Cupping en Barista Championship 2007

D Day in Gent, Belgium for the finals of the Cupping and Barista Championships.

In the morning it was up to me for cup tasting 8 triangles.
To my surprise it was no cupping the way we're used to, but filter coffee. Then we had these deep cups with a little bit of coffee in it. ????
My tactics were picking the 'wrong' ones (in every triangle you have a pair of coffee's and one that stands out, the wrong one ; this one you have to spot) just by smelling, all 8 of them, and afterwards by tasting.
Wrong. Not if you taste directly after smelling, but i first lost 2 minutes with sniffing the coffee's. It wasn't that difficult after all. I was almost sure of 6.
Then i started slurping and tasting. At ease. Wrong. No time to loose in a cupping championship.
Last year the first round was very easy, but this year they mixed up the difficult ones from the start. And with no (competition) experience, deep cups and only 5 cl of coffee a cup
it took me 7 minutes to full fill my duty.
I have to admit i lost it completely at the end. The last two combinations i didn't taste anything anymore. So for the 7th i picked the one i selected after the smelling round. Correct. The 8th one i changed out of panic. Wrong again.
4 out of 8 after all, but too slow.

Winner was Bart from Efico. He went as a Rocket. 8 out of 8 in the finals in a blistering 2 and a half minutes!!!!
Congrats Bart, but next year i'll be back with more experience, faster and new tactics.

Then our main championship for the Barista's.

I only have this far distant photo from my pupil Bird, which symbolises his the final results. A distant 8th place.
How is it possible the (probably) best Barista finishes last in a Barista competition? Well, because..... stress, not enough practise, a different grinder on stage from back stage, he had to open the competition and most of all ... a defect 'spuma' machine/bottle so he couldn't finish his signature drink. 360 points or 200 less compared to the semi's. God damned.

Brilliant winner was Detlev Battiau. Super performance and we may be proud to have this guy representing our country for the WBC next year in Copenhagen. Soon i hope to have a good photo of him, together with points. For now only the results :
1) Detlev Battiau
2) Vicky
3) Jeroen Lauwers
4) Myriam Bijnens
5) Patrick Hanssen
6) Michel Veneziano
7) François Knopes
8) Bert Van Wassenhove

Best Espresso : Michel
Best Cappuccino : Vicky
Best Signature Drink : Detlev