My Experience at the World Aeropress Championship: A Barista's Quest for Perfection

Recently, I was lucky enough to take part in my first major tournament: the World Aeropress Championship in Hamilton, Ontario. Around a hundred people attended this national competition, where 32 baristas vied for the title and to represent Canada at this year's world championship in Australia. Here's a glimpse of my adventure.

The concept of the World Aeropress Championship is simple: each participant receives the same coffee and must create a unique recipe highlighting the flavors of the bean. The coffee is then judged blind by three industry experts. In each round, the best cup is selected to advance to the next round, until only one winner remains.

For this edition, the coffee supplied was a Colombian Primavera. Over the course of a week, I adjusted several variables to devise a recipe that would bring out the acidity of the grapefruit and the red fruit notes. What makes this competition exciting is that with the Aeropress, you can adjust so many elements - water composition, temperature, ratio, grind, stirring, brew and press times. These small adjustments can transform a cup and reveal completely different aromatic profiles.

On the day of the competition, everything went according to plan. My recipe was solid, and I was satisfied with the result in the cup. But I was up against a formidable opponent (who finished second overall) whose mastery of water was impressive. His infusion revealed perfectly balanced red fruit notes, and I have to admit it was almost the perfect cup. His secret? Precise water management, which makes up 98% of the final cup. He had clearly bet on this key element, and it paid off.

Even if I didn't win the tournament, I'm extremely happy to have taken part in this first competition. I had the opportunity to meet other enthusiasts just as geeky as me, to learn a lot and to perfect my techniques. As a barista, events like this are a real source of inspiration, pushing me to hone my skills to become even better.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg - I'm now aiming for the big title and the gold Aeropress!

Cheers,
Le Coffee Geek