L-R: 3rd – Frank Hsu, 1st – Dove Chen, 2nd – Alex Casserly
Dove Chen of Grey St Kitchen in Hamilton is no stranger to the competition. He placed eighth in 2015 and third in 2016 when he was a mere two points from first place. Dove’s hard work and determination over the last year paid off seeing him crowned our Meadow Fresh New Zealand Barista Champion 2017.
Runner-up, Alex Casserly from Crafted Coffee Company in Christchurch, took the crowd on a nostalgic spellbinding journey with a delicious coffee. Firm local favourite, Frank Hsu from Frank’s in Wellington took out third place.
Dove’s Extra Grueso Natural Geisha was grown by Jose Manuel Gallardo of Finca Nuguo. Processed naturally and then fermented in Panama, the coffee was then shipped to Auckland and roasted by Scott Pepler.
Dove’s signature beverage was comprised of fermented pineapple juice and freeze dried fruit that he transformed into juice. The judge’s palates were treated to flavour notes of warm lemon meringue pie and toasted sugar cane in the milk based beverage round.
Rounding out the six were the following baristas:
4th: Mike Tan
5th: Nara Lee
6th: Isaac Yu
Huge thanks go out to all our baristas, volunteers and professional judges, whose dedication to the craft and endless energy ensures that this event is the highlight of the coffee calendar.
Thank you to our fantastic sponsors, Meadow Fresh, Victoria Arduino, AMC Roastery Supply NZ, Cafetto, Acme & Co. Special thanks to our two event partners, Pullman Tampers in conjunction with Atomic Coffee Roasters and Castaway.
HUGE thanks to the L’affare team who hosted an event that was epic.
We wish Dove all the best as he prepares for the World Barista Championship 2017 which will be held in November in Seoul. As MC Nick Clark, and former New Zealand Barista Champion 2013, closed the proceedings, he reminded Dove that he has the whole of the New Zealand coffee industry at his disposal to help him in his efforts to bring home the World Champion title.