Aroma of success
There’s much brewing with neighbourhood barista Aaron Phua as he plots success for Malaysia at the upcoming World Barista Championship in the US, writes
“This was actually my fifth time competing in the Malaysian Barista Championship,” begins Phua, grinning at my surprised expression. “The first two years I managed to reach the ‘prelims’. In 2017, I got into the semis but finished fourth. Last year in 2018, I finished third.”
Unable to wipe the smile off his face, the 25-year-old confides that he hadn’t actually planned to enter this year. But his roaster and coach had other plans. They encouraged him to participate, saying that they had “something in the bag” for him if he did.
Was he optimistic about his chances of victory this year? A pause and Aaron, who started off as a bartender at his college where he was studying hotel management, shrugs his broad shoulders. “To be honest, I didn’t really think about it. In fact, I thought it’d be harder for me to pull it off this year as I was using a different coffee from previous years. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone this time around, try something different.”
Passionately, he continues: “I wanted to learn something new and explore a little bit more. So this year, I went in with no expectations compared to previous years. You could say I was in an experimental mode; I just tried my best.”
“This kind of competition is pretty much routine-based so you have to be very familiar with what you do,” explains Aaron when posed about his preparations for the championship. “You can’t have any bad habits so you make sure that whatever you’re doing daily meets the score sheets.”
Bad habits can include distribution, for example, when the barista doses the coffee in a portafilter, he must ensure that it’s evenly spread throughout the portafilter so that an even extraction can be obtained. “Sometimes when it gets busy, this can get neglected!”
The technical score sheet is akin to the holy grail for participants to try to conquer when they train. “We created a routine and then just ensured that the various criteria on the sheet are met. For example, there’d be scrutiny on how I handle my machine, my grinder, and finally the judges’ table (presentation and clarification). My training was supervised by the former national champ and my roaster, who was the former national’s coach!”
Aaron found himself competing with 12 other baristas from all over Malaysia. There were three ‘courses’ that the participants were judged on — the Espresso Course, where they had to prepare four espressos; the Milk Course (four milk) and finally the Signature Course.
Sensing my confusion, Aaron attempts to explain: “In the ‘Espresso Course’, we’re looking for taste balance — sweetness, acidity and bitterness. The judges look into the intensity of all three and how harmoniously they work together. Then there’s the accuracy of flavour descriptor — whatever I taste, I describe and explain to the judges. Whatever is in my description must be true when the judges do their sampling.”
The last “test” for the Espresso Course he “tactile” category. This is when the ges will look into the body of the coffee, texture and aftertaste. The aftertaste, ares Aaron, has to be smooth and not y or astringent.
The following course, the Milk Course, a slightly simpler category. For this, the ffee is judged on its taste balance, namely how harmoniously the milk and coffee combine. A flavour descriptor exercise is also applied here.
The final course is the Signature, of which there are several categories, elaborates Aaron. “Here, the judges look into how well I explain my signature creation, in addition to the creativity and synergy that are imbued. Basically, I have to show what is my input into the beverage that makes it so unique and different from the espresso offerings I presented to them earlier. Again, flavour and taste balance are considered.”
Aaron shares that for this competition, he used Direct Trade coffee. “I believe in sustainability, meaning using coffees that are of high quality that can be presented on stage but at the same time can also be used back in the café and served daily.”
The soft-spoken barista attributes his success this year to the fact that he was willing to take a risk. “My team and I wanted to do something that would benefit the industry. For example, the reason why we chose the coffees we chose to present on stage was because they’re not known varietal for competitions.”