Christchurch barista knocks out top spot at Barista Championship finals.

Luciano Marcolino of Luciano Espresso bar, Christchurch, repeated his successes of 2008 and 2006 at the 2010 National Barista Championships final held at the Allpress Roastery premises on April 17, taking out first place ahead of seasoned competitors. Runner up was Hideyuki Kono, also from Christchurch, followed by David Huang from Auckland’s Espresso Workshop in third place.

Kono has placed second for the last two years, and travelled to the World Barista Championships in 2009 as part of his prize. In the last year he has been working alongside four-times champion Carl Sara at Crafted Coffee. Huang is also rolling on repeated success, having placed third in 2009. All three will be present at the World Barista Championships held in London from June 23-25, where Marcolino will compete against competitors from 52 other countries. There will be a strong Kiwi presence, with six New Zealanders amongst the 30 judges on the panel.

World Barista Championship judge Jessica Godfrey was pleased to see further development and improvement in the New Zealand competition, as well as a deeper understanding of coffee “including how origin, processing and degree of roast really influence the flavour of the coffee that each competitor chooses to use at the championship”. She noticed a strong move to the use of Single Origin coffees, and simple blends comprising only two origins. “Ethiopian coffees – Harrar, Yirgacheffe and Sidamo were very popular this year. The move to Single Origin coffees is an international trend, something we saw at the World Barista Championship last year in Atlanta.” Godfrey is looking forward to observing the new trends at this year’s championship in London.