UAE's 'Battle of the Baristas': All over a a cup of coffee

A Barista is someone who is an expert in the preparation of espresso-based coffee drinks.

There were at least 12 Baristas in Dubai yesterday at the regional finals of the Barista of the Year Competition.

Every year Baristas from all over the world compete to become the World Champion, starting at the store level. Each country brings forth its best Baristas to compete at the regional level.

Josephine Mempin and Lasanta Chamara Pigera represented the UAE at the Middle East & Asia finals in Dubai. Both Baristas serving the Abu Dhabi coffee-savvy customer, have come a long way to present their skills on stage.

Josephine has worked at Costa for nearly 6 years and is passionate about her job. As a Costa coffee brewer, extensive and rigorous training before being able to serve customers is a must, learning how to grind, tamp, extract, froth, pour, and most importantly, taste.

In the final stage of the competition all these skills are put to the test by the challenge to give birth to a very unique personal creation of a coffee drink.

Josephine's drink: Hot 'n Wild, including a slice of red chilli as one of the ingredients. Lasantha went experimental with a mix of syrups of ginger and lemon grass.

The special recipes have materialised over the course of months of experimenting, explain the UAE finalists. "To come to the recipe of the Ginger Lemesso, I have tried several ingredients such as cinnamon.  A lot of research was done to create the right taste balance," said Lasantha.

In a nerve-wrecking ten minutes five samples of the unique drink are to be prepared on stage, while a panel of judges is anxiously following every move.

A fine-tasting moment of silence is followed, when the judges utilise their coffee expertise to value the new-born coffee drinks.

In addition to the own creation, finalists are asked to deliver two of Costa Coffee's core drinks, being Cappuccino, Latte, Espresso, and Americano. Furthermore, all competitors are challenged to make as many espresso's as possible in a two-minute period.

Competitors are also judged on their overall performance, flair and passion for great coffee, as the art and skill of each Barista is a point of pride.

Everybody can make a cup of coffee. But this is not about just a cup of coffee; it is about making the perfect cup of coffee, was explained to the audience.

At the end of the day, a second place was bagged by UAE's Josephine, while the nomination for the Global Championship went to the Saudi resident Jonathan Kahano.

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