SCAE UK News Updates

UKBC Photographs Heats 1-3

Sunday, February 19th, 2012

Thank you to the photographers who have helped capture some of the spirit of the UKBC 2012 so far

Heat 1 – courtesy of Dennison Frankowski (@denfran)

UKBC 2012 South East Heat Images

Additional images provided by UKBC Technical Judge Glenn Watson (Coffee Photography)

UKBC 2012 South East Heat – Glenn Watson

Heat 2 – courtesy of Maria Dragan (Maria Dragan Photography)

UKBC 2012 South West Heat Images

Additional images provided by competitor Barry Cook

UKBC 2012 SouthWest Heat – Barry Cook

Heat 3 – courtesy of Robert Sharp (Robert Sharp Photography)

UKBC 2012 Northern Heat Images

 

If you are interested in photographing heats 4-6 please contact glenn@scaeuk.com to express your interest and to receive the photography brief

The 3 heats that are yet to take place are;

  • Midlands – Sat 03 March – Hosted by Mad About Coffee – at The Space, Roundtree Way, Norwich NR7 8SQ
  • Scotland – Fri 16 March – Hosted by Matthew Algie – at Glasgow Caledonian University
  • Northern Ireland – Tue 20 March – Hosted by Johnsons Coffee – at Hillsborough Courthouse, The Square, Hillsborough, Co Down

 

If you have images from any of the heats that you would like showcased please contact Glenn to arrange for these to be uploaded to the SCAE UK Flickr site

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Top 20 Barista Leaderboard (after 3 heats…)

Saturday, February 18th, 2012

After 3 heats of the 2012 UK Barista Championships the top 20 places to date can be announced.

3 heats are yet to take place

  • Midlands – Sat 03 March – Hosted by Mad About Coffee – at The Space, Roundtree Way, Norwich NR7 8SQ
  • Scotland – Fri 16 March – Hosted by Matthew Algie – at Glasgow Caledonian University
  • Northern Ireland – Tue 20 March – Hosted by Johnsons Coffee – at Hillsborough Courthouse, The Square, Hillsborough, Co Down

The leaderboard will be updated with placings from these heats

 Top 20 Barista Leaderboard (after 3 heats)

Sang Ho Park
Dale Harris
Maxwell Colonna Dashwood
Gordon Howell
Dave Jones
Dan Fellows
Matthew Robley-Siemonsma
Rummy Keshett
Sam Dunford
Stuart Archer
James Bailey
Steve Dyson
Mark Pooley
Chris Walton
Alex Passmore
Christopher Killen
Philip Hambleton
Steve Pearson
Amber Rodgers
Gerraint James

 

Congratulations to all baristas who are on the leaderboard so far.

 Best Newcomer Prize Leaderboard

Sponsored by Union Hand Roasted, the  current leader of the Best Newcomer competition is Dan Fellows.

Dan Fellows just edged out Matthew Robley-Siemonsma to take this coveted spot.

The best newcomer after all the heats have taken place (and who meets the eligibility criteria set by Union Hand Roasted) will participate in a trip to origin. For further details please read the interview with Alan Miller which outlines eligibility criteria and prize inclusions

If you’ve competed and your name is not on the leaderboard, we hope you have enjoyed the UKBC experience so far, and hope to see you enter again next year. Your scoresheets will be sent to you after the finals.

A big thankyou to …

We’d like to thank the sponsors and heat hosts who have each played a huge part in the success of the UKBC to date. They have given time and money to help the SCAE UK bring the event to your region.

Hosts

  • South East Heat – DunneFrankowski
  • South West Heat – Westcountry Catering Exhibition at Expowest
  • Northern Heat – Pumphrey’s Coffee

Sponsors

Please support the hosts and sponsors where you can. Their continued support helps support the development of baristas and the quality of coffee produced throughout the UK

  • San Remo – Machine Sponsor 2009-2012
  • Arla / Cravendale – Milk Sponsor
  • Bunn – Brewing Equipment Sponsor
  • InterAmerican – Green Coffee Sponsor
  • Mahlkonig/Ditting – Grinder Sponsor
  • Pentair – Water Filtration Sponsor
  • Union Hand Roasted – Roasted Coffee Supplier
  • Monin – Syrups Sponsor
  • Natvia – Official Sweetener of the UKBC
  • Reg Barber – Trophy Sponsor
  • Novus – Tea Sponsor
  • London School of Coffee – Training School Sponsor

 

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UKBC 2012 Northern Heat Results

Saturday, February 18th, 2012

Pumphrey’s Coffee of Newcastle hosted the 2012 UK Barista Championships Northern Heat at the Life Science Centre on Friday 17th February, filling the event with local baristas (8 out of the 14 who competed live or work in Newcastle) and even attracted spectators from Scotland.

