We kicked off the 2017 competition season with Cup Tasters on Friday night with a record number of 28 entrants! The event was held at L’affare Melrose in Auckland on St Patrick’s day, which made for a relaxed and fun evening, which was supported and encouraged by our cheeky but loveable Emcees Sam Low and David Burton, who made sure the night ran smoothly and successfully (Thanks guys!)
The Cup tasters competition is a fun and fast paced competition that needs a mixture of accuracy and speed to ensure a place in the top 4! The 28 competitors were made up of of seasoned professionals, newbies and even our 2016 champion Takahito took a shot at defending his title. The top 4 on the night were Ken Shi, Takahito, Seulki and Michael Stevens who slurped head to head to find out who was going to be our 2017 New Zealand cup tasters Champion – scoring 8/8 in 4:39 in the first round and 8/8 5:17 in the final round, Ken Shi was our winner proving that he was consistently accurate and fast. A huge congratulations go to Ken Shi from Roma Coffee. Ken is a well known face on the NZ competition circuit but this is his first time competing in Cup Tasters competition and we are super proud to have him supporting us in the World Cup Tasters competition in Budapest in June!
To all that Competed, Thank you and congratulations on doing so well and we hope that you’ll join us in wishing Ken the best of luck in Budapest!
Left to Right: 3rd – Takahito Koyanagi, 1st -Ken Shi, 2nd – Michael Stevens
Photo credits: Dianne Wang & Nick Kean 🙂