Gqeberha barista roasts international competition
A Gqeberha resident put a group of international roastmasters through the grind when he flew out to the continent of coffee and bagged an international coffee roasting contest in El Salvador.
Shaun Aupiais claimed the coveted title at the Producer and Roaster Forum’s El Salvador international coffee roasting championship, hosted and organised by Perfect Daily Grind, in San Salvador at the weekend.
The Chelsea resident and Red Band Barista Academy cofounder competed against several international coffee roasting professionals — all using the same green coffee beans — during the two-day event.
Aupiais, 47, said his triumph in El Salvador was the cherry on top of an exceptional trip to the coffee mecca of the world, Central America, with Leva Foundation chief executiveRyan le Roux.
“I was completely blown away by how the Central American people have embraced us and how I was able to share my love and passion for coffee but, more importantly, the people of coffee in SA,” he said.
“I was invited to enter two competitions — the roasting competition and the Toddy cold brew competition.
“Having the opportunity to just share and showcase some coffees from Africa was a massive privilege for me.
“I have never roasted coffee on that machine before, or coffee from El Salvador, but I approached both with what I love, and that is roasting coffee, and to make the El Salvador people proud but honouring their amazing coffee.”
The Red Band Barista Academy is a project of the Leva Foundation, a social upliftment nonprofit organisation based in Gqeberha and founded in 2014.
It has an employment rate of more than 90% for its barista graduates.
In August last year, the Red Band Roasting Academy was established to train unemployed youths in the art of coffee roasting.
The academy recently received one of the highest accolades of success in the national coffee industry after it was announced as the winner in the “Dedication to Education” category of the national Coffee Magazine Awards.
In Cape Town, the academy has also been involved with barista training as part of a prison rehabilitation programme.
The academy spread its wings to Uganda in 2018, with its barista graduates making a name for themselves in the region and becoming increasingly sought-after employees in Kuwait and Abu Dhabi.
At the weekend, Aupiais and Le Roux were also invited to speak at the event, where they shared their stories on how the coffee industry was influencing unemployed youths’ lives in SA and the rest of Africa.
“We were sharing about how coffee has had an impact on so many lives in SA and Africa since we started the academy nine years ago.
“I’ve been in coffee for a very long time and in the beginning it was all about the coffee, [but] for me it has become so much more than that, it’s all about the people in coffee,” Aupiais said.
“Education is the key to success in this industry and the reason we get to enjoy this delicious drink each and every day.”
The two also attended workshops, cupping sessions and other talks during the event in El Salvador and will be visiting coffee farms in Guatemala and Costa Rica before returning home, where Aupiais said he was looking forward to trying out his winning prize — an Aillio Bullet Roaster R1 V2 worth about R60,000.