Both Sky News Tyne and Wear and the BBC covered the event

Sky Tyne and Wear <- click to view a short Sky video featurng Chris Killen, Stuart Lee Archer and the UKBC Judges

Gordon Howell, of The Attic (at Harlequin Coffee and Tea House – York) was the winner of this hotly contested heat, followed closely by Stuart Archer of Pumphrey’s Coffee, and Steven Dyson of Spring Espresso .

In a break from tradition, the winner of Best Espresso (Gordon Howell), Best Cappuccino (Joe Meagher) and Best Signature Drink (Tom Booth) went to 3 different baristas.

Gordon Howell is a 4th time entrant in the UK Barista Championships and first competed the last time that the Northern Heat was held in Newcastle.

Gordon used Has Bean’s “Jailbreak” coffee during his performance, serving it in all 3 drink categories. For his signature drink he deconstructed the blend to highlight each coffee’s characteristics by preparing the coffee’s individually as a pourover or aeropress, giving the judges a total sensory experience with aromas and taste coming together right at the end by folding these ingredients into the espresso.

Without the help of volunteers an event of this size could not run as smoothly as it did, and both competitors, sponsors and exhibitors have been in touch to express their gratitude to all those who helped.

Photographs from Newcastle based barista, Rob Sharpe, will be available to view on the SCAE UK Flickr site

Now that we have the scores from the first 3 heats the Top 20 Barista Leaderboard will be published. Check back soon to view the leaderboard.

We are now building towards the next event – the UK Coffee Events Latte Art, Coffee in Good Spirits and Cezve/Ibrik competitions, collective taking place at Hotelympia on 29Feb and 01 Mar.

  • Registration (free) is required on the Hotelympia website http://www.hotelympia.com/
  • Places are still available and entry is open until the 25th Feb. Visit the SCAE UK Competitons page to view the rules and download an entry form
  • The hashtag on Twitter for these events is #ukce

The next UKBC Heat takes place on Saturday March 3rd in Norwich, hosted by Mad About Coffee. Follow the build up using #ukbcht4

 

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UKBC 2012 SouthWest Heat Results

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

Dale Harris of Has Bean completed a clean sweep of all drink categories, taking awards for Best Espresso, Best Cappuccino and Best Signature Drink, in addition to winning the 2012 UKBC SouthWest Heat held at the Westcountry Catering Exhibition at Expowest on 08/09 February 2012.

The UKBC has a strong following in the SouthWest, with a growing number of roasters and coffee shops operating in this region. Host Peter Sugden and the Expowest team always make us feel welcome. Thank you for the support Peter !

Dale had some strong competition in this heat, with Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood (co-owner of Colonna and Smalls coffee shop in Bath) and Dave Jones (Origin Coffee) taking podium places, not too far behind in points.

Dale and Maxwell both competed in the final of last years UK Barista Championships and had both been predicted to do well at this heat.

The coffee Dale used was from Finca Santuario in Colombia. Last year his roaster / employer Has Bean coffee  carried typica and bourbon selections from the same farm which Dale presented to the judges.

Maria Dragan was on hand to capture images of this heat, and had been following barista Alex Passmore in the buildup to his event. Her images can be found on the SCAE UK Flickr stream

Thank you Maria for providing such a vibrant set of images – you’ve well and truly captured the spirit of the event!

The attention now turns to Newcastle where hosts Pumphrey’s Coffee are gearing up to welcome Northern baristas on 17 February. Follow the buildup on Twitter with the hashtag #ukbcht3

Once all heats have been completed, the Best Newcomer prizewinner will also be announced. This prize has been sponsored by Union Hand Roasted.

Keep an eye out on this site over the next few days for the updated leaderboard (top 20 places) in the UKBC so far.

