SCAE’s relaunched Barista of the Year Championship set for March

26th November 2009

The SCAE’s Czech chapter is to launch its national barista championship under the new name Barista of the Year, at the Salima international food fair in the Brno exhibition park, March 2-5, National Coordinator Petra Veselá reports.

The national barista championship has been organised by the SCAE chapter for eight years, previously under the name Master of Coffee. (While the Master of Coffee event continues to exist, it no longer takes place under the auspices of the SCAE, and it does not provide qualification to the World Barista Championship.)

The Salima fair, taking place for the 27th year in 2010, is the most important central European platform for the food industry, and it has a specially dedicated section for coffee. This popular section has traditionally been the biggest and most visited coffee fair in the country.

The Barista of the Year event is to be an integral trade feature of the coffee section in 2010, and therefore will be in an ideal venue for the competition.

The jury for competition will include both authorised trainers and SCAE judges. The winner of the Barista of the Year of course will be signed up immediately as the Czech representative of the World Barista Championship in London in June.

The first two days of the competition will see the heats, leading to the semifinals, which will produce the best six competitors to meet in the finals, which will take place on the third day of the fair. The fourth day will be dedicated to an entertaining and educational programme on coffee called Coffeeright, and this day will be fully open to the public.

Besides launching Barista of the Year 2010, the SCAE’s Czech chapter is also announcing the introduction of a new website for the chapter, which can visited at www.specialtycoffee.cz. Here you will be able to access all the information about the SCAE’s activities in the Czech Republic, including competitions and other activities, and membership. It also includes the so-called “idea bank”, a forum which forms an important part of communications for the chapter. — Petra Veselá