Interislander Barista Trainer Takes on the World
As if taking out New Zealand’s supreme award as Barista of the Year at the Huhtamaki New Zealand Barista Awards in March wasn’t enough - Gravity Coffee’s Aymon McQuade was crowned Top Barista at the FHA Barista Challenge in Singapore last week too. After blitzing the competition in New Zealand and Asia, Aymon is now firmly focused on the World Barista Championship in Vienna, Austria to be held in June this year.
Aymon’s strong background in hospitality has stood him in good stead to take out both titles. His coffee career kicked off in Wellington in 1997 where he worked as a barista before moving to Sydney and Melbourne to further perfect his chosen art. In 2002 he moved to London and managed various restaurants and members’ clubs in Notting Hill and Covent Gardens before moving to New Zealand in 2007.
His passion for coffee is second to none and he gets his daily fix working for Bell Tea and Coffee Company providing support and training to café owners (including Interislander) in the wider Wellington region. Aymon was runner up in the New Zealand Barista Championship last year and went to Bogota, Columbia as a volunteer calibration barista for the World Barista Competition. He took the opportunity to make a pilgrimage through the coffee growing regions of El Salvador and Colombia, meeting the growers and exporters first hand.
“This provided me an invaluable experience in preparation for the FHA Barista Challenge in Singapore and the upcoming World Barista Champs. The FHA challenge involved 14 countries and I wasn’t sure what to expect. My main concern was logistics, I had 39kg of luggage and equipment as well as coffee in my cabin luggage - thankfully nothing broke. I’m elated to come away with a win, and pleased to have been able to fly the New Zealand flag while helping create better awareness and understanding of speciality coffee and its many facets for Singapore and Asia” said Aymon.
“My trip to Colombia gave me great insight to how they grow coffee and that helped form my competition blend. The perfect coffee has to start with the perfect bean - some might be earthy, some might be sweet, some might be fruity, some might have nice bright acidity. It's a matter of getting the right balance.” he continued.
Michaela Dumper, Group Marketing Director, Bell Tea and Coffee Company said Aymon is a hot favourite to take out the competition.
“His admirable energy and passion has seen him exceed all expectations to date and we are very proud of his achievements. The coffee industry is highly competitive and for Aymon to excel in an area when his ‘day job’ is sales – is a huge achievement and credit to him and great for our industry as a whole,” said Michaela.
The World Barista Championship will be held in Vienna on 12 – 15 June 2012.
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