The World AeroPress Championships: An Overview

Best Coffee were at the 2018 World AeroPress Championships in Sydney this weekend; here, our resident Sydney coffee expert, Nibs Bisso, gives us the lowdown on what went on.

Firstly, what a great event. The World Aeropress Championships descended upon Sydney for 2018, everyone was welcomed by a spectacular traditional performance by Indigenous Australians and, wow, what a spectacle it continued to be from there.

56 competitors had to be whittled down to the final three. The chants in the crowd were back and forth between all squads, every round treated as enthusiastically as a final, with a build up worthy of cinematic release.

A fantastic job was done by hosts Single O, everyone involved all major sponsors on this one. It flowed as smooth and seamlessly as the winning Kenyan tastes. The atmosphere? Just like an AeroPress filter coffee: juicy and full of flavour.

This year saw a W.A.C first - the Competitor Brew Bar. This is something we are sure everyone hopes will continue: once competitors had been eliminated they would brew their recipe for public cupping consumption in the main event hall. An absolute treat for the crowd, with people lining up to cup, splash, and taste all the different recipes one coffee can be made with. There was food, drink, and alcohol aplenty provided by local artisan producers - dotted across the venue to keep those legs stretched about and people mingling -  keeping attendees nourished and entertainment .

Beginning with 56 competitors, the esteemed judging panels slurped and pointed their way to the final three: Pinchukov Evgeni (Belarus), Carolina Ibarra Garay (USA) Xiaobo Zhang (China). The finalists stood there waiting for their names to be called in anticipation, a long day and weekend for all competitors from their prep and practice at 9am, to the final decision at 9pm.

The winner? After tasting so many brews, the judges fingers all pointed to Carolina Ibarra Garay, USA. Congratulations to Carolina on an amazing effort on the World Stage. Another great event and one that hopefully continues to grow, thank you to the World AeroPress Championships and congratulations to all the participants.