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UKBC 2012 Northern Heat Running Order

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

The 2012 UKBC Northern Heat – hosted by Pumphrey’s Coffee – kicks off at 1015 on Friday 17th February at Life Science Centre, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 4EP

If you cannot make it to the event please follow #ukbcht3 for updates

We are still accepting volunteer applications – please email glenn@scaeuk.com if you are interested

14 baristas are competing and their performance times* are as follows;

Friday 17 February

  • 1015 Michael Hadwin
  • 1045 Anthony Smith
  • 1120 Chris Walton
  • 1150 Steve Dyson
  • 1215 Gordon Howell
  • 1345 Christopher Killen
  • 1415 Dan Rowe
  • 1445 Tom Booth
  • 1515 John Broad
  • 1545 Joe Meagher
  • 1630 Paul Byrne
  • 1650 Stuart Archer
  • 1720 Michael Ryan
  • 1745 Alex Mackay

*with 14 competitors this will be an action packed event and times may need to vary slightly throughout the day

Not to be confused with Northern Ireland

Applications for the Northern Ireland Heat are still being accepted too. If you’ve been inspired by performances so far, or the Best Newcomer Prize  sponsored by Union Hand Roasted then please download and fill in an application form as soon as possible.

Mahlkonig Grinders

If you’re worried about taking your equipment on a journey to compete then consider using the Mahlkonig Grinder which is made available for competitors to use at each event. We are pleased to have Mahlkonig on board as grinder sponsor for 2012, and a number of competitors have already taken up their generous offer. Click their logo to the right of this to view their range and find out more about Mahlkonig Grinders.

The Send Me To Vienna competition is also underway this year, with more chances than ever to win a place to visit the World Barista Championships in Vienna .

Send Me To Vienna is sponsored by NatVia – the official sweetener of the UK Barista Championships

And finally… thankyou to everyone who has been using the hashtags for each event. We’re getting lots of updates coming through, and would love to see more tweets with pictures to help paint a great picture for all who cannot attend.

 

 

 

 

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UKBC Fact 2: 71% of this years competitors are newcomers to the UKBC

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

Union Hand Roasted’s generous new prize category for 2012 – Best Newcomer, has sparked a lot of interest and last minute entries for this years UKBC.

You can read an interview between Marc Pierre Dietrich and Union’s Alan Miller explaining the criteria for the new prize category for 2012 on the Union Blog

Newcomers account for 71% of entrants in this years UKBC.

So far 40 new baristas are yet to perform, and try to score more points than Matthew Robley-Siemonsma, the front-runner so far.

After each heat we will update you on who the overall frontrunner is, however scores will not be revealed until all regional heats have been concluded.

Last week we released Fact 1: Approximately only 15% of this years competitors are female.

We asked to hear your thoughts on why this might be, and have only received a couple of responses so far.  One response that will be put forward to the AV team is “‘because the microphone gets caught in your hair”.

There must be other reasons, or we would see a higher percentage of female entrants. So we would like to ask again what the reason might be.  2 out of 6 finalists last year were ladies. This trend is not related to the UK only.

In this weeks heat (#ukbcht2) in Exeter (Westcountry Catering Exhibition at Expowest) there are 4 ladies competing – the highest number in any one regional heat.

Come along and support the baristas who are performing, and use the Twitter hashtag #ukbcht2 to help keep those who cannot attend up to date with what’s happening on each day.

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UKBC 2012 SouthWest Heat Running Order

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

The 2012 UKBC SouthWest Heat kicks off at 1030 on Wed 08 Feb at the Westcountry Catering Exhibition at Expowest, and runs for 2 days

If you cannot make it to the event please follow #ukbcht2 for updates

Wednesday 08 February

  • 1030 Sarah Lock
  • 1100 Dan Fellows
  • 1130 Steve Pearson
  • 1200 Dale Harris
  • 1230 Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood
  • 1345 Gerraint James
  • 1430 Dave Jones

Thursday 09 February

  • 1030 Tessa Brice
  • 1100 Alex Passmore
  • 1130 Barry Cook
  • 1200 Sam Dunford
  • 1230 Pier Pezzimenti
  • 1400 Christabel Webb
  • 1430 Sam Hebburn
  • 1500 Amber Rodgers

This event is likely to have the most female baristas competing.

