A Roastar interjúja a Filterkávé készítő világbajnokság győztesével
Októberben került sor a bajnokságra, ahol a Roastar Head of Coffee-ja, Nagy-Bertók Anita, érzékszervi világbíró zsűrizte a versenyzőket. Így többekkel együtt ő döntötte el, hogy az idei bajnok: Matt Winton, Svájc képviseletében.
Anita készített is vele egy villáminterjút.
Q1. How are you? 🙂 What does it feel like to be a World Champion?
I’m good! It’s starting to hit me now a little more that it’s real. It was kind of surreal before then! You see it happen to other people that they are crowned champion, but it’s something else to experience it firsthand.
Q2. This is not your first time competing on the World stage, tell me what drives you or inspires you to go again and compete?
Yes! I took to competing a few years ago in the barista competition and made it to semifinals in the WBC twice. I think I like pushing myself, sharing coffee and experiences, and also, I don’t mind taking the stage for a bit of time too! It’s always revolved around at least one coffee that I want to showcase to the world though.
Q3. What is the story behind the coffee you chose to compete with? Why the Eugenioides species? How did you decide this is going to be the Coffee you would take to the World stage?
Bringing the Eugenioides was a sort of accidentally stumbled upon. I was working with Sam Corra at ONA coffee in Australia, and when I sent him some of the Catucai to test some blending ideas, he happened to try it with the Eugi, and realized it was absolutely banging. Since then, we tweaked and tested different coffees, ratios, roast profiles and even lots of the Eugenioides to get the final result that you tasted up there 🙂
Q3. You used a blend; can you explain what made you come up with blending
I first tried the Catucai from La Florida while I was in Ecuador, and I fell in love with it. There was something about this floral and botanical notes, and an incredible sparkling acidity that I loved the more I drank it. But in knowing the competition and what other people would have, I decided I need to give a bit more depth and structure to the one coffee – so I started to look for a way to blend it. I tried a lot of options, and in the end with the Eugenioides it absolutely SHONE but was a lot more complex than just doing one and one.
Q5. How much work goes into preparation of the WBrC?
Oh, I started training as soon as I won the Swiss competition. I knew my compulsory let me down big time at the nationals. So, I started training this since March 2020 consistently. I came up with an entire approach to compulsory that helped me make better decisions on the day. For open service I had it in the back of my mind for the last year and a half but didn’t start focused training until 2 months before the WBrC. Especially in the last 7 days, when I got to Milan and could finally meet with my coach, Sam, and buddy, Tom, and we REALLY started to focus in on the competition. We made ridiculous leaps and bounds in the week leading up to the performance – and we were really pushing and making changes up until 20 minutes before going on stage. It was little bit stressful – but we all knew we wanted to get even more out of the coffees.
Q6. Can you say a few words about your brewing method, why you decided to use it?
I settled on the metal V60 in the end, with a 5 pour method – and a specific pouring pattern where, except for the bloom, we didn’t let the bed run dry, and poured just as it finished steadily draining through. This was a method we defined in Milan, which Sam helped with, as he works with the Metal V60s every day, and a larger recipe (20g – 300ml), which really helped with the body in the cool stages – compared to smaller brews. It wasn’t the type of brewing I’m used to doing necessarily, but the results were just extraordinary. It was a very coarse grind, and we found a paper filter that flowed very quickly through, and it just brought the whole cup together perfectly.
Q7. What is your usual morning coffee like at home :)?
Right now, I’m still brewing mostly on the Metal V60, or Origami, or April brewer. I love drinking filter still at home, and I’m lucky enough to have a freezer full of doses of coffee from the past few years, so I’m a bit spoilt for choice and get to drink what I want most of the time.
Every day I get to wake up and make myself a coffee or 3 is a pleasure 🙂
