World AeroPress Championship 2011

This fall, a test of precision timing and perfected plunger pushing will result in crowning a new World AeroPress Champion. The event is set to take place on the 23 of October at HOST (International Exhibition of the Hospitality Industry). This year’s WAC will be graciously hosted by Marco & Über at their exhibition booth along with the support of Aerobie, maker of the AeroPress, in tow.

The AeroPress is one of my personal favorite brew methods and yours truly will be headed to Milan to represent DCILY in the event. I’m excited to be WACing next to an impressive lineup of international coffee talent.

The 2011 competitor list:

1. Robert Benge, Cafe Cesura – Seattle, USA
2. Alexander Paull, White Horse Coffee – Sydney, Australia
3. Colin Harmon, 3FE – Dublin, Ireland
4. Megumi Ueno, Brew Bar Cafe – Belfast, Ireland
5. John Stubberud, Kaffee-Alchemie – Salzburg, Austria
6. Steve Souphanthong, Social Coffee Company – Ontario, Canada
7. Ben Toovey, Genovese Coffee – Melbourne, Australia
8. James Hoffmann, Square Mile Coffee Roasters – London, England
9. Matthew Davis, AIR Coffee Roasters – Sydney, Australia
10. Tim Wendelboe, Tim Wendelboe – Oslo, Norway
11. Noriko Sunaga, Manly Coffee – Fukuoka, Japan
12. John Gordon, Square Mile Coffee Roasters – London, England
13. Pavol Csiba, Green Plantation Coffee – Komarno, Slovakia
14. Joshua Wismans, Alterra Coffee Roasters – Milwaukee, USA
15. Brian W. Jones, Dear Coffee, I Love You – Göteborg, Sweden
16. Jeff Verellen, Caffenation – Antwerp, Belgium
17. Paweł Trzciński, Java Coffee Company – Warsaw, Poland
18. Gwilym Davies, Prufrock – London, England

The 2011 judges:

1. David Walsh, Marco – Ireland
2. Mark Dundon, Seven Seeds – Australia
3. Anne Lunell, Koppi – Sweden

The rules are straight forward and what matters above all is how the coffee tastes. Each round will be 8 minutes, with 5 minutes of prep time and 3 minutes to brew 2dl of coffee for the judges. The coffee used is up to the competitor, but it must be of Kenyan origin and served along with a written explanation of the technique used. Each coffee will then be judged blind and scored accordingly.

Until then, I’ve got a lot of Kenyas to sample and a technique to perfect.

More info at World AeroPress Championship

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If you have no idea what an AeroPress is, here’s a good introduction.