Approximately only 15% of this years competitors are female. We’d love to hear your thoughts on why this might be. Tweet @ukbc or post to our Facebook page

Good luck to all competitors for the UKBC 2012 SouthWest Heat

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2012 UKBC SouthWest Heat hashtag #ukbcht2

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

Following the debut of the UKBC Regional heat specific Twitter hashtag last week we are pleased to announce the hashtag for next weeks event is #ukbcht2

The UK Barista Championships heads to Exeter on 08/09 Feb – where the Westcountry Catering Exhibition at Expowest will be hosting us for the 2 days.

Volunteers

We are looking for volunteers to help run the event. Please get in touch with Denise (denise@scaeuk.com) if you are able to help out for either (or both) days of the event

As a volunteer you may be required to assist in timekeeping, running drinks from the judges table, working the AV, ushering competitors or helping on the exhibition machines.

Running Order

The running order will be posted tomorrow, so check back to see who is competing on each day.

Brew Bar

Union Hand Roasted Coffee will also be showcasing their coffee, and Novus Tea on their brew bar – and you’re invited to make your own! Explore the alternatives to espresso and try the different coffees on offer. Union Hand Roasted are the roasted coffee sponsors of the UKBC.

There is also a hashtag for the brew bar #unionbrewbar

Twitter

Follow @ukbc and @scaeuk for the latest information and results as they happen

Hashtags #ukbcht2 and #ukbc

 

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Congratulations Sang Ho Park – winner of 2012 UKBC SouthEast Heat

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

Tapped and Packed barista Sang Ho Park made a clean sweep of the 2012 UK Barista Championship SouthEast Heat hosted by DunneFrankowski.

Sang Ho performed his set on Friday 27th January at Londonewcastle Project Space, 28 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch.

During his performance Sang Ho produced 4 espressos, 4 cappuccinos and 4 espresso based non-alcoholic signature drinks for a team of 4 sensory judges, 2 technical judges and a head judge.

For his efforts he was awarded a certificate for Best Espresso, Best Cappuccino and Best Signature Drink – and received a winners goody bag.

Matthew Robley-Siemonsma, also of Tapped and Packed took second place, ahead of Rummy Keshet, a barista trainer for Darlington’s.

L to R: Matthew Robley-Siemonsma, Sang Ho Park, Rummy Keshet

Hosts of first 2012 UK Barista Championships heat - DunneFrankowski - put on a great event, held in a gallery space in Shoreditch, East London, close to their new coffee shop Protein, based at number 18 Hewett Street, inside a gallery space.

Visitors were offered a coffee from the San Remo Roma coffee machine upon entering the gallery, before taking a tour of the history of London’s coffee houses, enjoying coffee themed artwork and finally sitting down on East London Furniture’s installation.

The event was well attended and visitors enjoyed making their own coffee with the Union Hand Roasted team on their Brew Bar, where syphon, aeropress and V60 filter coffees were produced and consumed. Novus Tea’s were also served as an alternative to coffee.

In the main theatre, grinder sponsor Mahlkonig and machine sponsor San Remo showcased their products.

The event used the hashtags #ukbcht1 and #ukbc . Click here for the twitter feed for the event

Scores from all 6 heats will be calculated and the top 20 people invited to compete in the semi-final taking place 27-29 April at The London Coffee Festival, with the top 6 after the semi-final heat competing to be crowned UK Barista Champion for 2012 the following day.

Once all heats have been completed, the Best Newcomer prizewinner will also be announced. This prize has been sponsored by Union Hand Roasted.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped make this event memorable and to all who helped Rob Dunne and Victor Frankowski put on such a fantastic show. You’ve set the bar for the remaining heats – and it’s very high!

For more images click here

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Drink this!

Friday, January 27th, 2012

Head Judges are used to consuming lots of milk during barista competitions, but even this might be too much for UKBC Head Judge Marc Pierre Dietrich.

To get your hands on this object, and to see what other exhibits hosts of the UKBC SouthEast Heat – DunneFrankowski are curating, pop down to Londonewcastle Project Space, 28 Redchurch St, London on Saturday 28 Jan 2012.

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