Master of the Brew
A themed coffee competition to bring local coffee shops together
ABOUT
In 2013 I was working as the head barista of Gylly Beach Cafe when I noticed that there was some tension and competition between all of the local, independent coffee shops. The town wasn’t big enough to have chains like Starbucks, so instead it was full of small coffee shops, all competing for customers and to be known within the town.
To combat this I teamed up with the local coffee roasters, Origin, with whom I had done all of my training, to host a 5-part coffee competition; Master of the Brew.
Inspired by the idea of a British “pub-crawl”, we hosted 1 themed event each week for 5 weeks, working our way from one end of town to the other, ending the competition with an obstacle race style event.
For the competition we gained sponsors from Origin Coffee, La Marocco Coffee, Espresso Solutions and Shelter Box.
THE EVENTS
Each event was themed to a different part of the coffee creation process or the consumption experience, further matched to the style of the coffee shop hosting that weeks event.
Week 1: Cupping and tasting
Week 2: Food and coffee pairings
Week 3: Latte Art
Week 4: Speed Round
Week 5: Finale event
