If you haven't had your second coffee of the day yet, here's a triple shot of good news to put a spring in your step. For the third year in a row, local Melbourne barista Jack Simpson from Axil Coffee Roasters has just been crowned the Australian Barista Champion at the nation's fiercest espresso-fuelled competition: the ASCA (Australian Specialty Coffee Association) Australian Barista Championship. With talent like this working in our cafés, it's no wonder Melbourne is consistently ranked among the world's best cities for coffee.
The final verdict was handed down after 5pm on Sunday, June 15, after the judges spent an entire day pondering expertly prepared brews from Australia's top six competitors. Every year, each entrant has only 15 minutes to impress the judges through creating their very best milk-based coffee, espresso, and signature drink.
The latter aspect of the challenge, in particular, is a chance for the baristas to showcase their creativity. This year, Jack rose to the occasion with a coffee from Colombian specialty producer Jonathan Gasca, leveraging its natural notes of pineapple, raspberry kombucha, cola, and peach, as well as honey vinegar, cascara and passionfruit husk in order to highlight the utility of so-called 'waste' products.
Jack tells Time Out that while Melbourne's coffee culture is thriving, he believes specialty coffee is booming everywhere around the world right now. "I've noticed the emerging coffee scene in Montréal, Paris and Spain recently," he shares, crediting the dedicated producers for the growing love. "The work they put in to get specialty coffee to taste as good as it does is amazing! It’s their livelihood and the risks they have to take to make it work inspires me daily."
Not only is it the third win for this young barista (who simultaneously serves as Axil's head of innovation), it's also the fourth time a barista from Axil has carried the Aussie torch on the global stage. In 2022, Anthony Douglas won the Australian Barista Championship before going on to win first place in the World Barista Championship.
Jack will now go on to represent Australia at the 2025 World Barista Championship in Milan, Italy, in October. He came runner-up in the 2024 global championship, missing out on the title by just one point! So let's stand behind our nation's homegrown bean genius as he competes with some the world's brightest and most brew-obsessed. Learn more about the ASCA here.
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