The SCAE UK Chapter held both the Brewers Cup and Cup Tasters competitions at The London Coffee Festival on Sunday 29 April 2012. These events, hosted by Allegra, focussed on brewed coffee and taste profiles.

The 2012 Brewers Cup attracted 12 entrants who put their brewing skills to the test using a Mahlkonig Tanzania Grinder and Bunn Hot Water Boiler to prepare and serve three individual beverages for a panel of judges. This years judges were Lynsey Harley(SCAE UK National Coordinator, Coffee Development Manager & Q Grader at United Coffee UK), Joanne Berry (Sales and Logistics at Mercanta) and Cory Bush (Trader / Supply Chain Manager at Falcon Commodities in Uganda).

In the Brewers Cup, competitors may utilise any whole bean coffee of their choosing and must also accompany their beverage preparation with a presentation, which were all informative, well thought out and in some cases quite entertaining too.

James Bailey (Prufrock Coffee, London) was announced 2012 UK Brewers Cup Champion after his performance, and will now represent the UK at the World Brewers Cup event taking place in Vienna as part of the World of Coffee Show, 12-15 June.

Winning the 2012 UK Brewers Cup was the icing on the cake for James, as he competed in the UK Barista Championships the previous day and came second in only his first year of competition. James also won the Best Newcomer prize category sponsored by Union Hand-Roasted Coffee and will be accompanying them to origin later this year.

Following the Brewers Cup was the 2012 UK Cup Tasters Championship. This competition draws in the best palates in theUKcoffee industry. Contestants have to slurp their way through 8 sets of triangle tests (three “cups” of coffee where two are the same and one differs) to spot the odd one out. The competition gets increasingly harder as the coffees in each test get increasingly similar. The results are instant as contestants lift their cups to discover if a red dot on the base tells them they have spotted the odd one out. It’s the coffee equivalent of a penalty shoot out!

The Cup Tasters competition had by far the greatest amount of audience participation, with the volume increasing as the number of correct choices was made. The top 6 tasted a second grouping of 8 triangles, which cupping coordinator John Sherwood, made as challenging as possible, using in some instances coffees from the same origin but with a different processing method. The coffees were brewed using Bunn brewers and roasted coffee beans supplied by Union Hand-Roasted Coffee.

A further £75 was raised for Coffee Kids as the final space in this competition was auctioned off to an audience member – Jamie Banwell, who participated in his first ever cupping competition.

The honour of representing theUKat the 2012 World Cup Tasters Championship goes toLynsey Harley, who entered at the last minute. The final round was tense, coming right down to the very last cup raised.

The UK Coffee Events were live streamed across the world on the video feed managed by the LSFX Productions team and arranged by the SCAE UK Chapter.