World Barista Championship for UK revealed

22nd April 2009, 9:54am

Gwilym Davies, an independent barista running coffee carts in Central London, took the coveted title of World Barista Champion in Atlanta, USA yesterday.

Gwilym gained one of  the six places in the final after competing against 52 countries, and then, even with after going over the allocated 15 minutes by 17 seconds, took the top place to become the UK's second World Barista Champion. The other finalists were from Canada, U.S, Hungary, Ireland, and Korea.

The well deserved winner commented on his achievement: "I felt much more relaxed during the final performance at the Worlds, and wanted to do something that shows what drives me to still make coffee each day, even after 11 years of doing so. It's been lovely to make coffee for my peers, and I felt privileged to make coffee for and in front of people I have a lot of respect for. But it's really about all the people in the chain including the farmers and the roasters – I've simply tried to do justice to the coffee."

Gwilym assembled a collection of 16 ingredients—four that represent the sweetness he finds in the coffee, four that represent the texture he finds in the coffee, four that represent the fruitiness he finds in the coffee, and four that represent the flavors he finds in the coffee.

He said they are the "best bits of his coffee and they really show the possibility of the espresso. And added, "I just want to have fun." He then asked the judges to each choose an envelope, then combined the chosen ingredients —nuts, butter, notes of orange—and combined it with the espresso.

For his espresso & cappuccino Gwilym selected the Del Obispo from Huila, Colombia and for his signature drink, which was constructed with the assistance of the judges and some envelopes, he served the Colonia San Juan from Bolivia.

Gwilym explained to the judges that in the espresso, they would taste hot buttered toast smothered in blackberry jam, along with black current and some toffee at the end. In his cappuccinos, he says the lovely fruit juice of the espresso will give way to a softer jammy fruitiness. The cappuccino, he says, "is just a lovely representation of this coffee's flavors."

Gwilym, who runs a coffee-cart business in two East London street markets, took the world title by a three and a half points, beating Canadian Sammy Piccolo who has been very near to becoming the world's top man on several occasions now.  

Related Articles:

• 23 Apr 2009 - Rombouts announce barista training dates
• 11 Mar 2009 - Coffee cart owner wins UK Barista Championship
• 03 Mar 2009 - UK Barista Championships kick off at ScotHot
• 09 Aug 2007 - James Hoffmann wins World Barista Championship

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