gordon said he’d had a ‘‘decent coffee’’.
‘‘Obviously I love coffee now but I wasn’t really into it when I was younger.’’
‘‘I grew up on instant coffee from my grandparents and it wasn’t really until my mid to late 20s I experienced decent coffee and realised there was a lot more to it than meets the eye.’’
He was drawn to coffee and said there was always something to learn about it. He spent several years in the UK, honing his skills and taking part in competitions.
He’d had a gap of three or four years not competing before stepping up to the machine over the weekend. ‘‘It was like doing it for the first time all over again.’’
Gordon works at Gorilla Gear coffee and spends more time behind his desk now, designing products for the coffee industry and providing consulting services. Leading up to the competition, he would practice making coffees three to four hours a day, as well as prepping his equipment and writing speeches for the presentation of his coffee.
He roasted his own beans and presented the judges with espressos with notes of kiwifruit, raspberry and lime, a milky coffee with flavours of custard and raspberry and a signature drink incorporating nashi pear nectar.
His winning coffees have earned him a place at the World Barista Championships to be held in Amsterdam in June.
It’s not his first time on the world stage. While competing in the UK, he made it to the world championships three times and earned a career-high sixth place in his 2011 attempt.
Championship judge Masako Yamamoto has been around coffee most of her life - growing up, her parents owned cafes and she worked in Australia as a barista before starting work for Atomic Coffee.
She had competed in the event before but found judging was more her style.
To prep for a competition she had to calibrate her tastebuds.
‘‘In the past we thought taste was the same for everyone - bitter was at the side of the tongue, sweet at the front. But now we know that’s not true,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s quite complicated to score something on taste because everyone tastes differently. If you were looking at colours, you might say it’s red and I would say it’s more orange.’’
To calibrate, the judges spend the day before the competition tasting coffee.
‘‘If you’re going to be a judge for tasting, you make it your life. It’s about tasting everything,’’ Yamamoto said.
‘‘To know what raspberry tastes like in coffee, you have to know what raspberry tastes like in real life.’’
More than 30 judges took part, from tasting judges to judges observing technique. New Plymouth’s Nico Refiti from Ozone Coffee Roasters came runner up and Frank Hsu of Franks in Wellington was placed third.