The 29 roasters in this year’s competition spent weeks working incredibly hard to tease out the best profiles for the competition coffees. Then, a few weeks ago at African School of Coffee in Cape Town, the judges scored the cupping coffee and the blends and we tallied up the points. It was a challenging year in green coffee, so we are so grateful for the continued support of our green coffee partners, Green Coffee Supply and Zuka Green who see value in giving the roasters of South Africa this educational platform. As with all competitions, there can only be a few that make it to the podium, but we are incredibly proud of every roaster that invested their time and money to be part of this roasting event!
A huge thank you must go to the Sponsors of this unique competition.
Carlo Garbini of Importalia (Slayer & Mazzer), Andrew Boltman (ZUKA), Rob Stein (Loring), Jarrod Faber (Green Coffee Supply), David Coleman (Timemore), Michael Wood (I&M Smith representing Ecotact), Chris Hall –Jones (Lizzard) and Emile Berries (BWT) .
The judges role in this process cannot be understated. They invest time and energy and their inquisitive minds into the three days of judging and they have the roasters best interests at heart. They approach the judging with a view to providing practical and encouraging feedback to the competitors. They cup and taste every coffee blind. They do not know who's coffee they are tasting at any point. They do not receive information about the roasting equipment or profile while they are tasting, the head judges use that afterwards to guide the competitors.
Our cupping panel this year was Mike MacDonald, Nicodemus Nabakwe (Zuka Green), Cuth Bland & Shewaan Khan. And our Espresso panel was Mike MacDonald, Shewaan Khan & Winston Thomas.
Thank you to you each! You are true legends!
And now for the results.
The blind nature of this competition always means that the results are a surprise, even for the judges and especially for us. We couldn't believe it when we decoded the names. For a first in the history of our competition, we have a back to back winner! And our third female roaster in a row across our South African and Middle East competitions, WOW! Congratulations to the Humble Coffee Team.
CHAMPION is Amy Gardiner - Humble Coffee
Wins an Origin Trip and a BWT premium water filtration system valued at R10 000 from BWT and the Championship Trophy presented by Rob Stein (Loring/TCRC) & Emile Berries (BWT water+more)
Runner Up Overall
Wins green coffee from our competition sponsors Green Coffee Supply, and the 2nd place trophy. Presented by Jarrod Faber (Green Coffee Supply) and Michael Smith (Ecotact/I&M Smith).
Leroy Kgopa - Home of the Bean
Third Place Overall
Receives green coffee from our competition sponsors Zuka, and the 3rd place Trophy is presented by Andrew Boltman (Zuka Green Coffee) & Chris Hall-Jones (Lizzard), accepted by Winston Thomas on behalf of Leigh.
Leigh Wentzel - Cedar Coffee
Congratulations must also go to our Category Winners and runners up. We introduced these categories last year to keep growing the circle of winners and we are excited at the outcomes!
Winner Espresso Blend Category:
Wins amazing prizes from Timemore & is presented by David Coleman of MoreFlavour/Timemore
Amy Gardiner - Humble Coffee
Runner Up Espresso - Bean Green Coffee Company
3rd place Espresso - Yellow Jacket Coffee
Winner Cupping Category :
Wins a Mazzer Philos Grinder sponsored by Importalia & is presented by Head Judge, Mike MacDonald of Green Coffee Supply
Rory Lambson - Black Sheep Coffee Co
Runner Up Cupping - Home of the Bean
3rd place Cupping - Humble Coffee, Amy Gardiner
Top 10 Overall:
1. Humble Coffee - Amy Gardiner
2. Home of the Bean
3. Cedar Coffee
4. RF Coffee
5. Yellow Jacket Coffee
6. Brothers Coffee - Peter Murray
7. Babylonstoren - Robert Jacobs
8. Origin Coffee
9. Black Sheep Coffee Co
10. Rosetta Roastery
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